What Does the Research Say About Black Intimate Partner Violence?

By Tommy J. Curry (December 14, 2018)

Many, if not most, Black academics do not really want to solve domestic violence. Over the last few days, I have seen Black academics posting articles from Blavity, The Root, and blogs discussing domestic violence. You want to know why they post from these sources because very few Black people actually study intra-racial violence. For comparison look at Twitter and observe the threads of white scholars on these issues. What do they share? They share datasets, analyses, pages, and articles they wrote on the topic. Black academics increase their popularity by spreading deliberate misinformation about the nature and causes of intimate partner violence b/c the Duluth model provides a powerful ideological weapon against ecological accounts of Black pathology.

See many Black academics make their money convincing white liberals how dangerous and backward poor Black folk are. They want you to believe that the men and women who raised most of us are pathological. I am a first generation Black man from Lake Charles, Louisiana. I have seen domestic violence, death, police brutality, etc., and not once have I ever thought these ills were the result of the character of Black people.

You want to solve IPV/IPH amongst Blacks? Ask yourself what does the actual research say:

1. Poverty is the major driving force behind IPV.
2. Alcoholism plays a huge role in the decrease of inhibition between couples and plays a role in male to female and female to male abuse.
3. Fetal alcohol syndrome has a major role in the lack of impulse control amongst poor Black populations, maternal care and early detection of pregnancy in urban Black women is key.
4. Bidirectional abuse and murder has been documented amongst Blacks since the 1930s. We must deal with conflict resolution and female perpetration.
5. Previous trauma (child physical abuse, child sexual abuse, and neglect) accounts for IPV/IPH more than sexist attitudes.
6. Ignoring female abuse socializes children in households to accept abuse as routine. Simply witnessing IPV increases the child’s likelihood to be a victim or perpetrator.

Sources:

1. Denise Hines, “Intimate Terrorism by Women Towards Men: Does it Exist?,” Journal of Aggression, Conflict and Peace Research 2.3 (2010): 36-56.

2. Denise Hines and Emily Douglas, “Predicting Potentially Life-Threatening Partner Violence by Women Toward Men: A Preliminary Analysis,” Violence and Victims 28.5 (2013): 751-771.

3. Denise Hines and Emily Douglas, “Alcohol and Drug Abuse in Men Who Sustain Intimate Partner Violence,” Aggressive Behavior 38 (2012): 31-46.

4.John Archer, “Sex Differences in Aggression between Heterosexual Partners: A Meta-Analytic Review,” Psychological Bulletin 5 (2000): 651-680.

5.Murray Straus,“Why the Overwhelming Evidence on Partner Physical Violence Has Not Been Perceived and Is Often Denied,” Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma,” 18 (2009): 552-571.

6. Raul Caetano, Suhasini Ramisetty-Mikler, Craig A. Field, “Unidirectional and Bidirectional Intimate Partner Violence among White, Black, and Hispanic Couples in the United States,” Violence and Victims 20.4 (2005): 393-406.

7. Linda G. Mills, Insult to Injury: Rethinking Our Responses to Intimate Abuse, 2003.

8. Carl C. Bell, High Rates of Neurobehavioral Disorder Associated with Prenatal
Exposure to Alcohol among African Americans Driven by the Plethora
of Liquor Stores in the Community,” J Fam Med Dis Prev 2016, 2:033.