Domestic Violence : Types of Abuse

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Domestic Violence: Abuse in Families

A Self-Study Course By

Maureen Kenny, Ph.D.

Continuing Education Credits:

1 CE Credit Hours

Directions: To receive APA approved continuing education credit for this TPA sponsored home study assignment, you must:

1)Read the article in its entirety;

2)Take the test at the end of the article;

3)Mail the test along with $25 (TPA Members) or $100 (Non-TPA Members) to the TPA Central Office at 1011 Meredith Drive, Ste. 4, Austin, TX 78748.

Domestic Violence: Abuse in Families

Domestic Violence : Types of Abuse

Despite growing awareness and laws designed to protect abuse victims, domestic violence is on the rise (Ryan, 1995). Although once believed to be a relatively uncommon occurrence, it is beginning to be a social problem affecting many in society (O’Keefe, 1994). The term "domestic violence" literally means all forms of violence in the home. However, most people associate it with abuse that occurs between adults involved in an intimate relationship. It can include physical, sexual and psychological abuse or intimidation as well as economic coercion (Corcoran & Mclamed, 1996 ; Kempe, 1997). Experts believe these acts are done to achieve power and control over family members (APA, 1996).

Within the category of family violence, there are many types of abuse. Spousal abuse may occur between married couples, couples sharing an intimate relationship, or between heterosexual or homosexual partners (Pilowsky, 1993). Child abuse and maltreatment occur when a parent or caretaker is violent toward a dependent child. This can include sexual abuse and incest (the latter of which refers to childhood sexual abuse by a biological relative), physical abuse, psychological abuse and emotional abuse. ( It is important to note that the definitions of such acts vary according to states and some states do not accept reports on childhood emotional abuse.) Another type of family violence which is frequently ignored is elder abuse and maltreatment.

It is important to differentiate family violence from other types of violence. One of the main differences between family violence and other acts of random violence is that the former occurs in the context of a relationship that is supposed to be protective, supportive, and nurturing (APA, 1996). Victims are frequently financially dependent on those who harm them and may not be able to escape easily. Also, there is often a sense of loyalty to the abusers and victims may feel a strong emotional bond which keeps them in the abusive relationship (APA, 1996). In most cases of family violence, the abuse coexists with times of affection and attention. Children who are abused often “cling” to parents despite the existing abuse. The same is true for those in spousal abusive relationships who remain despite the cycle of violence. This paper will focus on family violence which takes place between two adults in an intimate relationship and abuse between a parent or caretaker and child. A review of the statistics regarding both spousal abuse and child abuse, as well as some of the characteristics of such abusers.

Spousal Abuse

Estimates claim 4 million American women are abused by their partners in the United States in any one year (APA, 1996). This means one woman is beaten every 15 seconds (Smith & Martin, 1995). The National Family Violence Surveys (Strauss & Gelles, 1986) found that about 12% of couples reported at least one incident of violence during the previous year. About 6% of couples reported a "serious" incident of violence including kicking, biting, choking or using a weapon (Straus & Gelles, 1986). Of all the reported spousal abuse cases, 95% of the victims are women (National Crime Statistics Report, 1986).

Women in low-income households experience a higher rate of non lethal violence from an intimate than do women in households with larger incomes (U.S. Department of Justice, 1998). The highest rate of intimate violence affects women ages 16 to 24, where as the lowest rate is in women over 65 years of age (U.S. Department of Justice, 1998). Most intimate violence occurs in or near the victims’ home (U.S. Department of Justice, 1998).

Rates of non-lethal intimate violence are highest among black women and women residing in urban areas. About a third of female victims of intimate violence experienced such violence more than once during the six months preceding their interview (U.S. Department of Justice, 1998). These figures clearly establish the magnitude of this problem.

Many couples in which domestic violence occurs are not married. In fact, Gondolf, Fisher and McFeron (1991) found that over half of the perpetrators in their sample were not married and that many women seeking help in shelters for battered women are not married. Sometimes, violence occurs between couples that do not reside together. Domestic violence also frequently occurs when one of the partners is trying to leave the relationship (Kempe, 1997). Spousal abuse in some cases can become fatal. Of all current homicides in the United States in 1993, more than half of the victims were killed by a current or former partner (Marino, 1994). One in five women will be physically assaulted by a partner or ex-partner during their lifetime (Smith & Martin, 1995).

Unlike the mandatory child abuse reporting laws, there exists no such mandate for domestic violence. This lack of reporting adds to the difficulty of establishing the extent of the problem (Kempe, 1997). There is an obvious difference in the number of reports and the number of incidents that actually occur. About half of the women who are victimized by an intimate report the violence to law enforcement (U.S. Department of Justice, 1998). Many victims are reluctant to report such violence for a number of reasons. They may fear retaliation from the abuser, be embarrassed or feel ashamed for what has occurred. They may believe what happens in the family is private and not to be reported outside the home. Victims may also minimize or deny the abuse in response to perpetrators’ denial of abusive behavior (APA, 1996).

