ABSTRACT
In the field of family violence there are a number of explanations that have been constructed from such "empirical" findings. It is asserted that social and economic deprivation transforms predisposed high-risk individuals into abusers, and that violence is an attempt to control stressful events. Social-interactional explanations focus on the interactional processes between parent and child within the specific familial context, in the context of larger social structures, to explain why some parents abuse. The important differences are the presence of reciprocation of aversive behaviour, reinforcement of inappropriate behaviour, ineffective use of punishment, negative emotional response, and arousal towards children. Psychopathological explanations link the inability to control violent impulses towards partners or children, with that person having a pervasive sense of discontent, anger, and irritability. A good deal of empirical research has been carried out to test this model, but the only findings that support it indicate that abusers are more likely to be impulsive, immature, and prone to depression.
