1. Assignment E: Reflection on Chapter 1 Through a Psychological Lens
The article Through a Psychological Lens looks at spousal assault and the likelihood that
personality disorders are a causation. This factor is argued to be important and very present.
Other lenses such as feminist and sociobiological perspectives have proven to be limited since
they tend to be too broad. A psychological lens is clearer and offers a way to understand
spousal assault so that it focuses on the abuser and victim more specifically. All lenses used to
study spousal abuse are valuable in their own way and should not be dismissed but it is useful
to consider the role personality disorders might play.
Some of the key points mentioned as to why the feminist perspective is limiting include
the idea that abuse is something that men do against women. They also view “maleness” as
being something that applies to all men across the board. That view disregards the individual
differences among men and oversimplifies the cause of assault. According to the article it is
more important to ask why a particular man beats his wife not just why men use physical force
in general (Dutton).
Feminism uses gender analysis to understand why men do what they do. When it comes
to spousal abuse there are many more factors and situations to consider. Psychological factors
tend to be dismissed in the feminist perspective since they do not usually follow with such
gender specific notions. This dismisses a very important piece of human behavior especially
when it comes to violence. There are numerous empirical studies that show the presence of
female violence, lesbian battering and gay violence which do not support feminist views. This is

2. not to say that all parts of feminist perspectives are skewed and not credible. Instead, they hold
a justified but narrow lens when trying to understand spousal assault as a whole.
When looking more closely at the role of personality disorders in spousal assault, it is
important to understand what they are. According to the article they, “are defined as self-
reproducing dysfunctional patterns of interaction (Dutton).” They occur in all kinds of
relationships but some are specifically found within intimate relationships. There has been a lot
of research showing the presence of personality disorders in populations of people that are
violent and many among those who assault their spouse. This tendency makes a lot of sense
and is consistent with other kinds of abuse that involve maladaptive behaviors. There is little
doubt that a person who beats their spouse has some kind of mental issues. Personality
disorders would fit into this kind of fixed assumption.
The article points to three kinds of personality disorders that include antisocial,
borderline and “over controlled” that are common among spouse abusers. These three
categories are found repeatedly in different studies as being highly present. There are some
issues with trying to identify what kinds of personality disorders exist in an abuser since many
studies are based on self-report. Additionally, when trying to diagnose these disorders the
assessments used are usually for individuals not large clusters.
While there is little doubt that personality disorders are common among people that
abuse their spouse, this doesn’t mean it is the only possible causation. There could be other
kinds of mental disorders involved and sociological and gender issues may also play a role in
this complex issue. More than likely there are several factors rolled into one that are involved in

3. the occurrence of spousal abuse. Perhaps looking at individual cases more closely and
considering each one on its own merit would be a better way to understand why spousal abuse
is occurring. While it is very important to identify patterns and correlations that occur with
family violence so it can be prevented, perhaps finding those patterns come in many ways.
Utilizing all of the information that is gathered surrounding spousal abuse will provide a more
rich understanding of the topic. It is too limiting to assume one lens is the correct lens. That
being said, psychological lenses tend to be hugely important and offer one of the deeper
contexts to use when trying to understand these topics.