QUOTE : All batterers were the same. They felt powerless. Deeply, deeply insecure. They desired not just control of their situation but a sick, fetishized version of control. Domination expressed through exaltations of violence. For some of these guys, the wife could submit entirely, give in, give the batterer everything he wanted, and it wouldn’t be enough to sate him. The beating itself became the ritual. The violence almost religious — the only way a man so small could feel good about himself, feel like he’s worth anything at all.