Donald Dutton

Donald G. Dutton
Born (1943-10-09) October 9, 1943
Canada
Academic background
Alma materUniversity of Toronto (PhD, 1970)
Academic work
DisciplinePsychology
Sub-disciplineSocial psychology, Intimate partner violence
InstitutionsUniversity of British Columbia

Donald George Dutton (born October 9, 1943)[1] is a Canadian psychologist who is known for his work on traumatic bonding and misattribution of arousal.[2][3] He is an expert on forensic psychology who has served as an expert witness in legal cases, including in the prosecution of O. J. Simpson.[4][5][6]

He received his Ph.D. in social psychology from the University of Toronto in 1970, and is currently Professor Emeritus in the Department of Psychology at the University of British Columbia.[7][8]

Career

Dutton's research interests include the psychology of violence, social science epistemology, criminal justice, social psychological explanations for clinical syndromes, and personality disorders.[8]

In a famous experiment on misattribution of arousal, Dutton and Arthur Aron found that subjects were more sexually attracted to an experimenter when crossing a rickety bridge.[3][9]

Along with his co-author Susan Painter, Dutton coined the term "traumatic bonding",[2][10] referring to emotional attachments which "develop from two specific features of abusive relationships: power imbalances and intermittent good-bad treatment".[11][12]

Dutton is known for his research on intimate partner violence and the psychology of abusive behavior.[5] In 1979, he co-founded the Assaultive Husbands Project, a court-mandated treatment program for men convicted of spousal assault in Vancouver.[5] Dutton has been outspoken about the reality of domestic violence, that despite stereotypes it is actually perpetrated by both men and women.[4]

Books

Dutton has authored or co-authored several books on domestic violence, including The Batterer: A Psychological Profile (1995, with Susan Golant), The Abusive Personality: Violence and Control in Intimate Relationships (1998), and Rethinking Domestic Violence (2006).[5][13] The Batterer has been translated into French, Spanish, Dutch, Japanese, and Polish.[14]

The second edition of The Abusive Personality (2007) received positive reviews in academic journals. A review in the Journal of Family Therapy described it as providing "a clear, concise, authoritative and inspiring account of the empirical, theoretical and treatment literatures on relationship abusiveness."[13] The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry reviewed the work,[15] as did the academic journal Choice.[16]

References

  1. ^ "Dutton, Donald G., 1943-". Library of Congress Name Authority File. Retrieved 2021-12-30.
  2. ^ a b "Traumatic bonding – Knowledge and References – Taylor & Francis". Taylor & Francis. Archived from the original on 16 January 2025. Retrieved 28 December 2025.
  3. ^ a b Chatel, Amanda (2015-02-26). "When It Comes to Romance, Science Has Good News for Adrenaline Junkies". Mic. Archived from the original on 14 September 2025. Retrieved 2025-12-29.
  4. ^ a b Todd, Douglas (15 April 2016). "Don Dutton: Controversy ensues when science butts heads with liberal ideology". Vancouver Sun. Archived from the original on 16 April 2016. Retrieved 28 December 2025.
  5. ^ a b c d "Psychologist Donald Dutton is a pioneer in the study and treatment of abusive men". Fresh Air. National Public Radio. 25 October 1995. Retrieved 17 February 2026.
  6. ^ "Vernon-massacre inquest told of change". The Province. 27 September 1996. p. A18.
  7. ^ "About - Welcome to Dr. Don Dutton's Personal Website". drdondutton.com. Archived from the original on 29 December 2025. Retrieved 28 December 2025.
  8. ^ a b "Don Dutton - UBC Department of Psychology". University of British Columbia. Archived from the original on 29 December 2025. Retrieved 28 December 2025.
  9. ^ Stampler, Laura (3 June 2014). "This Is The Bachelorette's Scientific Formula to Make Couples Fall in Love". Time Magazine. Archived from the original on 20 March 2025. Retrieved 28 December 2025.
  10. ^ Dutton, Donald G. (1995). The Domestic Assault of Women: Psychological and Criminal Justice Perspectives. UBC Press. pp. 189–190. ISBN 978-0-7748-0462-2.
  11. ^ Young, Yvette. "Civic Nation BrandVoice: The Bond That Harms: The Impact Of Trauma Bonding On Human Trafficking Victims". Forbes. Archived from the original on 2024-02-07. Retrieved 2025-12-29.
  12. ^ Dutton, Donald G.; Painter, Susan (1993). "Emotional Attachments in Abusive Relationships: A Test of Traumatic Bonding Theory". Violence and Victims. 8 (2): 105–120. doi:10.1891/0886-6708.8.2.105. ISSN 0886-6708.
  13. ^ a b Yorke, Clifton (July 2008). "The Abusive Personality: Violence and Control in Intimate Relationships (2nd edn) by Donald Dutton". Journal of Family Therapy. 30 (3): 315–316. doi:10.1111/j.1467-6427.2008.00433_5.x.
  14. ^ "Donald Dutton". Irwin Law. Retrieved 17 February 2026.
  15. ^ Lantos, V. (2008). "The Abusive Personality: Violence and Control in Intimate Relationships. 2nd ed". Canadian Journal of Psychiatry. 53 (3): 207.
  16. ^ Mathews, D. A. (2006). "Book Review: Dutton, Donald G. Rethinking domestic violence". Choice: Reviews Online. 44 (4). doi:10.5860/CHOICE.44-2396.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.