• Jealousy
• Controlling behavior
• Quick involvement
• Unrealistic expectations
• Isolation
• Blames others for his problems
• Blames others for his feelings
• Hypersensitivity
• Cruelty to animals or children
• “Playful” use of force in sex
• Verbal abuse
• Rigid sex roles
• Jekyll-and-Hyde personality
• Past battering
• Threats of violence
• Breaking or striking objects
• Any force during an argument

If your partner exhibits more than three of these warning signs, there is a strong potential for abuse in the relationship.