Spouse and What Partner Abuse—Who and When? - Who Strikes The First Blow?

The NFVS data on violence by women triggered a firestorm of protest from feminist academicians, scholars, and activists, who claimed the analysis of survey data not

TABLE 2.5

Percent distribution of victimizations, by characteristics of victims, type of crime, and victim/offender relationship, 2000
		Percent of all victimizations
		Nonstrangers
Characteristic	Total victimizations	Total	Intimate	Other relative	Friend or acquaintance	Stranger	Don't know relationship
Both genders
Crimes of Violence	100%	54.0%	10.6%	5.0%	38.3%	44.4%	1.7%
Rape/sexual assault2	100	67.1	8.81	1.61	56.7	30.7	2.21
Robbery	100	35.0	9.3	4.01	21.7	62.5	2.51
Assault	100	55.4	10.9	5.3	39.2	43.1	1.5
Aggravated	100	46.7	9.0	5.9	31.9	50.6	2.71
Simple	100	57.8	11.4	5.2	41.2	41.0	1.2
Male
Crmies of Violence	100	42.6	2.5	3.5	36.6	56.1	1.3
Rape/sexual assult2	100	52.21	0.01	0.01	52.21	47.81	0.01
Robbery	100	23.5	3.61	0.01	19.9	74.0	2.51
Assault	100	44.9	2.4	3.9	38.5	53.9	1.21
Aggravated	100	38.9	2.31	4.51	32.1	59.9	1.21
Simple	100	46.8	2.5	3.8	40.5	52.0	1.21
Female
Crimes of violence	100	67.1	19.9	6.9	40.3	30.9	2.0
Rape/sexual assault2	100	69.2	10.11	1.81	57.3	28.2	2.51
Robbery	100	54.8	19.1	11.01	24.7	42.8	2.41
Assault	100	68.0	21.0	7.0	40.0	30.1	1.9
Aggravated	100	58.2	18.7	8.0	31.5	36.8	5.01
Simple	100	70.3	21.5	6.8	42.0	28.5	1.21
All races
Crimes of Violence	100	54.0	10.6	5.0	38.3	44.4	1.7
Rape/sexual assault2	100	67.1	8.81	1.61	56.7	30.7	2.21
Robbery	100	35.0	9.3	4.01	21.7	62.5	2.51
Assault	100	55.4	10.9	5.3	39.2	43.1	1.5
Aggravated	100	46.7	9.0	5.9	31.9	50.6	2.71
Simple	100	57.8	11.4	5.2	41.2	41.0	1.2
White
Crimes of violence	100	53.7	10.5	4.9	38.3	44.9	1.4
Rape/sexual assault2	100	62.8	9.41	2.41	51.1	35.9	1.31
Robbery	100	35.9	8.01	5.61	22.3	62.9	1.21
Assault	100	55.0	10.8	5.0	39.3	43.5	1.4
Aggravated	100	47.5	9.2	5.8	32.5	49.9	2.61
Simple	100	57.0	11.2	4.8	41.0	41.9	1.1
Black
Crimes of violence	100	56.3	10.1	5.8	40.3	40.5	3.21
Rape/sexual assault2	100	78.8	0.01	0.01	78.8	16.61	4.61
Robbery	100	32.5	11.91	0.01	20.61	60.6	6.91
Assault	100	58.2	11.0	7.6	39.6	39.4	2.41
Aggravated	100	42.4	8.51	6.71	27.2	54.4	3.21
Simple	100	65.4	12.1	8.1	45.2	32.6	2.01
Other
Crimes of violence	100	49.2	17.71	4.31	27.2	50.8	0.01
Rape/sexual assault2	1001	54.91	54.9	0.01	0.01	45.11	0.01
Robbery	1001	34.91	16.81	0.01	18.01	65.11	0.01
Assault	100	51.8	13.81	5.71	32.3	48.2	0.01
Aggravated	1001	75.41	0.11	0.01	75.41	24.61	0.01
Simple	100	49.6	15.11	6.21	28.31	50.4	0.01
Ethnicity
Crimes of violence	100	54.0	10.6	5.0	38.3	44.4	1.7
Rape/sexual assault2	100	67.1	8.81	1.61	56.7	30.7	2.21
Robbery	100	35.0	9.3	4.01	21.7	62.5	2.51
Assault	100	55.4	10.9	5.3	39.2	43.1	1.5
Aggravated	100	46.7	9.0	5.9	31.9	50.6	2.71
Simple	100	57.8	11.4	5.2	41.2	41.0	1.2
Hispanic
Crimes of violence	100	50.2	7.2	7.0	35.9	49.4	0.41
Rape/sexual assault2	1001	30.71	0.01	0.01	30.71	69.31	0.01
Robbery	100	31.01	6.01	0.01	24.91	69.0	0.01
Assault	100	54.0	7.6	8.4	37.9	45.6	0.51
Aggravated	100	49.6	2.21	9.21	38.3	48.8	1.61
Simple	100	55.9	10.1	8.11	37.7	44.1	0.01

