Most of what we know about domestic violence we've learned from the victims. Sociologists have spent a lot of time interviewing women in violence shelters.
But a recent survey commissioned by the U.S. government focuses on couples and has researchers excited to learn something new about the dynamics of abuse. Sonia Salari, a sociologist at the University of Utah, was one of the first to analyze the survey. Her conclusions were reported in the May issue of the "Journal of Family Issues."
Recently, she spoke with the Deseret News about what this new study confirms and what questions it raises.
Salari says the National Survey of Families and Households was unique not only because it studied 4,500 couples, but because it also interviewed them a second time — five years after the first interview. "We were able to look at what happened to the severity of the aggression over time," she explains.
Salari, an assistant professor in Family and Consumer Studies, was aided by Bret Baldwin, who was a graduate student at Brigham Young University at the time. They analyzed the National Survey of Families and Households, which had been done by researchers from the University of Wisconsin during the 1990s. The NSFH studied couples across the nation.
Salari says the couples filled out surveys about all aspects of their lives — not just their fights.
The NSFH research is much needed, Salari says. "While serving as a victim's advocate and community educator in North Carolina, I noticed that most of the materials we used were not based on research evidence." She believes researchers and advocates need to work together more closely.
Salari believes most people only understand one type of domestic violence, the "domestic terrorism" scenario, in which the perpetrator is nearly always male and in which the female is isolated and controlled.
We picture a woman cowering in the corner, being beaten, until finally he kills her or she decides she's had enough (as in the Jennifer Lopez movie). Then she kills him.
Salari says the NSFH study points out a second pattern, one that researchers recognize and are trying to learn more about. "Common couple violence" may be more common than we know, she says. In common couple violence the aggression is more mutual, although the woman may be striking out in self-defense. Due to differences in strength, women are usually the ones who get hurt in this scenario, as well.
Salari and Baldwin used the NSFH study to learn if aggression got worse over time and to see if they could predict which couples were at risk for increasing violence. They also compared previous studies about domestic violence to this new survey.
Here's what the NSFH study showed:
Both partners in a physically abusive relationship report being aggressive. About 67 percent of men and 64 percent of women who are in an abusive relationship said they'd hit, shoved or thrown something at a partner within the last year.
The NSFH survey did not determine if any of the hitting was done in self-defense. Nor does the new survey take into account that male abusers are more likely to be systematic and to cause serious injury or death, Salari says.
About 24 percent of couples who co-habit report physical violence as compared to 7 percent of married couples. Salari says the NSFH findings support other recent research — all of which has been a big shock to social scientists. "They thought cohabitators would be liberal and interested in equality, women's rights, and etc."
New relationships (married or not) are the rockiest. Nearly 18 percent of couples who have been together for less than five years report violence, compared with 11 percent of those together 10 years, and 3 percent of those together more than 15 years. This data is in line with previous studies, Salari says. She notes that violent people may be less likely to marry and less likely to stay together long enough to be counted at 15 years.
Salari talks about those who stayed together long enough to be counted in the second study. Of those, the ones who saw a decrease in violence were also the ones who had reported severe violence in the first place, severe violence coupled with the abuse of alcohol or drugs on the part of the man. Between the first and second study, Salari theorizes, the man may have gotten help with his substance abuse.
Having a child increases the likelihood of all forms of aggression between spouses — from name-calling to beatings.
Men who believe strongly in traditional gender roles are more likely to be aggressive.
A surprise: When a woman brings in more than half the family's income, the chance for violence increases. Earlier studies showed the opposite and sociologists once believed independent women are safer. Salari says more research is needed on the effect of unemployment on men.
One long-accepted fact was proven again: Women who are the most isolated are most likely to be hit. For this reason, Salari has reservations about the NSFH survey. Extremely violent men, the "intimate terrorists," wouldn't be likely to take a marriage survey, or allow their wives to take one. Salari believes the extent of domestic terrorism may be under-reported in the NSFH survey.
The most significant statistics involve men who abuse drugs or alcohol. Women's drug problems are hard on the relationship, too. But when a man has a substance abuse problem, the couple was twice as likely to have verbal violence, three times as likely to have physical violence and seven times more likely to experience injury-causing physical violence.
This is something for policy makers to know, Salari says. Legislators who want to decrease domestic violence might want to put more money into substance abuse counseling.
E-mail: susan@desnews.com