A key assumption in the domestic violence literature is that abuse escalates in severity and frequency over time. However, very little is known about how violence and abuse unfolds within intimate relationships and there is no consensus on how escalation should be defined or how prevalent it is.
A narrative review of the literature identified two primary definitions of escalation: a pattern of increasingly frequent and/or severe violent incidents, or the occurrence of specific violent acts (ie outcomes). Escalation appears to be limited to serious or prolific offenders rather than characterising all abusive relationships. However, disparities in prevalence estimates between those provided by victim–survivors and recorded incident data highlight the difficulty of measuring this aspect of abusive relationships.
References
URLs correct as at February 2024
Aldarondo E 1996. Cessation and persistence of wife assault: A longitudinal analysis. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry 66: 141
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) 2018. Recorded crime – offenders, 2015–16. Canberra: ABS. https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/crime-and-justice/recorded-crime-offenders
Australian Domestic and Family Violence Death Review Network 2018. Data report 2018. Sydney: Domestic Violence Death Review Team. https://www.coroners.nsw.gov.au/coroners-court/resources/ domestic-violence-death-review.html
Barnham L, Barnes GC & Sherman LW 2017. Targeting escalation of intimate partner violence: Evidence from 52,000 offenders. Cambridge Journal of Evidence-Based Policing 1(2-3): 116–142
Bassuk E, Dawson R & Huntington N 2006. Intimate partner violence in extremely poor women: Longitudinal patterns and risk markers. Journal of Family Violence 21(6): 387–399
Bland M & Ariel B 2015. Targeting escalation in reported domestic abuse: Evidence from 36,000 callouts. International Criminal Justice Review 25(1): 30–53
Block C et al. 2000. The Chicago women’s health risk study: Risk of serious injury or death in intimate violence: A collaborative research project. Chicago: Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority
Bowen E, Heron J, Waylen A & Wolke D 2005. Domestic violence risk during and after pregnancy: Findings from a British longitudinal study. BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology 112(8): 1083–1089
Boxall H, Boyd C, Dowling C & Morgan A 2018. Understanding domestic violence incidents using crime script analysis. Trends & issues in crime and criminal justice no. 558. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology. https://www.aic.gov.au/publications/tandi/tandi558
Boxall H, Morgan A & Brown R 2020. The prevalence of domestic violence among women during the COVID-19 pandemic. Statistical Bulletin no. 28. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology. https://www.aic.gov.au/publications/sb/sb28
Boxall H, Rosevear L & Payne J 2015. Domestic violence typologies: What value to practice? Trends & issues in crime and criminal justice no. 494. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology. https://www.aic.gov.au/publications/tandi/tandi494
Braaf R & Meyering I 2013. The gender debate in domestic violence: The role of data. Issues paper no. 25. Sydney: Australian Domestic and Family Violence Clearinghouse
Bricknell S 2020. Homicide in Australia 2017–18. Statistical Report no. 23. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology. https://www.aic.gov.au/publications/sr/sr23
Bushway S & Tahamont S 2016. Modeling long-term criminal careers: What happened to the variability? Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 53(3): 372–391
Caetano R, Field CA, Ramisetty-Mikler S & McGrath C 2005. The 5-year course of intimate partner violence among white, black, and Hispanic couples in the United States. Journal of Interpersonal Violence 20(9): 1039–1057
Campbell JC et al. 2003. Risk factors for femicide in abusive relationships: Results from a multisite case control study. American Journal of Public Health 93(7): 1089–1097
Campbell JC, Glass N, Sharps PW, Laughon K & Bloom T 2007. Intimate partner homicide: Review and implications of research and policy. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse 8(3): 246–269
Capaldi DM & Kim HK 2007. Typological approaches to violence in couples: A critique and alternative conceptual approach. Clinical Psychology Review 27(3): 253–65
Carcach C & James M 1998. Homicide between intimate partners in Australia. Trends & issues in crime and criminal justice no. 90. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology. https://www.aic.gov.au/publications/tandi/tandi90