only ignored the context in which the violence occurred, but also failed to consider the fact that women often must resort to violence in self-defense. Other scholars supported the argument that domestic violence was usually mutual.

In his book Abused Men: The Hidden Side of Domestic Violence (Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1997), Philip W. Cook supported the mutual abuse argument. Using data from the 1985 NFVS and Murray Straus's 1993 work

Note: Detail may not add to total shown because of rounding.
1Estimate is based on about 10 or fewer sample cases.
2Includes verbal threats of rape and threats of sexual assault.
SOURCE: "Table 43a. Personal Crimes of Violence, 2002: Percent Distribution of Victimizations, by Characteristics of Victims, Type of Crime, and Victim/Offender Relationship," in Criminal Victimization in the United States, 2002 Statistical Tables, National Crime Victimization Survey, U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, December 2003, http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/cvus02.pdf (accessed September 21, 2004)
Non-Hispanic
Crimes of violence	100	54.4	11.0	4.8	38.6	43.8	1.8
Rape/sexual assault2	100	70.2	9.61	1.71	58.9	27.4	2.41
Robbery	100	36.0	10.0	4.91	21.2	61.0	3.01
Assault	100	55.4	11.2	5.0	39.3	42.9	1.7
Aggravated	100	46.2	10.3	5.3	30.6	50.9	2.91
Simple	100	57.8	11.4	4.9	41.6	40.8	1.4

TABLE 2.6

Victim and offender relationship, 2003
	Violent crime		Rape/sexual assault		Robbery		Aggravated assault		Simple assault
Relationship with victim	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent
Note: Percentages may not total to 100% because of rounding.
*Based on 10 or fewer sample cases.
SOURCE: Shannan M. Catalano, "Table 9. Victim and Offender Relationship, 2003," in Criminal Victimization, 2003, U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics National Crime Victimization Survey, September 2004, http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/cv03.pdf (accessed September 19, 2004)
Male victims
Total	3,056,160	100%	19,670	100%	365,590	100%	688,420	100%	1,982,480	100%
Nonstranger	1,287,960	42%	14,500	74%*	118,300	32%	266,770	39%	888,400	45%
Intimate	83,750	3	5,940	30*	6,130	2*	21,910	3*	49,780	3
Other relative	138,310	5	0	0*	17,250	5*	12,490	2*	108,570	6
Friend/acquaintance	1,065,900	35	8,560	44*	94,910	26	232,370	34	730,050	37
Stranger	1,658,160	54%	5,170	26%*	226,110	62%	399,240	58%	1,027,630	52%
Relationship unknown	110,050	4%	0	0%*	21,180	6%*	22,420	3%*	66,450	3%
Female victims
Total	2,345,550	100%	179,170	100%	230,540	100%	412,690	100%	1,523,150	100%
Nonstranger	1,562,010	67%	125,370	70%	110,670	48%	274,430	67%	1,051,540	69%
Intimate	437,990	19	21,440	12*	30,990	13*	101,400	25	284,170	19
Other relative	230,850	10	13,930	8*	17,430	8*	40,320	10	159,180	11
Friend/acquaintance	893,170	38	90,000	50	62,260	27	132,720	32	608,190	40
Stranger	745,930	32%	53,800	30%	103,630	45%	131,850	32%	456,640	30%
Relationship unknown	37,610	2%	0	0%*	16,240	7%*	6,400	2%*	14,970	1%*

