Theories of domestic violence: Towards a holistic perspective

The issue of domestic violence, referring to violence between intimate partners, has been extensively studied the last two decades and has, much thanks to the women's movement, also become a public awareness issue. Several different theories and perspectives have attempted to explain the occurrence of domestic violence and although they have greatly contributed to our understanding, there is an articulated need for a more comprehensive model. Thus study provides a cross-disciplinary review of existing research as well as creates an outline for a holistic model connecting different theories and levels of analyses. This study also demonstrates the importance of incorporating race and gender hierarchies into the analyses of domestic violence.