What Do the Dating Violence Scales Measure?

Gender violence in couples, as a specific form of violence against women, is different from symmetrical violence or mutual combat in that it is aimed at maintaining asymmetric power relations based on gender. Self-informant scales for assessing aggression within dating couples are inadequate for evaluating its motives, context, and effects on the relationship. This paper analyses critical issues concerning the validity of dating violence scales. The VGP scale is proposed to assess to what degree psychologically abusive behaviour is perceived as violence.