The Batterer: A Psychological Profile

This book didn't save my life.... I did that on my own. But it did make me understand that I wasn't alone. My biggest step was anwering "Yes" to all of the questions on the back cover of this book. I realized, right there, in the middle of the book store, that I was in an abusive relationship... and that it would probably kill me. It took 3 months of careful planning, but I got out. My biggest fear?.. that someone I knew would find out I had been idiot by putting up with the abuse. Truth be told?... Most of my friends had guessed it, BUT they had NO IDEA how to bring it up with me. Domestic violence is the perfect disease. You know you have it, your friends know you have it... but you don't tell a soul, and no one feels comfortable talking to you about it. All the while, you're dying.If you have ever been scared of your boyfriend, read this book.

....very thorough and clinically valid in its look at the abuser mentality--but be cautioned not to think there is a single abuser mentality, or even several. I've worked as a therapist with chronic and violent batterers, men who really were arrested for a (nevertheless inexcusable) one-time incident, and lots in between, and it's important to distinguish, as Dutton does, that different psychodynamics are involved....and to remember that hitting is always both a matter of choice and the hitter's personal responsibility regardless of past or present factors.

This book and GETTING FREE have been instumental in helping me to make changes in my life so hopefully my son will not repeat the cycle.

This book is the real, authentic, well-presented, well researched work on the psychology of battery. Readers will learn what Dutton has taught practitioners, law enforcement professionals, and victims advocates: the truth about domestic violence, offered with insight and intellectual integrity. He informs and educates me, and I'm grateful for his work. - Gavin de Becker, Author THE GIFT OF FEAR.

This is an excellent book for anyone in an abusive relationship. I was able to learn more about my own situation by gaining an understanding of exactly why my husband behaved the way he did and if we had any hope for the future. The detailed chapters on how the parents affected the abuser as a child were very helpful. I want to stop the abuse with my generation and this book showed me exactly how my children were at risk and what I could do about it. Through the detailed case studies, I was also able to gain a clear picture of exactly the type of situation I was facing with my husband should I decide to stay in my relationship. I haven't found information like this in any other source. This has been the best book I have read about understanding the mind of the abuser. I highly recommend it.