Cascardi M & Vivian D 1995. Context for specific episodes of marital violence: Gender and severity of violence differences. Journal of Family Violence 10(3): 265–293
Connelly CD et al. 2006. Persistence of intimate partner violence among families referred to child welfare. Journal of Interpersonal Violence 21(6): 774–797
Curran PJ & Bauer DJ 2011. The disaggregation of within-person and between-person effects in longitudinal models of change. Annual Review of Psychology 62: 583–619
Dasgupta SD 2002. A framework for understanding women’s use of nonlethal violence in intimate heterosexual relationships. Violence Against Women 8(11): 1364–89
DeKeseredy WS & Schwartz MD 2011. Theoretical and definitional issues in violence against women. In CM Renzetti, JL Edleson & RK Bergen (eds), Sourcebook on violence against women, 2nd ed. Los Angeles: Sage Publications
Dowling C, Boxall H & Morgan A 2021. The criminal career trajectories of domestic violence offenders. Trends & issues in crime and criminal justice no. 624. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology . https://www.aic.gov.au/publications/tandi/tandi624
Dowling C & Morgan A 2019. Predicting repeat domestic violence: Improving police risk assessment. Trends & issues in crime and criminal justice no. 581. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology. https://www.aic.gov.au/publications/tandi/tandi581
Follingstad DR, Hause ES, Rutledge LL & Polek DS 1992. Effects of battered women’s early responses on later abuse patterns. Violence and Victims 7(2): 109
Glass N et al. 2008. Non-fatal strangulation is an important risk factor for homicide of women. Journal of Emergency Medicine 35(3): 329–335
Hill J 2019. See what you made me do. Melbourne: Black Inc
Johnson M 2010. A typology of domestic violence: Intimate terrorism, violent resistance, and situational couple violence. New Hampshire: Northeastern University Press
Johnson M 1995. Patriarchal terrorism and common couple violence: Two forms of violence against women. Journal of Marriage and Family 57(2): 283–294. DOI: 10.2307/353683
Kerr J, Whyte C & Strang H 2017. Targeting escalation and harm in intimate partner violence: Evidence from Northern Territory Police, Australia. Cambridge Journal of Evidence-Based Policing 1(2–3): 143–159
Lawrence E & Bradbury TN 2007. Trajectories of change in physical aggression and marital satisfaction. Journal of Family Psychology 21(2): 236–247
Love HA, Spencer CM, May SA, Mendez M & Stith SM 2018. Perpetrator risk markers for intimate terrorism and situational couple violence: A meta-analysis. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse 8: 1–10
Margolin G, Vickerman K, Oliver P & Gordis E 2010. Violence exposure in multiple interpersonal domains: Cumulative and differential effects. Journal of Adolescent Health 47(2): 198–205
Mcquown C et al. 2016. Prevalence of strangulation in survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence. American Journal of Emergency Medicine 34(7): 1281–1285
Mechanic M, Weaver T & Resick P 2008. Risk factors for physical injury among help-seeking battered women: An exploration of multiple abuse dimensions. Violence Against Women 14(10): 1148–1165
Mele M 2009. The time course of repeat intimate partner violence. Journal of Family Violence 24(8): 619–624
Messing JT, Patch M, Sullivan Wilson J, Kelen GD & Campbell J 2018. Differentiating among attempted, completed, and multiple nonfatal strangulation in women experiencing intimate partner violence. Women’s Health Issues 28(1): 104–111
Monckton Smith J 2020. Intimate partner femicide: Using Foucauldian analysis to track an eight stage progression to homicide. Violence Against Women 26(11): 1267–85. https://doi. org/10.1177/1077801219863876
Morgan A & Boxall H 2020. Social isolation, time spent at home, financial stress and domestic violence during the COVID-19 pandemic. Trends & issues in crime and criminal justice no. 581. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology. https://www.aic.gov.au/publications/tandi/tandi609
Nicolaidis C et al. 2003. Could we have known? A qualitative analysis of data from women who survived an attempted homicide by an intimate partner. Journal of General Internal Medicine 18(10): 788–794
O’Leary KD & Smith Slep AM 2003. A dyadic longitudinal model of adolescent dating aggression. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology 32(4): 314–327
Pagelow M 1981. Woman-battering: Victims and their experience. Newbury Park: Sage
