Categorizing partner-violent men within the reactive-proactive typology model

A system for categorizing partner-violent men as either reactive or proactive aggressors was developed and evaluated in the present study. Sixty partner-violent men were reliably categorized, and the distribution (62% reactive, 38% proactive) fell within the expected range. Some construct validity was demonstrated, as several significant predicted group differences were found on factors of theoretical relevance to the typology model (affectivity, personality, and violence in the family-of-origin). Proactively versus reactively categorized participants were (a) more dominant and less angry during a 10-min interpartner interaction, (b) more antisocial and aggressive-sadistic and less dependent, and (c) more frequently classified as psychopathic (17% vs. 0%). Research and clinical implications of the system are discussed, as is the potential overlap between the reactively and proactively categorized partner-violent men in this study with previously identified types.