Initiating Domestic Violence

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Researcher Says Women's Initiation of Domestic Violence Predicts Risk to Women
Domestic Violence and Introversion
Jealousy and Violence
Psychosocial and diagnostic characteristics of individuals initiating domestic violence
Facts and Myths about Domestic Violence
Dov Charney is an MRA. Pardon me if I don’t faint with surprise

6:20

Researcher Says Women's Initiation of Domestic Violence Predicts Risk to Women

Dr. Capaldi recently presented her work at "From Ideology to Inclusion 2009: New Directions in Domestic Violence Research and Intervention," an IPV conference in Los Angeles June 26-28 which was presented by the California Alliance for Families & Children and co-sponsored by The Family Violence Treatment & Education Association. While studies have consistently found that women initiate as much violence against their male partners as vice versa, two-thirds of domestic violence injuries are suffered by women.

Dr. Capaldi's research examined the different relationship violence scenarios -- violence by him only, violence by her only, violence by both with him initiating, and violence by both with her initiating. Of these, the most likely to result in future injury to women is when she initiates violence against him and he responds, although both mutually aggressive groups were close in danger levels.

Dr. Capaldi notes that in a study of women who were in a battered women's shelter, "67% of the women reported severe violence toward their partner in the past year." Others in the domestic violence field, including Erin Pizzey, founder of the first battered women's shelter in England in the early 1970s, have had similar findings.

According to Dr. Capaldi, "Overall, young couples with unidirectional violence report fewer acts and forms of violence than bidirectional couples."

Dr. Capaldi, who serves on the editorial boards of several academic journals related to family violence, is the Principal Investigator of the National Institute of Health's Oregon Youth Study. The OYS, which began in 1983, is a longitudinal study of the etiology of antisocial behaviors in boys.

The OYS' Couples Study followed the men in the study and their romantic partners from age 18 to 31-33, interacting with each other at seven different points in time during the 13-15 year period. The OYS studied physical aggression and psychological aggression among the men and women, using reports from men and women about their own violence, their reports of their partners' violence, and observed aggression.

As a general rule, men tend to underreport both their violence against their female partners and their female partners' violence against them. By contrast, women tend to over-report both the men's violence against them and their own violence. The couples in the study were also given tasks by the study's monitors, such as planning a party or discussing a problem with their partner, and were filmed and observed by the OYS during those tasks.

As in many studies of IPV, the OYS found that much IPV is bidirectional (meaning both are violent), and in unidirectional abusive relationships, the women were more likely to be abusive than the men.

The study found that a young woman's IPV was just as predictive of her male partner's future IPV as the man's own past IPV. In other words, whereas we often think of men as the only abusers and also as serial abusers, the OYS found that a woman's violence against her man was as predictive of his violence to her as his own history of violence.

Moreover, the study found that men's physical aggression changes significantly when they find a new partner. Instead of a man being either a batterer or not, often it was his female partner's violence or nonviolence which heavily influenced whether he would be violent to her.

Over time, the couples' change in violence -- generally reducing violence as they grow older -- was highly associated, meaning that if one stopped violence, the other did, too.

Dr. Capaldi believes that current IPV programs are putting women in harm's way. She says current batterer treatment programs are "ineffective... likely because they are not based on well-conducted research." She explains:

"Since much IPV is mutual and women as well as men initiate IPV, prevention and treatment approaches should attempt to reduce women's violence as well as men's violence. Such an approach has a much higher chance of increasing women's safety."
Source: www.huffingtonpost.com/glenn-sacks/researcher-says-womens-in_b_222746.html? or short-cut at http://huff.to/zaAzz

Domestic Violence and Introversion

Domestic violence is a serious problem facing our society. Future occurrences of domestic violence might be predicted and possibly reduced if a link between personality characteristics and behavior could be established. The purpose of this study was to determine a positive correlation between domestic violence and introversion. The participants were 29 general psychology students from Missouri Western State College in St. Joseph, Missouri. The Keirsey Temperament Sorter, Keirsey Character Sorter and a domestic violence survey were administered via computers. This study found no relationship between introversion and domestic violence. However, this finding is limited by the age and geographic location of the participants. The results in this study generalize to college age students in a small community. Future studies should focus on ages and environments where domestic violence is a problem.

