Men are addicted to *** and women, let's not kid ourselves here.
What is it about the "jerk" that creates this powerful, uncontrollable attraction inside of women? Let me answer first by telling you what it's not:
It's not the abuse (not usually anyway). I don't believe that women are attracted to that abusive, mean, negative part of the "jerk personality".
I think that jerks just happen to also possess several attractive qualities that are so powerful that that they literally make women BLIND to the abuse... women will rationalize and excuse the abusive behavior because they are so attracted to these other qualities. Here is a partial list of what creates "attraction":
Unpredictable
Uncontrollable
Challenging
Dominant
Girls chase these guys because they're exciting and edgy, but also these girls usually have pretty low self esteem. After the jerk some of them require therapy to heal.