Family Violence Introductory Material

1
Family Violence Introductory Material

• Michelle L. Meloy, Ph.D.

2
What is family violence, anyway?
3
How is family violence defined?

• Debate exists about what should be included in
  the word family and what is meant by the term
  violence
• Domestic-family relationships can include
• Intimates and ex-intimates with or without sexual
  intimacy
• Family members siblings, parent-to-child abuse
  child-to-parent abuse or adult child
  caregiver-to-elder parent abuse
• Persons who share a residence

4
Typologies of family violence

• Physical violence, sexual violence, serious
  threats of either type of violence, emotional
  psychological violence and sometimes, stalking or
  extreme financial control.
• Neglect and abandonment can be forms of domestic
  abuse
• Terms violence and abuse are often used
  interchangeably but they are not necessarily the
  same thing
• This course will have a strong focus on intimate
  partner violence

5
Is it family violence when...

• a father spanks a misbehaving child?
• a wife consistently berates her husband for not
  being a real man?
• a boyfriend has sex with his passed-out partner?
• an adult-child caregiver screams at his/her elder
  parent for being incontinent?
• a mother neglects her childrens needs?

6
Things to remember when studying family-domestic
violence

• Definitions vary by study by jurisdiction
• Types of violence abuse, victim-offender
  relationship, age of victim, measurement source,
  and follow-up period all impact outcomes
• These factors, and others, result in conflicting
  prevalence and incidence rates
• Most researchers believe the official estimates
  are under-estimates

7
DV studies come in different shapes sizes

• Large scale governmental studies
• Private researchers w/or without governmental
  funding
• Official arrest data and self-reports are used
• Some of the most oft-cited
• Uniform Crime Data (UCR)
• National Incidence Based Reporting System
  (NIBRS)
• National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS)
• National Family Violence Survey (NFVS)
• National Violence against Women Survey (NVAWS)
• National Youth Survey (NYS)

8
Quick facts Victims and offenders

• Women and men are victims of family violence
• Women and men are offenders of family violence
• The type of abuse/violence strongly predicts the
  gender breakdown of the victim or offender
  category
• Serious intimate partner violence 85 female
  victims and 90 male offenders but data
  collection and definitional issues can challenge
  these numbers

9
Hot Topic Alert

• Are women becoming more violent?
• Women are overrepresented as offenders for
  certain family violence crimes types (i.e., adult
  caregiver, child abuse neglect)
• Frequency of womens use of intimate partner
  violence is an especially hot issue
• When degree of violence and injury is not
  contextualized, incidence rates can be nearly
  equal