Criminological Theories on Intimate Partner Violence

Abstract

Intimate partner violence exists in all societies. Several theories have been developed to explain the causes of this kind of violence from different perspectives —psychological, sociological  and  feminist.  Those  theories  have  tried  to  identify  the  risk  factors  of  such violence. The main goal of this paper is to present the major international  criminological theories that have addressed intimate partner abuse. It is important to know the risk factors in  order to design and improve  public policies  of prevention  and eradication  of violence against women in the couple.