Forensic Psychology of Spousal Violence - Chapter 3: The Different Forms of Spousal Violence

There have been various ways on how to address the practice of violence in a spousal environment. In this chapter, we present an approach to violence that is split into three paths, namely physical, psychological and sexual violence. Psychological violence includes stalking, financial abuse and social isolation. However, we emphasize that these are just categories of study and analysis. In real life, they coexist within aggression. For example, when a woman is beaten (physical violence), her self-esteem suffers an impact (psychological violence). Another important topic that deserves attention and is very often neglected by experts, especially the ones who are less familiar with forensic matters, is the risk of existing malingering or dissimulation in cases of spousal violence, which can contribute to fake claims or that the aggressor remains unpunished, making it important to know their respective contexts and dynamics.