Emotions as Out of Control and Behavior as In and Out of Control

Abstract

As mentioned in Chapter 1, symbolic interactionists view individuals’ interpretations of themselves and others as important in understanding why they behave as they do. In this study, when respondents interpreted themselves or the other, their own or the other’s feelings and behavior were called up and addressed. The batterers made sense of their violence by describing their emotions as out of control and their behavior as in and out of control. The victims did not describe their feelings or behavior as in or out of control. When the men described their partner’s emotions and behavior, control was not mentioned. When the women discussed their partner’s emotions, they did not describe their feelings in terms of control, but they did describe their partner’s behavior as in and out of control. Therefore, the men only referred to control when describing their own emotions and behavior with respect to violence, and the women only mentioned control when describing the men’s behavior. Before presenting evidence that violence is understood in terms of the batterers emotions and behavior being in or out of control, let me make some preliminary remarks.