"Physical Assault by Wives: A Major Social Problem" (Current Controversies on Family Violence [Newbury Park, CA: Sage, 1993]), Cook concluded that, in most cases, men and women shared equally when engaging in domestic abuse. Cook also found that women are 11% more likely to hit first during an argument.

Straus arrived at a similar conclusion in "Physical Assault by Wives." He observed that the number of women who hit first was about the same as the number of men, regardless of how dangerous the assault was. Straus concluded that self-defense did not account for all the attacks by women, and that 25% to 30% of violence is attributable to physical aggression by the wife.

Abuse by Women

Demie Kurz and Kersti Yllöo presented a feminist perspective in Physical Assaults by Husbands: A Major Social Problem (1987). Kurz and Yllöo observed that gender strongly influences how society functions, and they were critical of research that categorized "spouse abuse" as just one of several types of abuse that include elder and child abuse. They contended that this categorization reduced women to simply one victimized group among many. Instead, feminists believe, wife abuse should be grouped with other criminal acts of male dominance, such as marital and other types of rape, sexual harassment, and incest.

TABLE 2.7

Violent victimization rates of selected demographic categories, 1993–2003
Number of violent crimes per 1,000 persons age 12 or older
Demographic category of victim	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	percent change, 1993–2003
Note: Annual rates are based on interviews conducted during the calendar year. For 2003 the racial categories are white/black/other "only" and "two or more races." The collection of racial and ethnic categories in 2003 changed from that of previous years; however, because about 0.9% of survey respondents identified two or more races, the impact on the victimization rates for each race is small. The population estimates for 2003 incorporate controls based on the 2000 decennial Census.
—Not available.
SOURCE: Shannan M. Catalano, "Table 4. Violent Victimization Rates of Selected Demographic Categories, 1993–2003," in Criminal Victimization, 2003, U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics National Crime Victimization Survey, September 2004, http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/cv03.pdf (accessed September 19,2004)
Gender
Male	59.8	61.1	55.7	49.9	45.8	43.1	37.0	32.9	27.3	25.5	26.3	−56.0%
Female	40.7	43.0	38.1	34.6	33.0	30.4	28.8	23.2	23.0	20.8	19.0	−53.3
Race
White	47.9	50.5	44.7	40.9	38.3	36.3	31.9	27.1	24.5	22.8	21.5	−55.1%
Black	67.4	61.3	61.1	52.3	49.0	41.7	41.6	35.3	31.2	27.9	29.1	−56.8
Other race	39.8	49.9	41.9	33.2	28.0	27.6	24.5	20.7	18.2	14.7	16.0	−59.8
Two or more races	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	67.7	—
Hispanic origin
Hispanic	55.2	61.6	57.3	44.0	43.1	32.8	33.8	28.4	29.5	23.6	24.2	−56.2%
Non-Hispanic	49.5	50.7	45.2	41.6	38.3	36.8	32.4	27.7	24.5	23.0	22.3	−54.9
Annual household income
Less than $7,500	84.7	86.0	77.8	65.3	71.0	63.8	57.5	60.3	46.6	45.5	49.9	−41.1%
$7,500–$14,999	56.4	60.7	49.8	52.1	51.2	49.3	44.5	37.8	36.9	31.5	30.8	−45.4
$15,000–$24,999	49.0	50.7	48.9	44.1	40.1	39.4	35.3	31.8	31.8	30.0	26.3	−46.3
$25,000–$34,999	51.0	47.3	47.1	43.0	40.2	42.0	37.9	29.8	29.1	27.0	24.9	−51.2
$35,000–$49,999	45.6	47.0	45.8	43.0	38.7	31.7	30.3	28.5	26.3	25.6	21.4	−53.1
$50,000–$74,999	44.0	48.0	44.6	37.5	33.9	32.0	33.3	23.7	21.0	18.7	22.9	−48.0
$75,000 or more	41.3	39.5	37.3	30.5	30.7	33.1	22.9	22.3	18.5	19.0	17.5	−57.6

