Myths, Other Half Truths and Reality
January 8, 2005
We don’t see things as they are; we see them as we are. - Anais Nin
We often read about the “myths” surrounding domestic violence. Gender feminists, because of their political agenda, must portray all women as equally at risk of being a domestic violence victim and all men as equally at risk for being a domestic violence abuser.
What follows is taken from a curriculum that has been designed by a nationally recognized law enforcement “expert” concerning domestic violence. I have little doubt that she means well, however, it is this kind of “misinformation” propagated by gender feminists that may harm as many people as it is intended to help.
Who is the typical abuser? The curriculum emphasizes that there is no stereotypical batterer. Case studies show that men [italics added] who abuse cross all racial economic and religious boundaries. Judges, lawyers, doctors, politicians, sports stars and even law enforcement officers are just as likely [italics added] to abuse as those who earn their livings as bus drivers, factory workers and janitors.
This is a gender feminists claim and it is not what clinical researchers claim or data documents. I understand why gender feminists would want to profess the myth that all men are just as likely to be an abuser – it fits their political agenda – however, why the claim from a nationally recognized law enforcement trainer?
It is important to remember that while there is no doubt than anyone is capable of abuse, regardless of age, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic and educational status, it is a fact that some people are far more likely to be abusers than others. That distinction is critical because risk factor identifiers can save lives.
When you are taught that everyone is just as likely to be an abuser, you do not learn that certain risk factors attributed to some people document they are far more likely to be abusers than others are. The ability to identify and understand domestic violence risk factors is vital.
Risk Factors 101
Approximately 40,000 people a year die in automobile accidents. Does this mean that every time you drive a car you are just as likely to die in an automobile accident as the majority of those 40,000 people? If you can recognize and understand risk factors, it doesn’t.
If we are all trained to believe that everyone is just as likely to die as those 40,000 victims we might become paralyzed with fear and lack the ability to understand the truth. The truth is that by identifying risk factors lives can be saved.
In driver education we are trained to recognize and understand that when we drive a car there are specific risk factors that when identified and understood can dramatically increase our safety. Through the recognition of specific risk factors many people are able to avoid the pitfalls that took the lives of the majority of the 40,000 who died in automobile accidents.
It is estimated that alcohol is involved in more than half of all motor vehicle deaths. Most people recognize that drinking and driving is a dangerous risk factor. Not drinking and driving dramatically increases your chances of arriving alive.
You do not have to be a law enforcement officer to understand the concept of “speed kills.” There isn’t a need for specific driver education classes to understand that an accident at 35 miles per hour produces dramatically different results than an accident at 75 miles per hour.
We learn that snow, ice or rain covered highways are far more dangerous than dry ones. We identify those risk factors and alter our behavior. If you think that all driving patterns or behaviors are just as likely to result in an accident or death you may very well never drive again. We have learned to understand and appreciate the risk factors involved with driving.
It can be the same for domestic violence. While it is relevant to understand that anyone is capable of abuse, it is far more important to recognize there are many risk factor identifiers in people that make them far more likely than others to abuse or to be a victim of abuse. Painting everyone just as likely to abuse and always referring to abusers as heterosexual males does little to nothing to help people identify domestic violence risk factors.
Real and Relevant Domestic Violence Risk Factors
If offenders match these first two variables they are people who must be held by the courts once arrested or if released they must be placed on some type of intensive pretrial probation. Data documents they are the most likely of all to continue their abusive behavior.
As a condition of their release chronic abusers must agree to attend a court supervised drug or alcohol program. While drug or alcohol use may not cause domestic violence reams of data document that offenders who abuse drugs or alcohol are far more likely to be abusive towards their intimate partner than those who do not. There are few drug or alcohol programs that co-exist with domestic violence intervention. This needs to change.
Domestic violence incidences of murder/suicides are extremely high. The court should
notify local mental health professionals when there is a report of a threatened suicide by
anyone who exhibits abusive behavior or is a victim of abuse.
Any physical force or threats of physical force while the partner is pregnant is of particular importance. Any physical assaults, particularly those where anyone has been grabbed by the throat or strangled.
All use or threatened use of weapons of any type on any family member, acquaintance, or stranger must be taken seriously. When firearms are present and there are two or more assessment matches, the danger of a homicide is seriously heightened because of easy accessibility.
Why Then the Everyone Just as Likely Myth?
All criminal justice records and information concerning batterers collected by batterer treatment programs clearly document that the socioeconomic educational background of batterers do matter. Reams of criminal justice data document that the higher socioeconomic educational level of a person the less likely that person will exhibit criminal behavior.
There are reams of data that document that the majority of people who violently physically batter have backgrounds of being abused themselves, both as adults and children. They often have extensive juvenile and adult criminal records, and histories of behavioral disorders. Many live in violent homes and neighborhoods.
Most of these physically violent batters have backgrounds of extreme poverty and poor school achievement, long term unemployment, mental illness, alcohol and other substance abuse problems, etc, etc. This data is not only from batterer programs or people who have been arrested for domestic violence. Much of this information is gleaned from civil restraining orders where little to no criminal justice intervention.
Again, this is not to question the fact that some doctors, lawyers, researchers, etc., regardless age, gender, or sexual orientation can be abusive. All criminal acts and in fact all aberrant behavior can be exhibited by people from all strata of society. However, regardless of what gender feminists proffer and domestic violence advocates believe, this fact is not unique to domestic violence.
Data documents that the vast majority of people who are chronic and violent batterers come from a subsection of some people in particular and not men in general. Why would a retired law enforcement officer who is a national recognized domestic violence expert claim otherwise?
