Georgia State University ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University Psychology Dissertations Department of Psychology 8-3-2006 The Effect of Aggressive Interpersonal Relationship Dynamics on Women's Perpetration of Aggression Tracy Dickens Georgia State University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/psych_diss Part of the Psychology Commons Recommended Citation Dickens, Tracy, "The Effect of Aggressive Interpersonal Relationship Dynamics on Women's Perpetration of Aggression." Dissertation, Georgia State University, 2006. https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/psych_diss/16 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Psychology at ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Psychology Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. THE EFFECT OF AGGRESSIVE INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIP DYNAMICS ON WOMEN'S PERPETRATION OF AGGRESSION By TRACY DICKENS Under the Direction of Sarah Cook ABSTRACT Women’s use of aggression in intimate partner relationships is consistently debated by researchers of intimate partner aggression. One tenet suggests women use aggression within intimate relationships at similar rates as men. Conversely, a second tenet acknowledges women’s use of aggression but suggests that the meaning and consequences associated with women’s aggression is not coercive or severely injurious, which are typical characteristics of men’s use of aggression. The current study evaluated incarcerated women in order to build upon an integrative approach that suggests that women’s use of aggression is related to the relationship dynamics generated from variations in coercive and conflictual behaviors. Further, the current study evaluated the moderating relation of childhood abuse history and posttraumatic stress symptoms between relationship dynamics and women’s use of aggression.