Spouses' reasons for not reporting existing marital aggression as a marital problem

Questionnaires and clinical interviews reveal that over 60% of couples seeking marital therapy experience physical violence in their relationship. However, fewer than 10% of these couples spontaneously report or identify the violence as a presenting problem. Spouses' explanations for not spontaneously reporting couple violence were examined in 136 clinic couples. The top 3 reasons were as follows: (a) It is not a problem, (b) it is unstable or infrequent, and (c) it is secondary to or caused by other problems. There were no gender differences in this regard. Further, there were no differences regarding explanations offered for failure to report partner violence versus own violence. However, differences were found between mildly and severely aggressive spouses and between husband-to-wife and wife-to-husband violence.