Social Construction of Intimate Partner Violence: A Brief Report on Quantitative Grammatical Analysis

This pilot study uses a quantitative linguistic analysis to assess evidence of agency and control, as well as treatment engagement, in letters written by men (N = 46, 37% Latino) participating in a batterer intervention program. At the program’s conclusion, men were asked to imagine their situation in 5 years and write a letter from their “future self” to their “present self.” Letters were scored for grammatical representations of agency and objectification, and temporal complexity. Results showed that the men tended to grant themselves the subject position (conferring agency) and to grant others the object position (deferring or denying agency) by almost equal margins, both rhetorical maneuvers suggesting an objectifying stance toward others. Moreover, they employed several strategies to address temporality, with more complex strategies suggesting greater treatment engagement. Findings suggest that quantitative linguistic analysis is a promising tool for assessing participants’ progress in and engagement with treatment.