Self-Destructive Behavior in Men and Marital Violence

Conner, Cerulli and Caine (2002) stated that self-destructive behavior and marital violence are related. We studied the self-destructive behavior of thirty-four men with histories of marital violence. Violence was evaluated via a questionnaire measuring suicidal tendancies with their psychological files. Our results indicate that 73,5% of the men carried out self-destructive behavior, while 29,4% of these men present a moderate to severe suicidal risk. More, men with a high suicide risk more often take medication for depression than men with a low risk of suicide. We will discuss the link between self-destructive behavior and marital violence.