Husband Batterers

Contrary to popular belief, some studies have shown that women can be just as violent as men (Gelles, 1995). In 1996, 516 men were murdered by their intimate partners (U.S. Department of Justice, 1998). It is estimated that wife to husband violence is 34 per 1000 (Gelles, 1995). Although men are also the victims of domestic violence, they seem to fare better than women. Men are much less likely to incur serious injuries from the violence. Gelles (1995) has also pointed out that when women behave violently, it is frequently in self -defense. However, some women use violence for the same reasons as men, to control and dominate and express rage and frustration.

Many studies do not ask women about their level of violence toward men, thus the findings are few. However, in shelter surveys, where women have been asked such a question, they admit to a significant level of violence against their mate (Cook, 1997). While some of these assaults may have been in self-defense, it is unlikely that all of them were. The Straus and Gelles (1986) surveys indicate an equal number of men experiencing domestic violence and an even greater number (2 million) being seriously injured. These National Family Violence Surveys report that 4.6 percent of wives severely attack their husbands. One of the most common methods of attack by women is to throw objects. They found that women were significantly more likely to throw an object, slap, kick, bite or hit with fist and hit with object than men (Straus & Gelles, 1986). The APA (1996) has grouped women who use violence in the family into several categories, these include those who act in self-defense. This relates to many spousal abuse cases. Women who have mental disorders may also use violence possibly due to their own victimization in childhood. Then there are those women classified as antisocial. These women engage in criminal behaviors other than domestic abuse. Finally, there are those who may strike their partner first due to repeated or anticipated abuse (APA, 1996).

Childhood Antecedents of Adult Violent Offenders

Although spousal abuse has been researched for over two decades, studies related to the abuser's family background and its dynamics have been mildly neglected (Ryan, 1995). However, in recent years, several studies have shown that the family’s interactions may play an important role in the development of a spousal abuser (Hyden, 1995). The majority of the studies indicated that the most common issues in the abuser’s family were child molestation, physical pain as a method of discipline, witnessing parental violence and witnessing parental substance abuse (Suh & Abel, 1990).

Research has consistently indicated that males who engage in violent behavior toward their female partners are much more likely than nonviolent males to have either been physically abused as children or to have witnessed aggression between their parents (Barnett, Martinez & Bluesetin, 1995; Russell, 1988; Straus, Gelles, & Steinmetz, 1980; Sugarman & Hotaling, 1989). In addition, research indicates that frequency and severity of physical violence toward an intimate partner are correlated with the frequency and severity of having both witnessed domestic violence or experienced physical abuse as a child (Sugarman, Aldarondo, & Boney-McCoy, 1996). Suh and Abel (1990) found that 14% of the abusers had been sexually molested as children, and that in 84% of those cases the molester was their own father. It is hypothesized that inability to prevent or stop physical abuse in childhood may lead to development of a sense of insecurity, dependency and low self esteem in adulthood (Barnett, et al., 1995). In turn, these perceptions may contribute to the spouse abuser’s heightened need to retain the relationship, but also a sense of powerlessness to control one’s relationship.

The Dynamics of A Domestic Violence Family

The family's socioeconomic level, which seems to play a very important role in spousal abuse, includes family members' level of education, their occupation, their income, and their rate of unemployment. Families with a lower socioeconomic level have been observed to have a higher rate of spousal abuse (Neff, Holamon & Schluter, 1995). However, the factor that seems to make the most impact in the occurrence of spousal abuse, is financial stress. If a couple finds themselves under financial difficulty, in addition to other family stressors, the tension tends to escalate from verbal abuse to physical abuse in a short period regardless of the level of education or occupation in most of the cases (Corcoran & Melamed, 1, 1990; Neff, et al., Suh & Abel, 1990). O’Leary (1988), indicated that high stress levels often make it more likely that people who have other variables associated with domestic violence (e.g., witnessing their parents physically fight) would be more likely to engage in domestic violence when they are experiencing high levels of stress.

Substance abuse has also been found to be highly correlated with domestic violence (Hotaling & Sugarman, 1986; Suh & Abel, 1990). Studies suggest that substance abuse is not the sole contributing factor to the development of a spouse abuser (Kantor & Straus, 1987), however, it does appear to have a direct correlation to the quantity and the frequency of spousal abuse (Hyden, 1995). Moreover, the majority of studies refer to substance abuse as a recipe for family troubles when the use of substances becomes a means to avoid confronting and solving family problems. Although alcohol abuse is often associated with spousal aggression, the reported incidence of alcohol use during physically aggressive altercation varies significantly. O’Leary (1988) reports that typical estimates are between 40% and 60%. Interestingly, both victims and perpetrators of domestic violence have high levels of alcohol use (APA, 1996).

Rosebaum (1980) found that marital satisfaction was the most important factor in distinguishing physically abusive individuals from non physically abusive individuals. O’Leary (1988) indicated that the relationship dissatisfaction may be a temporary disagreement as opposed to pervasive negative feelings about the relationship. Schlater and O’Leary (1985) concluded that couples who have maintained a tumultuous relationship for many years are likely to interpret even minor behavior by their partner as extremely negative. This negative interpretation, in turn, leads to an experience of marital dissatisfaction.

