Intimate partner violence: new directions.

This review examines multiple forms of intimate partner violence, including women's use of violence, and argues for development of more complex conceptualizations of intimate partner violence. As new victims are identified, partner violence has been reconceptualized. Research findings indicate that women are both victims and perpetrators in intimate partner violence, challenging previous conceptualizations and explanations. The authors argue that how researchers conceptualize intimate partner violence influences how they study and measure it. The authors call for researchers to develop more complex constructions of gender, and to distinguish between distinct forms of intimate partner violence.