Introduction

Domestic violence challenges society today. Studies show approximately 1 in 10 high school students has experienced physical violence in dating relationships; among college students, the figure rises to 22% (Gamache, 1991). In 1992, the American Medical Association reported as many as 1 in 3 women will be assaulted by a domestic partner in her lifetime--4 million in any given year (\"When Violence\", 1998). The American Bar Association`s Commission on Domestic Violence found at least 21,000 domestic violence crimes against women were reported to the police every week during 1991 (1998). Approximately 52% of women visiting hospital emergency rooms report at least one incident of violence during their lifetime (American Bar Association, 1998). Perhaps the reason these statistics exist can be found by understanding people. It would be desirable to establish a link between personality characteristics and behavior. Such a link might help predict and prevent future occurrences.

Various studies have been conducted which investigate the correlation between a particular individual trait and violent behavior. One such study recommended a multi-determined model of characteristics to predict the explanation of family violence (Herron, Javier, McDonald-Gomez, & Adlerstein,1994). A few of the many studied traits include sociocultural factors, relationship and systematic factors, and the individual psychopathology of the abuser (Bryant, 1994).

Several different levels of individual psychopathology have been considered. Else, Wonderlich, Beatty and Christie conducted a study comparing the MMPI results of 42 males of which half were batterers. They found men who committed domestic violence have poor problem-solving skills, borderline-antisocial personality traits, hostility, and histories of abuse as children (1993). Other studies have also found a trend between exposure to family violence and later commission of domestic violence (Bitler, Linnoila, & George, 1994).

Kalichman conducted a study which used the MMPI. He found both male and female domestic homicide offenders had lower levels of social extroversion as compared to males convicted of murdering strangers in the course of another crime (1988). Similar findings appeared in a study which clustered psychopathology for the association of experience and expression of anger. The MMPI was used to determine the personality clusters. The disturbed personality cluster had both the highest scores in the social introversion scale and the highest level of anger expression (Greene, Coles, & Johnson, 1994). These findings support the hypothesis of this study that domestically violent individuals tend to be introverted.

The difference between introversion and extroversion is the most important of the measurements of personality. This distinction helps in comprehending people and predicting how they will behave. Keirsey defines the two concepts in terms of a social attitude: expressive versus reserved. Reserved people, or introverts, are quieter and private. They are quick to listen and slow to speak. Introverts seem to be more comfortable when alone. Therefore, they are thought of as socially reclusive. They like solitary activities and working quietly alone. These activities give the introverts energy. In contrast, spending time around many people tire the introverts (1998a).

The purpose of this experiment is to determine a positive relationship between domestic violence and introversion. In other words, people who are introverted are more likely to be involved in domestic violence.

Method

Participants

The participants were 29 general psychology students from Missouri Western State College in St. Joseph, Missouri. The age of the participants ranged from 18 to 46. The participants were high school graduates and current college students. The gender composition was 13 male and 16 female. The racial composition was 27 white, one black and one other. All participants received extra credit for their participation. The specific demographic information for the participants was acquired by a brief survey.

Apparatus

A website was created to guide the participants through the various surveys (see Appendix). The Keirsey Temperament Sorter (Keirsey, 1998b) and the Keirsey Character Sorter (Keirsey, 1998c) were utilized to measure personality type. These sorters focus more on the desired trait of introversion while the MMPI gives broader results. Both of these surveys were located on the internet. Two personality surveys were employed to verify the internal validity of the tests. Two other surveys developed by the researcher were also administered: a short demographic survey (see Appendix) and an assessment of the degree of domestic violence experienced by each participant (see Appendix). All the surveys were conducted on a computer with the results recorded on an answer sheet (see Appendix).

