The Domestic Assault of Women relates social and criminal justice policy to empirically tested social psychological theory about the causes and effects of wife assault. Donald G. Dutton argues that only by understanding the psychology of both the aggressors and the victims of wife assault can we generate informed social and criminal justice policy. By linking the psychological factors that support assaultive habits to police arrest policy and subsequent treatment, Dutton shows how police/therapist intervention can interrupt assaultive behaviour and prevent recidivism.