Domestic abuse is often spoken about as part of a wider pattern of violent behaviour, but new research suggests this assumption does not hold true for most offenders. The study indicates that many people convicted of intimate partner violence never go on to assault anyone outside their relationships. This distinction matters because it affects how society understands risk, prevention, and rehabilitation.
Researchers analysed nearly three decades of criminal records from Catalonia, covering more than 5,000 people convicted of violent offences. The focus was on intimate partner violence offenders and whether their behaviour formed part of a broader violent lifestyle or remained confined to intimate relationships. The findings challenge the idea that domestic abuse perpetrators are a uniform group. The findings were published in Journal of Criminal Justice.
Only around 1 in 4 people convicted of intimate partner violence had also committed violent offences against non partners. The majority were classed as specialists whose violence was limited to current or former partners. These individuals tended to begin offending later in life and accumulated fewer convictions overall.
By contrast, a smaller group showed a very different pattern. These generalist offenders started committing violent acts earlier, offended more frequently, and were more likely to remain violent over longer periods. While they did assault non partners, their violence increasingly focused on partners as they aged.
The researchers tracked offending patterns from adolescence into mid adulthood. They identified several distinct trajectories ranging from late onset low frequency violence to early onset persistent offending. Severe and long lasting violent careers were rare across all groups.
Those whose violence was limited to intimate relationships were heavily concentrated in late onset and short duration trajectories. Many had no recorded violent offences until their thirties or forties. This suggests that relationship stress, breakdown, or conflict may play a significant role rather than entrenched criminal tendencies.
Gender patterns were also revealing. Men were far more likely than women to be convicted of intimate partner violence, particularly among those who showed wider violent behaviour. However, when women did offend violently, their long term patterns were broadly similar to those of men.
The study suggests that antisocial tendencies explain only part of the picture. Prior non violent offending had limited power to predict whether someone would follow a severe violent path. Instead, the timing and target of violence appeared more closely linked to life circumstances and social context.
These findings carry important implications for policy and practice. Treating all domestic abuse offenders as high risk general criminals may lead to ineffective interventions. Those whose violence is situational and relationship specific may benefit more from targeted support focused on conflict management and emotional regulation.
For the smaller group with persistent and wide ranging violence, the study points to the need for intensive supervision and long term intervention. Differentiating between these patterns could improve public safety while avoiding unnecessary punitive responses for lower risk individuals.
By showing that intimate partner violence does not follow a single pathway, the research adds nuance to debates about domestic abuse, crime, and prevention. It underlines the importance of understanding who offenders harm, when violence begins, and how it develops over time.