TASA 2003 Conference, University of New England, 4–6 December 2003 Inventing ‘The Male Psychological Self’ in Quantitative Research on Domestic Violence: Re-Thinking How the Abu- sive Practices of Male Perpetrators Are Understood Michael Wearing University of NSW email M.Wearing@unsw.edu.au George Matheson University of Wollongong Email: gmath@uow.edu.au Margaret Massam RMIT, Melbourne Email: margaret.massam@ems.rmit.edu.au Abstract How are (heterosexual) men who are violent and their relationships conceived and theorised in mainstream psychological research? One example of research in the area is the influential research of the US based psychologist John Gottman who portrays these men as two types: either ‘pit bulls’ (prone to rage and jealousy) or ‘cobras’ (sociopaths, cold and calculating). What are the social and educational im- plications of using such research in program design and service culture? We will use a three year survey study of the attitudes and self-identified abusive behaviours of male perpetrators of domestic violence involved in voluntary group programs in New South Wales (N= 123) to unpack and challenge some of the underpinnings of this style of research. This study suggests a more productive approach to under- standing these men is to focus on the intensity of abusive behaviours rather than typing men and their partners. This critical assessment of research and theory il- lustrates a contested knowledge for theorising the violence of male self. The conclu- sions suggests that a useful educational strategy against reductionism of male in- terpersonal violence is a ‘critical distance’ from the production of these forms of methodological, psychological and emotional knowledge.