Child Abuse

Child abuse is an unfortunately common occurrence in our society. The most recent statistics available from National Center on Child Abuse & Neglect (NCCAN) (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1998) report that child protective services received and referred to investigation over 2 million reports of alleged child abuse and neglect in 1996 (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1998 ). These reports contained over 3 million children as alleged victims. Reports are mostly gained from those individuals mandated to report: educators, law enforcement officials, mental health professionals, child care staff, medical professionals, child care staff, and others. For the 48 states from which data is available, there were 500,032 substantiated victims of neglect, 229, 332 victims of physical abuse, 119,397 victims of sexual abuse and 55,473 victims of emotional abuse (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1998). Thus, more than half of all victims suffered neglect while about one quarter suffered physical abuse.

There exists an interesting relationship between age and type of abuse for children. The percent of neglect and medical neglect victims decreases with a child’s age while the percent of physical, sexual and emotional maltreatment victims increases with age (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1998) . Interestingly, the largest group of sexual abuse victims are age 12 or older. There are slightly more female victims (52%) than male victims (48%) of maltreatment (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1998). As in spousal abuse, child abuse often results in death. It is estimated that there were 1,077 fatalities reported (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1998).

Traditionally, there has been a view that those who abuse children were outsiders or "mentally ill" (Tzeng & Schwarzin, 1990). However, as family members and acquaintances become increasingly identified as perpetrators, this view is changing. Based on data from 43 states, NCCAN (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1998) reports that 77% of perpetrators of child maltreatment were parents and an additional 11% were “ other relatives” of the victims. Research is demonstrating that most cases of abuse seem to be committed by perpetrators known to the victim. This seems especially true in cases of childhood sexual abuse. For example, Finkelhor, Hotaling, Lewis, and Smith (1990) found that perpetrators were known to the sexual abuse victims in 60% of the cases. The relationship of the perpetrator to the victim is important, in that it has been found to increase the severity of the effects on the victim (APA, 1996).

Similar to spousal abuse, socioeconomic status has frequently been found to be correlated with child abuse. It appears that living in poverty places families susceptible to social problems of all kinds (Derezotes & Snowden, 1990) including abuse. Low-income families have been identified as being at significant risk for sexual abuse (Capperlleri, Eckenrode, & Powers, 1993; Finkelhor, 1984). More recent analysis by NCCAN (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1996) reveals also that the highest rates of sexual abuse occur in families in which the annual income is less than $15,000.

Characteristics of Child Abusers - Physical Abuse

The question, why do some people resort to violence while others do not, is not easily answered. There has been a failure to identify single parental variables which would account for their status as child abusers. A theoretical formulation has been offered that conceptualizes abuse as a consequence of a combination of parent attributes, child attributes and environmental or contextual events that occasion the occurrence of maltreatment (Greenwald, Bank, Reid, & Knutson, 1997).

Research has identified several risk factors for parental child abuse. Similar to the risk factors for spousal abuse, one such risk factor includes the presence of physical abuse in the childhood of the parent (Greenwald et al., 1997). Additionally, women who have had difficult pregnancies or birth complications are also more likely to become abusive to their children than those who have not (Belsky &Vondra,1989). Negative feelings toward their children were found in a group of abusive mothers who delivered unplanned and/or unwanted children (Parduck, 1989). It may be that unwanted or difficult children are at risk for abuse.

Another risk factor described in the literature was the use of physical forms of discipline that have shifted to a level of interaction that is potentially injurious (Greenwald et al., 1997). Thus, many times physical abuse results when a parent “over does” spanking or other forms of physical punishment. Patterson (1992) affirmed the relationship of ineffective discipline to injurious parentchild relationship. Physical abuse can be viewed as one longterm outcome of chronic and escalated coercive exchanges in which ineffective discipline becomes increasingly punitive (Patterson, 1992). Another important issue to consider in child abuse, is the parents inability to cope with parenting and disruption of family. Most of the time parents who resolve disputes with violence do not spend time trying to "cool off and deciding against violence". They do not have the protective mechanism that can help them to stop their behavior.

Bavoleck (1980) described characteristics in parents that can evolve into abuse. First, there are the inappropriate parental expectations of the child. Abusive parents, tend to perceive inaccurately the skills and abilities of their children. Second, they lack empathy toward their children's needs and tend to disregard their children due to their own limited abilities and helplessness (Bavoleck, 1980). Third, the parental valuing of physical punishment can result in abuse. Many abusive parents find wrong with their children the same things for which they were criticized and punished as children. Hence the punishment carries the approval of traditional family authority and an aura of righteousness.

Frequently therapists find that persons who were abused and who become violent have not worked through the meaning of their own abuse. These victims often believe that there was something wrong with them and that they deserved it. These persons are not usually emotionally expressive except perhaps for being able to express rage.