Warning Signs of Potential Batterers
Many women want to know how to recognize a potential batterer. There are no absolute ways because batterers come from all professions, economic groups, ethnic groups, religious affiliations, etc.

However, there are some common characteristics of batterers.  Ask yourself the following questions about a potential partner . . .

1. Does the person report having been physically or psychologically abused as a child?
2. Was the person’s mother battered by their father?
3. Has the person been known to display violence against other people?
4. Does the person play with guns and use them to protect themselves from other people?
5. Does the person lose their temper frequently and more easily than seems necessary?
6. Does the person commit acts of violence against objects and things rather than people?
7. Does the person drink alcohol excessively? Does the person use drugs?
8. Does the person display an unusual amount of jealousy when you are not with them? Is the person jealous of other significant people in your life?
9. Does the person expect you to spend all of your free time with them, or to keep them informed of your whereabouts?
10. Does the person become enraged when you do not listen to their advice?
11. Is there a sense of overkill in their cruelty or kindness?
12. Does the person appear to have a dual personality?
13. Do you get a sense of fear when the person becomes angry at you? Does not making them angry become an important part of your behavior?
14. Does the person have rigid ideas of what people should do that are determined by male or female sex-role stereotypes?
15. Do you think or feel you are being battered?  If so, the probability is high that you are a battered woman.