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Unit 1: Definitions and Prevalence of Domestic Violence
Unit 1 Table of contents
Introduction
As you work toward enhancing your knowledge of domestic violence, an important starting point is to learn what domestic violence is, the many types and forms it can take, and how prevalent a problem it is. In this unit, we can address these points by presenting the current empirical and theoretical understanding of each.
Learning Objectives
Describe the six forms of abuse that survivors might experience and tactics that accompany those forms of abuse
Describe the different typologies or patterns of domestic violence
Explain how domestic violence is currently conceptualized and defined
Articulate the current prevalence estimates of domestic violence across a range of populations
Chapter 1: Defining Domestic Violence
Defining domestic violence is much harder than it seems. First, many terms have been used over the years, and there continues to be debate about which term is best. For example, one of the earliest terms was "wife abuse," but it was obviously too narrow in focus, and was replaced by the term domestic violence. The term "intimate partner violence" has become more popular in recent years, especially in the research community, partly because of misconceptions that domestic violence applies only to people who live together.
Second, sometimes people use the same term but mean different things. For example, some people argue that the term domestic violence applies only to violence in the context of an intimate relationship; others argue that it refers to any violence that occurs among family members or cohabiting people.
In this training, we have adopted the definitions of intimate partner and intimate partner violence that have been developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC; Breidling et al., 2015); however, as mentioned, we use the term "domestic violence" throughout because of its general use and familiarity.
Thus, according to the CDC, an "intimate partner" is:
"A person with whom one has a close personal relationship that may be characterized by the partners' emotional connectedness, regular contact, ongoing physical contact and sexual behavior, identity as a couple, and familiarity and knowledge about each other's lives. The relationship need not involve all of these dimensions."
And, "intimate partner violence" is:
"Intimate partner violence includes physical violence, sexual violence, stalking, and psychological aggression (including coercive tactics) by a current or former intimate partner (i.e. spouse, boyfriend/girlfriend, dating partner, or ongoing sexual partner)."
In the next sections, you'll learn about the types and forms of domestic violence, which are critical to understand because of their implications for intervention.
Chapter 2: Types and Patterns of Domestic Violence
Decades of research and advocacy have lead to the understanding that there is no such thing as one type of domestic violence. Instead, there exist distinct typologies or patterns of abusive behaviors that can be considered domestic violence. Here we present two of the most commonly used typologies. The first column details the one developed by Ellen Pence and Shamita Das Dasgupta (2006); the second column details the one developed originally by Michael Johnson (1995) and expanded over time with several colleagues. You can see that there is critical overlap across the typologies.
Understanding these typologies is critical because they can guide the interventions you use with survivors and people who use abusive behaviors.
Chapter 3: Forms of Domestic Violence
Table 1a: Forms of Domestic and Sexual Violence
In this table, we define the main forms of domestic violence, including sexual violence, and offer examples of potential corresponding tactics. It is important to have a solid understanding of the varied forms of violence in order to understand patterns, and assess victimization and perpetration risk. Please note that these types reflect general categories and are neither mutually exclusive nor exhaustive.
References for Table 1a
Breiding MJ, Basile KC, Smith SG, Black MC, Mahendra RR. Intimate Partner Violence Surveillance: Uniform Definitions and Recommended Data Elements, Version 2.0. National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Published 2008.
Adams AE, Sullivan CM, Bybee D, Greeson MR. Development of the Scale of Economic Abuse. Violence Against Women. 2008;14(5):563-588.
Voth Schrag RJ, Edmond T. School Sabotage as a Form of Intimate Partner Violence: Provider Perspectives. Affilia. 2017;32(2):171-187.
Woulfe JM, Goodman LA. Identity Abuse as a Tactic of Violence in LGBTQ Communities: Initial Validation of the Identity Abuse Measure. [Published online ahead of print 2018]. Journal of Interpersonal Violence. 2018.
Grace KT, Anderson JC. Reproductive Coercion: A Systematic Review. Trauma Violence Abuse. 2018;19(4):371-390.
NNEDV. Assessing for technology abuse and privacy concerns. Retrieved here. Published 2014.
Dimond JP, Fiesler C, Bruckman AS. Domestic Violence and Information Communication Technologies. Interacting with Computers. 2011;23:413-421.
NNEDV. Evidence collection series: Spoofing calls and messages. Retrieved here. Published 2014.
Domestic violence (DV) can take many forms, but not all forms of violence are present in every DV situation. In intimate relationships, the person using abusive behaviors often knows the survivor well, and, therefore, can be hurtful in ways tailored to the particular person. For example, threats may be made to expose an undocumented partner to deportation authorities, or to "out" an LGBTQ* partner.
