en were more likely to engage in battering behavior.
As noted earlier, Wolfe et. al (1985) reported that boys who witness their mothers being abused are more likely to become abusers themselves in adulthood. However, this is not true of all boys witnessing abuse. In an effort to understand the difference between boys who witness maternal abuse and then become wife abusers and boys who witness maternal abuse but do not go on to become wife abusers, Balshaw (1993) conducted interviews with adult men who witnessed spousal abuse in their childhood but who had remained nonviolent in their adult relationships.
Based on interview data, Balshaw (1993) concluded that men who successfully break the cycle of violence are "living intentionally." In other words, these men tend to be those who are self-aware and retrospective concerning the effects of the abuse they witnessed as children. All of them had also resolved, at a relatively early age, to live positive lives and make meaningful contributions to society. They were determined to behave differently from their f
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