ABSTRACT
The social and political implications of aggression and destructiveness cannot be overstated. Violence in particular is seen by many as having reached epidemic proportions in modern society. A brief example from my forensic practice will help to make the point. After 20 years of marriage Michael battered his wife, Anna, to death with a claw hammer despite professing to love her. How is such an appallingly violent act to be understood? In attempting to answer this question, I later explore the case of Michael in greater detail from an attachment theory perspective. First, I summarize the main premises of attachment theory and the findings of attachment informed research that help to explicate male affective violence.
