Myths and Facts About Domestic Violence (Part One)

My family law blogging friend Ben Stevens has this great series of post coming up from the South Carolina Family Law Blog. Ben has a great blog and if you have never visited it, you need to.

Myth: Victims of domestic violence like to be beaten.

Fact: Victims of domestic violence have historically been characterized as masochistic women who enjoy being beaten. Evidence does not support this anachronistic psychological theory. Rather, victims of domestic violence desperately want the abuse to end, and engage in various survival strategies, including calling the police or seeking help from family members, to protect themselves and their children. Silence may also be a survival strategy in some cases. Moreover, enduring a beating to keep the batterer from attacking the children may be a coping strategy used by a victim, but does not mean that the victim enjoys it.

Myth: Victims of domestic violence have psychological disorders.

Fact: This characterization of battered women as mentally ill stems from the assumption that victims of domestic violence must be sick or they would not 'take' the abuse. More recent theories demonstrate that battered women resist abuse in a variety of ways. In addition, most victims of domestic violence are not mentally ill, although individuals with mental disabilities are certainly not immune from being abused by their spouses or intimate partners. Some victims of domestic violence suffer psychological effects, such as post-traumatic stress disorder or depression, as a result of being abused.

Myth: Low self-esteem causes victims to get involved in abusive relationships.

Fact: Traditional theories presumed that individuals with adequate self-esteem would not 'allow' themselves to be abused by intimate partners or spouses. In fact, studies have demonstrated that victims of domestic violence fail to share common characteristics other than being female. There is little support for the theory that low self-esteem causes victims to become involved in abusive relationships, however, some victims may experience a decrease in self-esteem as a result of being abused, since perpetrators frequently degrade, humiliate, and criticize victims.

Source: American Bar Association's Commission on Domestic Violence