CESSATION AND PERSISTENCE OF WIFE ASSAULT - A LONGITUDINAL ANALYSIS

Patterns of wife assault, rates of cessation, and the effect of cessat ion on psychological aggression were evaluated in a three-year longitu dinal study of 772 couples. More than one-third of the men who had bee n violent in the year prior to the initial survey ceased or interrupte d their violence and showed significant reductions in their psychologi cal aggression during the course of the study. Implications for the co nceptualization and further study of wife assault are discussed.