For these and many other feminists, violence is an issue of power, and in both society and marriage, power is held almost exclusively by men. They caution that approaching the issue of spousal abuse using a family violence model may have negative repercussions for women, because this model reinforces the notion that women become victims of abuse by provoking their partners. They also argue that research and analyses based on the family violence model often lead to policy decisions that are harmful to women, such as reduced funding for women's shelters or testimony against battered women in court. Furthermore, they argue that the family violence model encourages mental health workers and counselors to propose interventions and actions that focus on a client's personal problems without identifying the social, political, and economic inequalities between men and women that feminists contend form the basis for battering.

A CRITIQUE OF THE CONFLICT TACTICS SCALE. Kurz and Yllöo observed that when women were asked about the context of their use of violence, most reported that they used violence in self-defense. Other feminist scholars contend that researchers exclude the context of the situation when they ask who initiated the violence, and fail to take into account that violence is often preceded by name-calling and other psychological abuse. Women's advocates argue that women, viewing these behaviors as early warning signs of future violence, may hit first in the hope of preventing physical abuse. Even when women initiate violence, they conclude, it may very well be an act of self-defense. Research revealing that wives often report their use of violence as self-defense or retaliation supports this theory. Violent men, on the other hand, attribute their aggression to external causes.

Michael S. Kimmel has criticized the Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS), a measure that is widely used in surveys of domestic violence ("'Gender Symmetry' in Domestic Violence: A Substantive and Methodological Research Review," Violence against Women, vol. 8, November 2002). He questions whether violence can or should be measured as a conflict tactic, arguing that "such framing assumes that domestic violence … has more to do with being tired or in a bad mood than it does with an effort to control another person." He also argues that the CTS needs to take into account the context of violence. The fact that it does not evaluate context leads to a skewing of results. "Thus," he wrote, "if she pushes him back after being severely beaten, it would be scored one conflict tactic for each. And if she punches him to get him to stop beating their children or pushes him away after he has sexually assaulted her, it would count as one for her and none for him."

Russell P. Dobash and colleagues also question the findings that result from use of the Conflict Tactics Scale. In "Separate and Intersecting Realities: A Comparison of Men's and Women's Accounts of Violence against Women" (Violence against Women, vol. 4, no. 4, August 1998), the researchers disputed the assumption that the CTS accounts of violence, whether from men or women, are unbiased and reliable. Comparing men's accounts of their violence with accounts given by women, Dobash et al. found an overall pattern of inconsistency between the reports of men and women. An even greater discrepancy was seen in the reported frequency of violent acts.

CAUSES AND PREVENTION OF ABUSE BY WOMEN. The difficulty with these feminist viewpoints, Straus and Gelles argue, is that they explain wife abuse in terms of patriarchy, which focuses on the power and control men exert over women and overlooks other important variables. Furthermore, patriarchy does not explain many other types of domestic violence, such as child abuse, sibling abuse, elder abuse, and violence by women.

Straus and Gelles claim that in some cases data on assaults by women have intentionally been suppressed. The Survey of Spousal Violence against Women in Kentucky by Mark A. Schulman (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1979) was one of the first issue-defining studies, yet it did not publish the data gathered on violence committed by women. When other researchers obtained the survey data set, they reported that among violent couples, 38% of attacks were committed by women who had not been attacked first by their male partners.

Straus and Gelles do believe that the generally greater size, strength, and aggressiveness of men means that the same action taken by a man is likely to inflict more pain or injury than a comparable act committed by a woman. They also allow that some violence inflicted by women against men is in retaliation or self-defense. Still, they argue, violence by women cannot be ignored, and efforts to prevent it are needed for several reasons. A fundamental reason is the intrinsic moral incorrectness of attacking a spouse, whether woman or man. Other reasons to prevent female-initiated or -instigated abuse include the danger of escalation, the model of violence as perceived by children, and the validation of any type of violence between spouses. When women hit, they legitimize the abuse they receive from men. If a woman slaps her partner, she gives him justification to hit her when he does not like her behavior.

