Toward a Biopsychosocial Model of Domestic Violence

Abstract

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.. National Council on Family Relations is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Journal of Marriage and Family.A sample of 102 married men were interviewed and physically assessed in an attempt to develop a biopsychosocial model of male domestic violence. Because the dependent variable, domestic violence, was censored, Tobit analysis was used to identify significant predictors. When analyzed separately, each domain was significantly related to male domestic violence. However, when all domains were considered together, only the biological and social domains yielded independent effects. Significant independent variables included alcohol, family income, and relationship quality, with testosterone approaching significance. It is widely accepted that the etiology of family violence is a multifaceted phenomenon that canKey Words: biopsychosocial, domestic violence, spouse abuse. From the standpoint of a physician, Engel (1977) wrote: Journal of Marriage and the Family 57 (May 1995): 307-320 307 This content downloaded by the authorized user from 192.168.82.206 on Wed, 28 Nov 2012 13:51:29 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Journal of Marriage and the FamilyThe boundaries between health and disease, between well and sick, are far from clear and never will be clear, for they are diffused by cultural, social, and psychological considerations.... By evaluating all of the factors contributing to both illness and patienthood, rather than giving primacy to biological factors alone, a biopsychosocial model would make it possible to explain why some individuals experience as "illness" conditions that others would regard merely as "problems of living," be they emotional reactions to life circumstances or somatic symptoms (pp. 132-133).A more recent formulation of this perspective is presented by McDaniel, Hepworth, and Doherty (1992), who utilized the term biopsychosocial systems model to highlight the interactive nature of biological, psychological, and social phenomena regarding health and illness. According to this model, such phenomena are seen as not only existing in an arranged hierarchical ordering, but also as having a consistent and reciprocal impact on one another. Here, biological system factors are thought to exist in and interact with psychological system factors, both of which are hypothesized to exist in and interact with family and other social system factors. Hence, descriptions that result within this framework are not simply summative but rather assert multiplicative relationships among these factors.From this perspective, all theoretical, empirical, and clinical efforts must account for the complex interplay of biological, psychologic...

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