Eruption of domestic violence requires two ingredients:

• an imbalance of power between intimate partners that creates tension, and
• the normative use of violence in handling conflict.

The partner differential giving rise to conflict occurs when one partner is dependent on the other, emotionally, physically, and/or financially. Pregnancy is an example of this situation, putting women who live with abusers more at risk during this time.

The volatility of impending DV in an intimate relationship might be understood as a teeter-totter with female empowerment on one end and a crisis of male identity on the other. The statistical decrease in DV may be related to the increase in women reporting incidents to police. Coerced submission, along with legal ramification, is less likely to be repeated. The option of divorce in U.S. culture is also a factor discouraging DV.

Education has traditionally been promoted as an effective means for empowering women, impacting awareness, income and community roles. Many studies have proven the correlation between high educational attainment and low levels of DV. However, there is a protective influence at both the highest and the lowest educational levels, showing that intermediate levels of education may prove challenging to traditional sex roles, therefore increasing the risk of DV in certain situations.

Risk factors, traits of abusive men, forms of domestic violence, and entrapment will be the next four topics of discussion.