Procedure

The participants volunteered from general psychology classes. The researcher prepared the computers before the participants arrived. Simple instructions were displayed on the computer screen. Participants began with the short demographics survey. After recording the responses on an answer sheet, they continued on to take the Keirsey Temperament Sorter and the Keirsey Character Sorter. The computer automatically scored these two tests. The participants recorded their results on the answer sheets. Lastly, the domestic violence survey was completed. The participants were finished with the study at this time.

Results

A Pearson correlation was conducted comparing the average introversion score on the Keirsey Temperament Sorter and the Keirsey Character Sorter to the domestic violence score. No correlation was found, r(26)=.01,p>.05. The more introverted the subjects were had no relationship to the amount of domestic violence they had experienced.

A median split was conducted forming one group of introverts and one group of extroverts. A t-test was conducted to compare the equality of the means for the two groups. No significant difference was found between the introverts and extroverts, t(27)=-0.554,p=0.58. In other words, whether the subject was introverted or extroverted did not correspond to the level of domestic violence experienced.

Discussion

The purpose of this experiment was to determine a positive relationship between domestic violence and introversion. People who are introverted are more likely to be involved in domestic violence. In fact, this study found no relationship at all between introversion and domestic violence. However, this finding has a few major limitations which must be noted.

The average age of 21 and geographic location are limitations to the results. In this study only one subject responded to have experienced even a moderate level of domestic violence. In other words, only 3.4% of the subjects in this study experienced any significant level of domestic violence. This percentage is much lower than the 22% of college students experiencing physical violence in dating relationships as mentioned in the introduction (Gamache, 1991). Also, the average score on the domestic violence test was 19.6 of a possible 240 points. It is not likely twenty-one year old college students have lived with their partners in a setting where domestic would occur. The small amount of domestic violence that was recorded in this study could also be due to geographical factors. The data was collected at a small college where violence is not only rarer than in cities but it is also more shameful because of the small community.

The results in this study generalize to college age students in a small community. It is likely there is no difference in the amounts of domestic violence in introverts and extroverts at most small colleges. In fact, according to this study hardly any domestic violence is occurring at this age level in this environment.

In future research, older subjects should be used to establish a link between domestic violence and introversion. Future studies should focus on ages and environments where domestic violence is a known problem.

References

American Bar Association (1998). ABA Commission on Domestic Violence: Facts about Domestic Violence. [On-line]. Available: http://www.abanet.org/domviol/home.html

Bitler, D. A., Linnoila, M. & George, D. T. (1994). Psychosocial and diagnostic characteristics of individuals initiating domestic violence. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 182, (10) 583-585.

Bryant, N. (1994). Domestic violence and group treatment for male batterers. Special Issue: Men and groups. Group., 18, (4) 235-242.

Else, L., Wonderlich, S. A., Beatty, W. W., & Christie, D. W. (1993). Personality characteristic of men who physically abuse women. Hospital and community Psychiatry ,44, (1) 54-58.

Gamache, D. (1991). Domination and Control: The Social Context of Dating Violence. B. Levy (Ed.), Dating Violence: Young Women in Danger. Seattle, WA: Seal Press.

Greene, A. F., Coles, C. J., & Johnson, E. H. (1994). Psychopathology and Anger in Interpersonal Violence Offenders. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 50, (6) 906-912.

Herron, W. G., Javier, R. A., McDonald-Gomez, M., & Adlerstein, L. K. (1994). Sources of family violence. Special Issue: Multicultural views on domestic violence: Part II. Journal of Social Distress and the Homeless,3, (3) 213-228.

Kalichman, S. C. (1988). MMPI Profiles of Women and Men Convicted of Domestic Homicide. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 44, (6).

