February 1998
 
| Characteristics |
All Cases |
Standard DV Cases* |
|
Victims |
Defendants |
Victims |
Defendants |
| Gender: |
Male Female |
19% 81% |
83% 17% |
100% |
100% |
| Age |
<20 20-29
30-39
40+ |
9% 41%
31%
19% |
4% 43%
32%
21% |
7% 44%
33%
16% |
2% 45%
32%
1% |
| Race |
White Non-White |
23% 77% |
21% 79% |
23% 77% |
21% 79% |
| Relationship |
Romantic 80% Other 20% |
Spouse 43% Boy/girl friend
57% |
| Incident was Physical
Assault |
71% |
70% |
| Weapon
Used |
26% |
22% |
| Victim Injured |
49% |
49% |
| Defendant
Used Alcohol/Drugs |
40% |
40% |
| Prior Violence by
Defendant |
77% |
84% |
|
|
|
|
|
|
80% of standard domestic violence cases* have
children
- 74% had child(ren) who witnessed DV
- 35% had child(ren) who tried to intervene in DV
- 24% had child(ren) where child was pushed, shoved,
hit, or threatened during DV
*Romantically involved couple with
male defendant and female victim
Kris Henning, Ph.D. & Lisa Klesges, Ph.D.
Description
Clinical anecdotes and research reports indicate that the physical violence perpetrated by
most batterers represents just one form of the abuse these men perpetrate against their
partners. Typically, the physical aggression is embedded within a pervasive system of
psychological abuse. This includes efforts to isolate the victim, intimidate her, decrease
her independence, and lower self-esteem. Although these behaviors may not be illegal, in
some cases they can have a more profound impact upon a victim's functioning than the
physical violence. Greater efforts need to be taken, therefore, to assess the severity of
psychological abuse in domestic violence cases that come to the attention of the legal
system. In the present Special Topic, interviews were conducted with domestic violence
victims to determine the prevalence of psychological abuse.
Methods
The data for this Special Topic comes from Pretrial Services, Shelby Co., TN. Staff from
this agency collect standardized information on domestic violence victims entering the
legal system. The following analyses concerned only those cases where: 1) the victim was
interviewed between December 1st, 1997 and February 25th, 1998; 2) there was a romantic
relationship between the victim and defendant (e.g., spouse, boyfriend); and 3) the victim
was female while the defendant was male. The 450 interviews used constitute approximately
60% of the cases seen by Pretrial Services.
Results
| % of Women Who Reported
these Experiences During Prior 3 Months |
|
| Defendant was jealous or suspicious of your friends |
80% |
Defendant tried to keep you from having
independent activities
(work, going to school) |
59% |
| Defendant interfered with your relationships with other
family members |
57% |
Defendant checked up on you
(listened to phone calls, demanded reports of where you'd been) |
67% |
| Defendant restricted your access to money, use of car,
phone, etc. |
46% |
| Defendant threatened to hurt or kill you
or the children if you end the relationship |
45% |
| Defendant threatened to kill himself (herself) if you end
the relationship |
23% |
|
|
Discussion
The proceeding analyses indicate that a high percentage of domestic violence victims
interviewed by Pretrial court staff have also experienced psychological abuse at the hands
of their romantic partner. The fact that 45% of these victims were told by their offender
that they or their children would be killed if they ended the relationship makes it easier
to understand why many of these women recant their reports of abuse during court
proceedings and return to the offender. These data also indicate a need to assess whether
perpetrators decrease their psychologically abusive behaviors following treatment through
the SCDVC network of Domestic Violence Offender Programs.
Prepared by Kris Henning, Ph.D. & Lisa
Klesges, Ph.D. & Amy Epstein, MA
UT, Memphis, Dept. of Preventive Medicine
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