Is domestic violence caused by anger?
When evaluating the role of anger in domestic violence, one must consider its role as part of a pattern and not just in isolated, individual events. There is a great deal of variability within one perpetrator’s pattern as well as between perpetrators. Some battering episodes occur when the perpetrator is not emotionally charged or angry, and some occur when the perpetrator is very emotionally aroused. In some episodes, the tactics of control are used calmly, while in others displays of anger are often tactics to intimidate the victim. Perpetrators choose to use violence or other tactics of control such as displays of anger to get what they want or that to which they feel entitled. Current research indicates that there is a wide variety of arousal or anger patterns among identified perpetrators as well as among those who are identified as not abusive. These studies suggest that there may be different types of batterers. Abusers in one cluster actually reduced their heart rates during ob
