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A Typology of Domestic Violence: Intimate Terrorism, Violent Resistance, and Situational Couple Violence, by Michael P. Johnson. Lebanon, NH: Northeastern University Press, 2008. 166pp. $22.95 paper. ISBN: 9781555536947.
The notion that domestic violence is not a unitary phenomenon has transformed the field. Johnson's compelling distinction between intimate terrorism, violent resistance, and situational couple violence has been the most influential of the typologies proposed in the past two decades. In this volume, Johnson lays the case for his thesis that the past forty years of domestic violence research have generated misleading and contradictory findings because researchers have failed to recognize distinctions between these types. The clarity and brevity of his argument and the liveliness of his style make this book an excellent choice for students and researchers who want to understand domestic violence typologies.
The book begins with an introductory chapter that describes Johnson's rationale for the typology. He argues that the different types of violence have different causes, developmental trajectories, and consequences. The second chapter describes the key basis for distinguishing types of violence: the frequency, severity, and mutuality of partners' controlling behaviors. Intimate terrorism is characterized by one partner's use of frequent and severe control tactics in combination with violence. Violent resistance occurs when the partner of an intimate terrorist uses violence to resist the control and violence perpetrated against them. Situational couple violence characterizes...