Domestic Abuse

How reliable is statistical data? What do they mean by statistically significant and what is their criteria? These are questions that we should ask when we read research studies and articles about domestic abuse. It is really interesting how statistics seems to always measure the same factors: race, education, and socioeconomic status to be able to analyze most health and/or social issues. There are many confounding variables in these studies. For example, did they account for false accusations of domestic violence in the context of child custody or divorce? Is it true that because you happen to be racially black you are more abusive? Is poverty really a direct factor in causing physical abuse? Because more people think so, to date, there has been more data collected on abuse from low-income than middle and upper class families, and the correlation is still ambiguous.

There are many kinds of intimate partner abuse; in fact, last week I was researching about spiritual abuse. This is when the intimate partner uses his/her religious or spiritual beliefs to manipulate their partner, or the intimate partner reticulates and prevents the other partner from practicing their religious or spiritual beliefs. Other more severe kinds of abuse range from emotional/psychological all the way to homicide. In most of these cases I think not race or poverty; it is the need for power and control as a form of self satisfaction. The abuser’s effort to dominate is NOT due to his skin color, it might be attributed to low self-esteem, feelings of inadequacy, unresolved childhood conflicts, stress, misogyny, misandry, or mental disorders such as the bipolar illness. These factors would be a BETTER assessment indicators for the causes of domestic abuse in comparison to the factors used in the articles assigned. The forms of abuse seems to be slightly gendered since females tend to lean more towards psychological abuse and men use more physical forms.

In the U.S., between 3 and 5 billion dollars are spent annually for medical expenses related to domestic violence. In addition, 100 million dollars is lost by businesses annually though lost productivity, sick leave and absenteeism due to domestic violence. It is a domestic and an international problem that needs to be tackled. It does not know race, nationality, socioeconomic status, or religion. This problem only knows how to get in the way of many women’s lives and destroy them; in some instances… take away their right to live.