Mutual partner abuse
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I'm taking a Social Psychology course and one of the topics we've covered is heterosexual partner abuse. At the beginning of this section our professor said that a lot of the research findings are contrary to popularly held beliefs, and thus some people may have a harder time accepting it.
What he said was that based on extensive research complied in a meta-analysis, men and women are equally abusive. In dating partners, between 30 and 40% of couples report some violence in the relationship. 1/4 are male only perpetrated violence, 1/4 are female only perpetrated violence, and 1/2 are both male and female. He stressed that men and women in these situations are equally likely to initiate, and that harm done is equal.
My professor has done research concerning attitudes towards male and female perpetrated violence and has found a huge bias in that both men and women view male violence more harshly than female violence, and that abuse directed at males is minimized. He then compared this to times when violence against women was minimized by police and the courts. In other words, he implied that by minimizing the violence against men, it's the same kind of thing as minimizing violence against women years ago.
My problem with this isn't that I think this data is inaccurate. There was extensive sampling and confidentiality was maintained so participants could respond more candidly. My problem is that even if there is equal initiation and harm done, it's not the same. It's just not.
First of all, being hit by a man is different than being hit by a woman. First because there's a good chance a man's going to be able to hit harder. And even if they both hit with the exact same force, it's a totally different mentality. Chances are good that a man being abused by his partner is bigger/stronger (not always, so I'm sorry for generalizing) and is therefore able to defend himself, or at least prevent serious harm. On the other hand, it is likely that a woman being hit by her partner will smaller/weaker (again, not always) and less able to defend herself. The fear of serious harm is much greater.
My professor pointed out there are no or almost no shelters for abused men. But I think there's a good reason why. To me, those shelters are for women trying to escape their partners. Women are seriously afraid and need somewhere to go. On the whole, men who are abused likely do not have the same intense fear. As well, while a woman may be financially dependent on her husband/partner and would therefore need somewhere to go if trying to extricate herself from the relationship, it is less likely a man would have the same need.
And finally, I think what's going on behind the abuse is different. Men who abuse are frequently exerting their power over their female partner. Men who abuse often have traditional gender roles and view women as subordinate. I don't think there is the same sort of use of power when a woman abuses a man.
Anyway, I'm just looking for some thoughts. I was getting kind of worked up in class, but I wasn't sure if anyone else was.
Edit: I don't mean to imply that I think violence against males is acceptable, nor that women are incapable of inflicting the kind of harm that men inflict. Rather, I simply took issue with the idea of making the two kinds of violence the same.
I'm taking a Social Psychology course and one of the topics we've covered is heterosexual partner abuse. At the beginning of this section our professor said that a lot of the research findings are contrary to popularly held beliefs, and thus some people may have a harder time accepting it.
What he said was that based on extensive research complied in a meta-analysis, men and women are equally abusive. In dating partners, between 30 and 40% of couples report some violence in the relationship. 1/4 are male only perpetrated violence, 1/4 are female only perpetrated violence, and 1/2 are both male and female. He stressed that men and women in these situations are equally likely to initiate, and that harm done is equal.
My professor has done research concerning attitudes towards male and female perpetrated violence and has found a huge bias in that both men and women view male violence more harshly than female violence, and that abuse directed at males is minimized. He then compared this to times when violence against women was minimized by police and the courts. In other words, he implied that by minimizing the violence against men, it's the same kind of thing as minimizing violence against women years ago.
My problem with this isn't that I think this data is inaccurate. There was extensive sampling and confidentiality was maintained so participants could respond more candidly. My problem is that even if there is equal initiation and harm done, it's not the same. It's just not.
First of all, being hit by a man is different than being hit by a woman. First because there's a good chance a man's going to be able to hit harder. And even if they both hit with the exact same force, it's a totally different mentality. Chances are good that a man being abused by his partner is bigger/stronger (not always, so I'm sorry for generalizing) and is therefore able to defend himself, or at least prevent serious harm. On the other hand, it is likely that a woman being hit by her partner will smaller/weaker (again, not always) and less able to defend herself. The fear of serious harm is much greater.
My professor pointed out there are no or almost no shelters for abused men. But I think there's a good reason why. To me, those shelters are for women trying to escape their partners. Women are seriously afraid and need somewhere to go. On the whole, men who are abused likely do not have the same intense fear. As well, while a woman may be financially dependent on her husband/partner and would therefore need somewhere to go if trying to extricate herself from the relationship, it is less likely a man would have the same need.
And finally, I think what's going on behind the abuse is different. Men who abuse are frequently exerting their power over their female partner. Men who abuse often have traditional gender roles and view women as subordinate. I don't think there is the same sort of use of power when a woman abuses a man.
Anyway, I'm just looking for some thoughts. I was getting kind of worked up in class, but I wasn't sure if anyone else was.
Edit: I don't mean to imply that I think violence against males is acceptable, nor that women are incapable of inflicting the kind of harm that men inflict. Rather, I simply took issue with the idea of making the two kinds of violence the same.