The Johnson Typologies of Intimate Partner Violence: An Investigation of Their Representation in a General Population of New Zealand Women

Typologies of intimate partner violence (IPV) can inform practice and aid with the development of interventions. To maintain utility, typologies should be constantly reviewed in light of emerging results generated from internal and external validation. The presented study is an empirical exploration of the M. P. Johnson (2008 Johnson, M. P. (2008). A typology of domestic violence: Intimate terrorism, violent resistance, and situational couple violence. Boston, MA: Northeastern University Press. [Google Scholar]) typology of IPV using data gathered from the New Zealand replication of the World Health Organization Violence Against Women survey. We could not identify all types of IPV described by Johnson, and we suggest that mutually exclusive types of violent relationships do not exist. Further exploration of the validity of the Johnson typologies, including an exploration of the utility of categorization for suggesting appropriate responses to IPV, is required.