Background Recent empirical evidence suggests that women assault their intimate partners at approximately the same rate as men. However, a general historical reluctance to acknowledge women as significant perpetrators of intimate partner violence (IPV) has limited clinical understanding of this phenomenon and the processes by which such behaviour may develop. Aim The following paper uses multiple sequential functional analysis (MSFA), an idiographic case formulation method based on functional analysis, to explore the development and functional value of IPV in the case histories of three women. Method Data from comprehensive clinical interviews, file review and collateral professional interviews are synthesised using MSFA to examine the development and maintenance of IPV across each participant's lifespan. Results Although there appeared to be important differences between participants, the analyses broadly indicated that all three participants used violence instrumentally to achieve some aspect of control or coercion over their intimate partners, and to meet their primary intimacy needs. Conclusions The MSFA appears to be a useful methodology for understanding female‐perpetrated IPV and, importantly, may lend itself more readily to effective formulation‐informed interventions than other qualitative‐narrative case methods. The strengths and limitations of MSFA as a pragmatic case formulation method are discussed. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.