Intimate Partner Violence and Gender A/Symmetry: An Integrative Literature Review

Abstract Gender stereotypes have largely been discussed in the occurrence of marital violence, mainly in international literature. The objective was to map and analyze scientific literature, published between 2010 and 2015, using the databases ISI Web of Science, Academic Search Complete, Medline Complete, PsycInfo e Scielo. Strings used were: a) first search strategy - “intimate partner violence” AND “gender symmetry”; b) second search strategy - “intimate partner violence” AND “gender asymmetry”. We analyzed 48 journal articles entirely available online. Most publications are from The United States (60.41%) and use quantitative research designs (60.41%). The most frequently used instrument was the Revised Conflict Tactics Scales (CTS2), even though criticized because of its checklist structure. Disagreement remains about gender a/symmetry in conjugal violence, however, an emerging perspective affirms that these cases should not be generalized and each couple’s specificities must be assessed. National studies are necessary to contemplate different aspects of this phenomenon.