Type:	Journal Article
Title:	Commentary on Cook and Goodman's "beyond frequency and severity: development and validation of the brief coercion and conflict scales
Other Titles:	Violence against women
Authors:	Tjaden, Patricia
Keywords:	Informal responses;Psychological abuse;Perpetrators;Theories of violence;Measurement
Year:	2006
Publisher:	Sage Publications
Citation:	12 (11), November
Notes:	General Overview:This US article gives a commentary on the article by Cook and Goodman, ‘Beyond Frequency and Severity: Development and Validation of the Brief Coercion and Conflict Scales’. Discussion: Johnson’s theory and his expanded typology for the four types of intimate partner violence (attempting to bridge the gap between the family violence perspective and the feminist perspective) is discussed. Johnson argues that the difference between family violence researchers and feminist researchers over the extent, nature and causes of intimate partner violence comes from analysing different phenomena and different populations. Johnson’s theory has not been adequately tested because there are no standardised and validated measures of violent and non-violent coercive control. It is suggested that this is where Cook and Goodman have made their contribution. They move beyond traditional measurement tools that only look at how often victims experience specific acts of violence. Instead, Cook and Goodman have developed and evaluated an instrument to assess women’s understanding of the degree to which conflict versus coercion exists in their experiences of abuse. It refers to Cook and Goodman’s findings which suggest that violence taking place in a context of coercion (rather than conflict) is more psychologically damaging to the woman’s well being. Cook and Goodman have addressed the need for measurement tools to assess the context, meaning and motives underlying violence perpetrated against women by their partners. Most importantly, it finds Cook and Goodman have identified that conflict and coercion are two distinct dimensions, and that the dimensions differentially predicted a woman’s well being and her strategic responses. Cook and Goodman have found that the more frequently women reported abuse within a coercive (rather than conflicted) intimate relationship, the more likely that they were to report posttraumatic stress symptoms (intrusion and avoidance behaviour) and used strategic responses such as seeking help from nonlegal community resources, friends and family. Their findings in turn go to further support Johnson’s theory that intimate partner violence has multiple dimensions based on the interaction of violence and patterns of control or conflict. Conclusion: The way in which Cook and Goodman’s findings give support to Johnson’s theory and the need for more future qualitative data to assess the interpersonal context of partner violence have been emphasised.
URI:	https://anrows.intersearch.com.au/anrowsjspui/handle/1/13925
ISSN:	1077-8012
Appears in Collections:	Journal Articles

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