Straus offers three reasons why injury should not be used as a criterion for defining abuse in "Conceptualization and Measurement of Battering: Implications for Public Policy" (Women Battering: Policy Responses, Michael Steinman, ed. [Cincinnati, OH: Anderson Publishing, 1991]). First, the effect on legislation would be detrimental to women who must rely on police ability and authority to make arrests without visible evidence of injury. Second, injury-based rates would eliminate from the data 97% of assaults by men that did not result in injury but are still serious and harmful. Finally, focusing exclusively on injury rates would make it easier to ignore the abuse by women because physical violence inflicted by women frequently does not result in significant injury.

Violence Reexamined

The National Youth Survey, a self-reported longitudinal study following selected participants over time, measured problem behavior in a national sample of young people. It began in 1976 when the respondents were eleven to seventeen years old and followed the participants for sixteen years into adulthood in 1992, when they were twenty-seven to thirty-three years old. Analyzing data from the 1983, 1986, 1989, and 1992 surveys, researcher Barbara Morse determined the level of violence between married or cohabiting partners and described her conclusions in "Beyond the Conflict Tactics Scale: Assessing Gender Differences in Partner Violence" (Violence and Victims, vol. 10, Winter 1995).

The surveys found high levels of violence in many relationships—54.5% of partners reported some violence in 1983, declining to 32.4% by 1992. About one-quarter reported severe violence in the first survey, compared to 15.8% in 1992. These high rates, three to four times the rate reported by Straus, were attributed to the youth of the National Youth Survey respondents.

About 10% of the couples reported at least one incidence of severe male-to-female violence in the year that preceded both the 1983 and 1989 surveys; however, the rate dropped to 5.7% in 1992. The youth survey rates of female-to-male violence were remarkably high. About 48% of youth survey respondents reported one or more female-to-male assaults in their relationships in 1983. The rate declined sharply to 27.9% in 1992, but was still higher than rates reported by other researchers.

WHO WAS RESPONSIBLE? Morse conceded that the National Youth Survey rates were higher than rates found in most other studies and that they contradict common beliefs as well as police and hospital records. One explanation of the contradictory findings may be that men tend to underreport violence while women are more likely to be accurate reporters. Morse, however, found that both genders underreported violence when their accounts were compared to their partners' reports.

Morse found that women were significantly more likely than men to slap or throw something at their partners, as well as to kick, bite, or hit their partners with a fist or an object. On the other hand, males were much more likely than females to "beat up" their partners. Among men who beat their partners, the reported frequency of battering averaged three to four times per year. That was at least three times as often as women who engaged in similar behavior.

TABLE 2.8

Percent of all murders by intimates by age, 1976–2002
	Male victims	Female victims
SOURCE: James Alan Fox and Marianne W. Zawitz, "Percent of All Murders by Intimates, 1976–2002," in Homicide Trends in the United States, U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics National Crime Victimization Survey, September 28, 2004, http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/homicide/intimates.htm (accessed December 9, 2004)
Under 18	1%	6%
18–24	2	29
25–29	5	37
30–34	7	41
35–39	8	43
40–44	10	41
45–49	10	40
50–59	10	32
60+	7	20

Morse also found that the violence was mutual in about half the cases. In the remaining half, women accounted for about two-thirds of the nonreciprocal violence. This finding was supported by reports from both men and women. When asked who started the fight that led to the violence, men claimed that both parties were responsible 44% of the time, that 26% of the time they started it, and that 30% of the time their partners initiated it. In comparison, women blamed their partners 46% of the time, took equal responsibility 36% of the time, and took full blame 18% of the time.

Women were also more likely to receive medical treatment for their injuries. About 20% of the female respondents in each survey reported that the violence led to personal injury. In contrast, only 10% of the men reported injuries in 1989 and 14% in 1992.