Keirsey, D. (1998a). Please Understand Me II. [On-line]. Available: http://keirsey.com/pumII/ei.html

Keirsey, D. (1998b). The Keirsey Temperament Sorter. [On-line]. Available: http://keirsey.com/cgi-bin/keirsey/newks.cgi

Keirsey, D. (1998c). The Keirsey Character Sorter. [On-line]. Available: http://keirsey.com/cgi-bin/keirsey/kcs.cgi

\"When Violence Hits Home.\" Time. June 4, 1994. (1998) Stats and Facts. [On-line]. Available: http://www.public.usit.net/hooligan/dv/

Appendix

Instructions

Personality and Behavior Study

Introduction

This web site contains surveys being used to investigate a correlation between personality and behavioral characteristics. Fill in the blank or circle the most correct answer on the sheet provided. Answers that you submit are confidential.

1. First you will complete a simple demographics survey. After filling in the answer sheet, click on \"back to instructions\" at the bottom of the page. Click on Demographic Information to begin

2. Take the Keirsey Temperament Sorter. Click on the dot next to the choice you prefer. Scroll down for more questions. When you are finished, click on the \"score test\" box. Record your results on the answer sheet. After recording your scores, click on \"Back\" at the top of the toolbar twice to return here. Click on Keirsey Temperament Sorter to begin. If you have any questions, please ask the experimenter.

3. Take the Keirsey Character Sorter. Answer the questions in Part I and then click the \"Score Part I\" box at the bottom of the page. Answer the questions in Part II and then click the \"Score Part II\" box. Record your results on the answer sheet. After recording your scores, click on \"Back\" at the top of the toolbar three times to return here. Click on Keirsey Character Sorter to begin.

4. Take the behavior survey. Record your answers on the sheet provided by circling a number. Remember, your answers are confidential. Click on Behavior Assessment to begin.

Demographic Information

1. What is your age?

2. What is your sex?

3. What is your race?

4. What is your yearly household income?

Domestic Violence Survey

1. How many times has a friend, lover or other yelled at you during an argument?

2. How many times has a friend, lover or other grabbed you during an argument?

3. How many times has a friend, lover or other pushed you during an argument?

4. How many times has a friend, lover or other slapped you during an argument?

5. How many times has a friend, lover or other punched you during an argument?

6. How many times has a friend, lover or other kicked you during an argument?

7. If not already mentioned, how many times has a friend, lover or other physically hurt you during an argument?

8. How many times have you yelled at a friend, lover or other during an argument?

9. How many times have you grabbed a friend, lover or other during an argument?

10. How many times have you pushed a friend, lover or other during an argument?

11. How many times have you slapped a friend, lover or other during an argument?

12. How many times have you punched a friend, lover or other during an argument?

13. How many times have you kicked a friend, lover or other during an argument?

14. If not already mentioned, how many times have you physically hurt a friend, lover or other during an argument?

15. How many times have you attempted to physically hurt a friend, lover or other during an argument?

16. How many times have you wanted to physically hurt a friend, lover or other during an argument?

Personality and Behavioral Characteristics

Fill in the blank or circle the most correct answer. The answers that you submit to these surveys are confidential.

Demographic Information

1. _________

2. Male/Female

3. White/Black/Hispanic/Other

4. Less/$10,000-$20,000/$20,000-35,000/$35,000-$50,000/More

Keirsey Temperament Sorter Results

Your Temperament is ______________:________

Your variant temperament is _______________:_________

___+___ ___+___ ___+___ ___+___.

Keirsey Character Sorter Results

Your Temperament is ______________:________

Your variant temperament is _______________:_________

Details of questionnaire:

___:________________________=___/10 , ___:________________________=___/10

Your score of each temperament was: (lower number meaning preferred)

_____=_____; _____=_____; _____=_____; _____=_____;.

Behavioral Assessment

1. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

2. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

3. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

4. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

5. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

6. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

7. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

8. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

9. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

10. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

11. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

12. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

13. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

14. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Source: Author Contact Information:E-mail or clearinghouse.missouriwestern.edu/manuscripts/2.php

Dov Charney is an MRA. Pardon me if I don’t faint with surprise

In case you can’t read that text, it says, “Women initiate most domestic violence, yet out of a thousand cases of domestic violence, maybe one is involving a man. And this has made a victim culture out of women.” That’s right, the world’s premier sexual harasser has, like, some really serious opinions about social issues.

