Physical violence in the couple relationship: a contribution toward the analysis of the context

This article proposes an analysis of the contextual elements of physical violence occurring within the couple relationship. According to this analysis, the batterer acquires power of a moral nature while the victim plays the role of the accused. After violence occurs, reconciliation with the batterer relieves the victim of her role as the suspect, the guilty one. In the course of the analysis, it is argued that the perception of physical violence in all its forms is characterized by dichotomies that are typical of our culture (subject/object, mind/body, ethics/knowledge, and so on). Attention is drawn also to the incongruity between the victim's requests for help and the kind of response she usually receives. It is intended, moreover, to cast new light on the tension-violence-contrition cycle described by Lenore Walker.