Here, we provide brief descriptions of the forms of violence a person engaging in abusive behaviors might use. We do this for the purpose of helping you distinguish and define varying forms of violence.
Please note that these types reflect general categories and are neither mutually exclusive nor exhaustive.
Chapter 4: Prevalence of Domestic Violence in the United States
In order to understand the scope or prevalence of domestic violence, you need to be familiar with some basic research terms so that you can be a critical consumer when you read statistics about domestic violence.
First, prevalence "is the proportion of a population who have (or had) a specific characteristic in a given time period." It is determined by "randomly selecting a sample (smaller group) from the entire population, with the goal being for the sample to be representative of the population." (www.nimh.nig.gov/health/statistics/prevalence/index.shtml).
It is important to understand that prevalence is based on a random sample. Why? Because sometimes the statistics you read are based on convenience samples from specific settings, which means they are not generalizable to everyone. For example, say a study is conducted with 100 women living in a domestic violence shelter, and 60% of them report being strangled by an intimate partner. Because this is not a random sample of the general population, we cannot say that 60% of all female domestic violence survivors have been strangled by an intimate partner.
Prevalence estimates can be difficult to attain because they require considerable resources. In addition, people's willingness to report honestly (or at all) about their experience of domestic violence may be hindered by safety concerns and stigma.
The main point here is to pay attention to the samples that statistics are based
on so you know whether they are generalizable to the whole population, a subset
of survivors or not generalizable at all.
You have the option to move immediately to the next unit, or to take this quiz for Unit 1. Follow the directions to take the quiz below. This quiz is designed to help you review the material covered in Unit 1 in preparation for your CEU Quiz. You will see your results immediately after you submit this quiz. This review quiz is not worth any CEUs.
One of the best sources for statistics on intimate partner violence is the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In 2010, the CDC conducted the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS) with a nationally representative sample of 6,879 women and 5,848 men from the United States (Black et al., 2011; Breidling et al., 2014).
Highlights from the 2011 NISVS report include:
More than 1 in 3 women and 1 in 4 men have experienced at least one form of violence (sexual violence, physical violence, or stalking) by an intimate partner in their lifetime.
Approximately 1 in 4 women and 1 in 7 men have experienced severe physical violence by an intimate partner.
Nearly 1 in 10 women has been raped by an intimate partner in her lifetime.
Nearly half of all men and women reported psychological abuse by an intimate partner.
The prevalence of domestic violence among individuals who identified as gay and lesbian was similar to and higher than, respectively, the prevalence of domestic violence among individuals who identified as heterosexual.
The prevalence of domestic violence among individuals who identified as bisexual was higher than that of gay, lesbian and heterosexual identifying individuals.
Nearly one quarter of survivors first experienced domestic violence before age 25.
Highlights from other respected sources:
41.5% of all women murdered between 1980 and 2008 were killed by an intimate partner. Only 11.6% were murdered by a stranger. Among all male murder victims, 7.1% were killed by an intimate partner and 25.5% were killed by a stranger. Source: Cooper & Smith (2011) for the Bureau of Justice Statistics.
According to a review of the literature by the Williams Institute, lifetime prevalence of domestic and sexual violence among transgender individuals ranged from 25% to 47%. Source: Source: Brown & Herman (2015).
19% of 6,450 transgender or gender-nonconforming individuals across 50 states reported experiencing domestic violence from a family member because of their gender identity. Source: The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and The National Center for Transgender Equality (2011).
Domestic violence is an important contributing factor to homelessness. It can directly lead to homelessness when a survivor is fleeing due to safety concerns, and it can indirectly lead to homelessness by eroding survivors' resources (e.g., finances, employment, and social support).
Approximately 15% of adults were homeless due to domestic violence, and domestic violence was one of the top three reasons for family homelessness in four of the 25 cities. Source: U.S. Conference of Mayors (2014).
In 2015 during one 24-hour period, over 40,000 survivors and their children were living in emergency shelter or transitional housing on the day of the survey and over 7,000 survivors requested residential services but were turned away due to lack of space. Source: The National Network to End Domestic Violence (2016).
When considering children who are exposed to domestic violence, consider that:
At least 10% to 20% of children are exposed to DV annually, a disproportionate number of whom are under the age of six (Carlson, 2000; Fantuzzo et al., 1997).
Exposure to DV can include hearing, witnessing, and intervening during an incident as well as witnessing the impact on the mother after the incident (Carlson, 2000).
Children also may become targets of violence during a DV incident, or may experience ongoing abuse themselves (Fantuzzo et al., 1997; Kitzmann et al., 2003).
Unit 1 Quiz
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