First of all, that statement doesn’t even make any sense. Is he saying that 999 of a thousand domestic violence charges are brought by women against women? If not, then more than one in a thousand cases “is involving a man.” How does “this” (whatever “this” is referring to) create a victim culture “out of” women. Wouldn’t it be a victim culture among women (if it weren’t total bullshit)? I’m pretty sure I’m not taking advice on serious social matters from a guy who can’t even form a coherent thought and doesn’t know that a Salvador Dali moustache isn’t attractive.

Horrible diction aside, there are some problems with Dov’s claims. How does he know that “women initiate most domestic violence”? Has there been a study I’m not aware of? Or is Dov just speaking from personal experience, letting us know that any time he’s been involved in violence against women, it’s been for a real good reason? And speaking of that, what, exactly, qualifies as “initiating” domestic violence? Striking first? Or simply being to mouthy? That kind of wording reeks of MRA reasoning, in which men can be excused for physically abusing partners who “push them to it” with their nagging. Dov, apparently, has forgotten that there is no excuse to hit another person, whether you are male or female, and that the idea of one partner “initiating” domestic violence is therefore a joke. “Initiation” does not require retaliation.

He’s also brought out another MRA favorite, bemoaning the “culture of victimization” among women. MRAs love to claim that feminism, for rightly pointing out and resisting the abuses men commit against women, has turned otherwise “good women” into whiners. Nothing illustrates their unexamined sense of entitlement more than MRAs’ claims that women ought to be happy with what they’ve got and quit complaining. It’s often these types that will remind women how “lucky” we are that men have granted us the rights and privileges that we have now and that we ought to have a look at Afghanistan before we do any more complaining. Dov Charney, by making the absurd claim that a culture of victimization has arisen among women because they perceive domestic violence to be a problem, is proudly joining his MRA brothers in telling women we’ve gotten all we’re going to get, we have nothing to complain about, and we ought to shut the fuck up and get back to celebrating our “right” to huff dong for cash.

I mean, look at the woman in the ad. I suppose Charney thought if he had a woman lying next to him, it’d prove just how right he is about what weenies us feminists are. The message: now here’s a real liberated woman, one who doesn’t go around complaining about domestic violence. She doesn’t invite domestic violence on herself because she’s docile and agreeable. She sees just how awesome it is to be a woman, what a sweet deal it is for her and for womankind that guys like me exist that will pay her to lay in a bed with me with almost no clothes on in support of my “women are unhappy because they won’t stay in their place, not because men abuse them” message.

Honestly, that woman looks drugged to me.

Here’s the last thing that struck me about this ad: what the fuck are we selling here? Stupid MRA libertarianism or ugly hipster clothing? This asshole, the CEO of the company, has come out of his gang bang emporium of an office to appear in one of his company’s ads and make a social and political statement, and this is what he chooses to say? This is the biggest social issue weighing on this guy’s mind? He’s so concerned with this MRA bullshit that it’s more important to him than selling us metallic leggings? Unbelievable. Whatever you may have thought of him before, there’s no longer any denying where this guy’s mind is at.

Please, I beg of you, don’t buy this guy’s clothes. If you won’t boycott American Apparel for the sake of shutting a bullshit hipster company down out of respect for aesthetics and genuine counterculturalism, then do it because he thinks women have no reason to feel put upon in a society in which people like him use their bodies as decorations, as means to sell products, and as fuck toys.

** UPDATE: It turns out this ad is a phony. But who cares? It’s a real quote from Charney, which proves that he is in fact an MRA, and it’s superimposed on a real AA ad. I do, however, want to offer a serious reward to the person who find the creator of this ad for me. S/he’s a fucking genius.
Source:  rageagainstthemanchine.com/2009/01/27/dov-charney-is-an-mra-pardon-me-if-i-dont-faint-with-surprise/