Adolescent Intimate Partner
Violence: Personality
Characteristics & Treatment
Implications
Anthony F. Tasso, Ph.D.
Fairleigh Dickinson University
Abusiveness in Adolescent
Relationships
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Jealousy
Possessiveness
Splitting
Violence towards non-dating family/peers
Rush into relationships
Blame
Forced isolation
Abusiveness ranges from one-time incident to
repeated violence
 Physical, verbal, and sexual abuse
Abusive Characteristics
(Dutton, 1998)
 Overcontrolled
vs. Undercontrolled
 Impulsive vs. Instrumental
 Undercontrolled & Instrumental –
psychopathic traits
 Undercontrolled & Impulsive –
Borderline traits
 Overcontrolled & Impulsive or Instrumental
– Avoidant or psychopathic traits
Typologies of Adolescent Dating
Violence (Foshee et al., 2007)
Adolescent females
 Type 1: Patriarchal terrorism response
 Type 2: Anger response
 Type 3: Ethic enforcement
 Type 4: First-time aggression response
Adolescent males
 Type 1: Escalation prevention
 Remaining: disparate abusive subtypes
Typologies of Adolescent Dating
Violence, cont.
Conclusions
 Highlights the range of abusive proclivities,
motives, patterns
 Suggests non-gender specific abusive
perpetration
Limitations
 Self-reporting
 Lack of “patriarchal terroristic” male abusers

Implications: no “typical” adolescent perpetrator
Developmental Antecedents of
Abusive Personalities
 Psychological
 Societal
Factors
Factors
Origins of Rage
(Dutton, 1998)
Melanie Klein & Joan Riviere (1964) – Love,
Hate, and Reparation
-rage due to extreme ambivalence following
protracted frustration resulting in defensive
projection, splitting, denial, and omnipotence
Eugene Monick (1991) – Castration and Male
Rage: The Phallic Wound
-rage due to “castration” from father, mother,
and/or society
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Attachment Rage
(Dutton, 1998)
 John
Bowlby (1963) and Mary Ainsworth
(1978)
 Attachment’s 3 principles: 1) alarm
activates attachment behavioral system
2) when activated need physical contact
3) prolonged activation causes anger
*Unhealthy attachment results in sense of
shame
Attachment Rage-Anger Born Out
of Fear (Dutton, 1998)
Response to protracted separation
 Protest
 Despair
 Detachment
Shame and Anger
(Wallace & Nosko, 2002)
(Lewis, 1971, 1987; Morrison, 1989; Nathanson,
1987, 1989, 1992; Kohut, 1978; Miller, 1981)
-Piers & Singer (1953) “behind the feeling of
shame stands not the fear of hatred but fear of
contempt which, on and even deeper level of the
unconscious, spells the fear of abandonment”
- Erich Fromm (1956) – “the awareness of
human separation, without the reunion by love,
is the source of shame”
Societal Factors
 Objectification
 Socialization
 Generational/Cyclical
 Media
(television, video games, print, etc.)
 “Tough Guise” (Katz, 2000)
Treatment/Intervention - Goals
 Accountability
(intrinsic vs. extrinsic)
 Emotional Regulation
 Education of Dynamics of DV
 Proactive Problem Solving
Treatment (Sonkin & Dutton, 2002)
- Client/patient feels safe for personal
exploration
- Explore current relations with
attachment figures
- Explore transference w/ therapist
Treatment, cont.
 Recreation
of genuine social settings
 “Group mandated” accountability
 Group cohesion
 Emotional/affective/behavioral contagion
 “Vicarious detoxification” of shaming
experiences
 Some confrontation needed
Contact Information
Anthony F. Tasso, Ph.D.
Department of Psychology
Fairleigh Dickinson University
285 Madison Ave (M-AB2-01)
Madison, NJ 07940
Phone: (973) 443-8094
Fax: (973) 443-8562
Email: atasso@fdu.edu