Domestic violence in lesbian relationships

Increasingly, therapists and researchers have focused attention on domestic violence in lesbian relationships. To date, however, most research has des cribed the incidence and types of physical violence and abuse. The present study sought to explore predictors of domestic violence in lesbian relation ships. Lesbian participants filled out a survey measuring physical violence and physical aggression as well as relational and personality variables. R esults indicated that lesbians do report some degree of domestic violence, characterized more often by physical aggression than by physical violence. Physical aggression was best predicted by fusion, followed by self-esteem a nd independence. For physical violence, however, control was the most impor tant predictor, followed by independence, self-esteem and fusion. Implicati ons and directions for future research are discussed. (C) 2001 by The Hawor th Press, Inc. All rights reserved.