The Abusive Personality: Violence and Control in Intimate Relationships

Rating:
Summary: Excellent book, but limited
Review: A refreshing change from the extremely limited sociobiological silliness so prevalent today, and from politically motivated loony left pseudo-feminist nonsense. Unfortunately, the author pretty much leaves out female batterers (50% of spousal batterers are women; women are responsible for two-thirds of all child abuse and almost all infanticide, and boys are twice as likely to abused by women as girls). Notwithstanding those criticisms, this is a superb book, quite easy to understand, and should be required reading for those interested in how violence happens in intimate relationships.

Rating:
Summary: An asset to the library
Review: Excellent as an additional resource, but not a stand alone reference textbook. Should be in every therapists office!

Rating:
Summary: Excellent addition to our cache of literature on abuse
Review: Learned behavior truly IS only part of the recipe for making an abuser. Attachment has been known to be crucial to social development and quality of relationships for many years (from Ainsworth and Bowlby to the present), so it is wonderful for one book to tie in the research. Wonderful asset for all counselors.

Rating:
Summary: Must read book for avocate and professional alike!
Review: The Abusive Personality is simply the best book written on domestic violence perpetrators and one of the best on the entire field of psychology. Dutton has integrated a variety of psychological perspectives (attachment theory, object relations, social learning theory, trauma reactions) into a compelling and well reasoned profile of the development and behavior of abusive men. Dutton was the Prosecution expert in the OJ Simpson trial. If you read this book, you'll wish he had taken the stand.

Rating:
Summary: Must read book for avocate and professional alike!
Review: The Abusive Personality is simply the best book written on domestic violence perpetrators and one of the best on the entire field of psychology. Dutton has integrated a variety of psychological perspectives (attachment theory, object relations, social learning theory, trauma reactions) into a compelling and well reasoned profile of the development and behavior of abusive men. Dutton was the Prosecution expert in the OJ Simpson trial. If you read this book, you'll wish he had taken the stand.

Rating:
Summary: Understanding Abuse
Review: This book has excellent qualities and well-developed research is included within. This book is excellent for domestic violence counselors and those in the criminal justice field. It is an excellent asset for any library--and it has been quite an asset for my thesis!

Rating:
Summary: The Abusive Personality by Donald G. Dutton
Review: What an excellent book! It goes step by step into what leads up to an abusive personality. I was also impressed by his mentioning that a battering relationship is like a hostage relationship, and the dynamics of that. I learned a lot. I feel that this would be a wonderful textbook. Easy to read, simple and to the point, and a lot of information in a fairly short book