Parkinson D & Zara C 2013. The hidden disaster: Domestic violence in the aftermath of natural disaster. Australian Journal of Emergency Management 28(2): 28–35
Piquero A, Brame R, Fagan J & Moffitt T 2006. Assessing the offending activity of criminal domestic violence suspects: Offense specialization, escalation, and de-escalation evidence from the Spouse Assault Replication Program. Public Health Reports 121(4): 409–418
Pritchard A, Reckdenwald A & Nordham C 2017. Nonfatal strangulation as part of domestic violence: A review of research. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse 18(4): 407–424
Queensland Domestic and Family Violence Death Review and Advisory Board 2018. 2017–18 Annual report. Brisbane: Queensland Government. https://www.courts.qld.gov.au/_data/assets/pdf_file/0003/586182/domestic-and-family-violence-death-review-and-advisory-board-annualreport-2017-18.pdf
Roberts A, McLaughlin K, Conron K & Koenen K 2011. Adulthood stressors, history of childhood adversity, and risk of perpetration of intimate partner violence. American Journal of Preventive Medicine 40(2): 128–138
Robinson AL, Pinchevsky GM & Guthrie JA 2018. A small constellation: Risk factors informing police perceptions of domestic abuse. Policing and Society 28(2): 189–204
Sabri B, Renner L, Stockman JK, Mittal M & Decker MR 2014. Risk factors for severe intimate partner violence and violence-related injuries among women in India. Women & Health 54(4): 281–300
Salter M et al. 2020. “A deep wound under my heart”: Constructions of complex trauma and implications for women’s wellbeing and safety from violence. Research Report issue 12. Sydney: Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety. https://www.anrows.org.au/publication/a-deep-wound-under-my-heart-constructions-of-complex-trauma-and-implications-forwomens-wellbeing-and-safety-from-violence/
Sheehan BE, Murphy SB, Moynihan MM, Dudley-Fennessey E & Stapleton JG 2015. Intimate partner homicide: New insights for understanding lethality and risks. Violence Against Women 21(2): 269–288
Sherman L, Neyroud P & Neyroud E 2016. The Cambridge Harm Index: Measuring total harm from crime based on sentencing guidelines. Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice 10(3): 171–183
Shortt JW et al. 2012. Stability of intimate partner violence by men across 12 years in young adulthood: Effects of relationship transitions. Prevention Science 13(4): 360–369
Smith DJ, Mills T & Taliaferro EH 2001. Frequency and relationship of reported symptomology in victims of intimate partner violence: The effect of multiple strangulation attacks. Journal of Emergency Medicine 21(3): 323–329
Spencer CM & Stith SM 2020. Risk factors for male perpetration and female victimization of intimate partner homicide: A meta-analysis. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse 21(3): 527–540
Stark E 2012. Looking beyond domestic violence: Policing coercive control. Journal of Police Crisis Negotiations 12(2): 199–217
Stark E 2007. Coercive control: The entrapment of women in personal life. Oxford: Oxford University Press
Stöckl H et al. 2013. The global prevalence of intimate partner homicide: A systematic review. The Lancet 382(9895): 859–865
Swartout KM, Cook SL & White JW 2012. Trajectories of intimate partner violence victimization. Western Journal of Emergency Medicine 13(3): 272–277
Trujillo M & Ross S 2008. Police response to domestic violence: Making decisions about risk and risk management. Journal of Interpersonal Violence 23(4): 454–473
Turner E, Medina J & Brown G 2019. Dashing hopes? The predictive accuracy of domestic abuse risk assessment by police. British Journal of Criminology 59(5): 1013–1034
Vickerman K & Margolin G 2008. Trajectories of physical and emotional marital aggression in midlife couples. Violence & Victims 23(1) 18–34
Walby S & Towers J 2018. Untangling the concept of coercive control: Theorizing domestic violent crime. Criminology & Criminal Justice 18(1): 7–28
Walker LE 1984. The battered woman syndrome. New York: Springer
Weisz AN, Tolman RM & Saunders DG 2000. Assessing the risk of severe domestic violence: The importance of survivors’ predictions. Journal of Interpersonal Violence 15(1): 75–90
Woffordt S, Mihalic DE & Menard S 1994. Continuities in marital violence. Journal of Family Violence 9(3): 195–225
Zara G et al. 2019. The medicolegal, psycho-criminological, and epidemiological reality of intimate partner and non-intimate partner femicide in North-West Italy: Looking backwards to see forwards. International Journal of Legal Medicine 1(13): 1295–1307