NCJ Number
100821
Date Published
1986
Length
17 pages
Annotation
Domestic violence in the United States is prevalent and consistently linked in the literature with several family characteristics: mental illness and psychiatric disorders, income, education, employment status, and substance abuse.
Abstract
Numerous studies show the wide extent of family violence and its relationship to homicide of both adults and children. All age groups -- from infants to elderly -- suffer from abuse. Sexual abuse of children and marital rape are parts of family violence as well. Most evidence indicates that abusive parents do not manifest psychiatric disorders. Research indicates that generally, there is a consistent decrease in violence as income levels go up. Parents with some college education tend to show lower rates of perpetration of child abuse in comparison to those without college education. However, some research shows that a college education increases the likelihood that a woman will be a spouse abuse victim. Unemployment also has appeared as a factor in family violence, with one study finding that 48 percent of a sample of abusers were unemployed in the year preceding the abuse. Evidence on the relationship between alcohol and violence remains controversial, but estimates of alcoholism in the general population appear to be identical to those in the child abusing population. Data indicate that growing up in a violent home can increase the chances of later abuse or victimization. Longitudinal and multidisciplinary studies are needed. 101 references.