Societal Change and Change in Family Violence from 1975 to 1985 As Revealed by Two National Surveys

• NCJ Number: 113591
• Journal: Journal of Marriage and the Family Volume: 48 Dated: (August 1986) Pages: 465-479
• Author(s): M A Straus; R J Gelles
• Date Published: 1986
• Length: 15 pages
• Grant Number(s): MH40027; T32 MH15161
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute of Mental Health; US Department of Health, Education, and Welfare; University of New Hampshire
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: This paper was presented at the 1985 meeting of the American Society of Criminology.

Annotation

This article compares the rate of physical abuse of children and spouses from a 1975 study with the rates from a 1985 replication.

Abstract

Both studies used nationally representative samples (2,143 familes in 1975 and 3,520 in 1985), and both found an extremely high incidence of severe physical violence against children ('child abuse') and a high incidence of violence against spouses. The 1985 rates were 47 percent lower for the child abuse rate and 27 percent lower for the wife abuse rate. Possible reasons for the lower rates are examined and evaluated, including: (1) differences in study methods; (2) increased reluctance to report; (3) reductions in intrafamily violence due to 10 years of prevention and treatment effort; and (4) reductions due to changes in American society and family patterns that would have produced lower rates of intrafamily violence even without ameliorative programs. The policy implications of the decreases and of the continued high rate of child abuse and spouse abuse are discussed. 71 references.