Cycle of Violence
One of the hardest things to deal with in cases of domestic abuse, and one reason that many people (usually women) stay in abusive relationships, is the "cycle of abuse." It may be difficult for the victim to stay mad at the batterer or abuser because he exhibits periods of extreme kindness. During these periods, the batterer/abuser showers the victim with love and expresses remorse for past arguments or abusive episodes; yet this does not mean that the abuse is over.
The following diagram helps to illustrate that many domestic abuse relationships go through periods of pain, remorse, and forgiveness only to repeat the cycle over and over.
Lenore Walker's Theory of Violence
The calm, loving behaviors in the remorse/forgiveness stage are almost always followed up by increasing tension. Then some triggering event, such as a jealous moment, starts the next round of abuse. The remorse period does not mean that the batterer is not going to hurt his partner again. He may be sorry, but most likely he is not sorry enough to stop. Once the tension begins to build, the abuse begins again.