Forensics Talk

Dispelling The Myths About Men Who Experience Domestic Abuse

Medical News Today
Main Category: Men's health
Also Included In: Mental Health;  Depression
Article Date: 20 May 2008 - 6:00 PDT

     Domestic violence can happen to men, not only to women, according to Group Health research in the June American Journal of Preventive Medicine. "Domestic violence in men is under-studied and often hidden - much as it was in women 10 years ago," said study leader Robert J. Reid, MD, PhD, an associate investigator at the Group Health Center for Health Studies. "We want abused men to know they're not alone." His findings confirm some common beliefs but also debunk five myths about abuse in men:

• Myth 1: Few men experience domestic violence. Many do. In-depth phone interviews with over 400 randomly sampled adult male Group Health patients surprised Dr. Reid and his colleagues: 5% had experienced domestic violence in the past year, 10% in the past five years, and 29% over their lifetimes. The researchers defined domestic violence to include nonphysical abuse - threats, chronic disparaging remarks, or controlling behavior - as well as physical abuse: slapping, hitting, kicking, or forced sex.
  
  
• Myth 2: Abuse of men has no serious effects. The researchers found domestic violence is associated with serious, long-term effects on men's mental health. Women are more likely than men to experience more severe physical abuse, said Dr. Reid. "But even nonphysical abuse - can do lasting damage." Depressive symptoms were nearly three times as common in older men who had experienced abuse than in those who hadn't, with much more severe depression in the men who had been abused physically.
  
  
• Myth 3: Abused men don't stay, because they're free to leave. In fact, men may stay for years with their abusive partners. "We know that many women may have trouble leaving abusive relationships, especially if they're caring for young children and not working outside the home," said Dr. Reid. "We were surprised to find that most men in abusive relationships also stay, through multiple episodes, for years."
  
  
• Myth 4: Domestic violence affects only poor people. The study actually showed it to be an equal-opportunity scourge. "As we found in our previous research with women experiencing domestic violence, this is a common problem affecting people in all walks of life," said Dr. Reid. "Our patients at Group Health have health insurance and easy access to health care, and their employment rate and average income, education level, and age are higher than those of the rest of the U.S. population."
  
  
• Myth 5: Ignoring it will make it go away. Not so. "We doctors hardly ever ask our male patients about being abused - and they seldom tell us," said Dr. Reid. "Many abused men feel ashamed because of societal expectations for men to be tough and in control." Younger men were twice as likely as men age 55 or older to report recent abuse. "That may be because older men are even more reluctant to talk about it," he added... Read More

Doctors Often Miss Abusive Head Injuries To Young Children, Study Says

Science Daily
Feb. 19, 1999

  PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Almost one-third of the time, doctors miss cases of head injuries caused by abuse to infants and small children, says a study in this week's Journal of the American Medical Association.

Diagnosing head trauma from impacts or shaking can be difficult in the absence of a history of child abuse. Head trauma is also easy to miss if no obvious symptoms are present. But physicians must consider that such injuries may be inflicted on infants and young children who present non-specific signs of abuse, say the study authors.

"In some case, the parents knew that someone had hurt the baby and they didn't tell the doctors," said Carole Jenny, M.D., the study leader and professor of pediatrics in the Brown University School of Medicine. "In other cases, parents didn't have a clue. Abuse may have come at the hands of a babysitter, grandparent or boyfriend. We need to do a better job. Let's be more aware of this diagnosis ... More

 

Dads Break Bones Of Children More Often Than Moms

Science Daily
Dec. 6, 2007

     Dads break or fracture the bones of their children far more often than moms, and they tend to inflict their abusive rage on infants younger than five months old, according to a study in Child Abuse & Neglect.

The abuse can be horrific. In one study case, a child suffered 31 broken or fractured bones.

Almost 68 percent of the children presented with other abusive injuries, including burns, abrasions, bruises or head trauma.

The study underscores the need to boost efforts to target males for child abuse prevention programs, said Suzanne Starling, a forensic pediatrician for the Child Abuse Program at Children’s Hospitals of The King’s Daughters.

“If prevention efforts remain targeted primarily at women, a large proportion of perpetrators will not be reached,” Starling wrote. “Alternative prevention efforts must be sought.”

Broken and fractured bones rank as the second most common presentation of child abuse in the United States, after inflicted brain trauma. More than 30 percent of children evaluated in emergency rooms for suspected child abuse have either acute or healing fractures... More

Violent Shaking Pulps The Infant Brain, Forensic Researchers Find

Science Daily
Jan. 8, 2008

     Each year in the United States, one thousand infants die after being shaken. An equal number of cases result in brain damage. Many people who are guilty of this type of abuse go free due to a lack of evidence; others are wrongly suspected of a crime that they did not commit. Researchers in forensic medicine at the University of Oslo are learning more about these brain injuries by shaking a very advanced doll.

    “Cases involving the concealed killing of infants do come up. Still, it is extremely difficult to get a conviction in a court of law,” confirms post-doctoral researcher Arne Stray-Pedersen from the Institute of Forensic Medicine at the University of Oslo, Norway. He is one of Norway’s leading forensic experts in cases of possible child abuse. Now, he is focusing on the trauma that occurs when an infant is violently shaken.

Being shaken is enormously traumatic. The head moves so much that the brain can be destroyed. The same types of injuries occur during car accidents or when vehicles are put under hard breaking... More

Ga. Sex Offender Housing Restriction Overturned

         Court reverses ban on registered offenders living near areas where kids are

   

MSNBC News
updated 1:30 p.m. ET, Wed., Nov. 21, 2007

ATLANTA - Georgia's top court overturned a state law Wednesday that banned registered sex offenders from living within 1,000 feet of schools, churches and other areas where children congregate.

"It is apparent that there is no place in Georgia where a registered sex offender can live without being continually at risk of being ejected," read the unanimous opinion, written by presiding Justice Carol Hunstein.

The law had been targeted by civil rights groups who argued it would render vast residential areas off-limits to Georgia's roughly 11,000 registered sex offenders and could backfire by encouraging offenders to stop reporting their whereabouts to authorities... More

Child Sexual Abuse & Parental Alienation Syndrome Allegations , Part I

From Parenting Abused Children: Hope, Healing, and Insight

    The following is a group of excellent links to papers and articles about Parental Alienation Syndrome and how the use of this fictitious syndrome by the Family Courts is harming our nation's children. Does parental alienation exist? Yes, it does. But true Parental Alienation is a far cry from the so-called Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS).

  Point of View

     According to one definition, "Parental alienation syndrome [PAS] is the brainwashing or programming of a child by one parent to denigrate and alienate the other parent."

     PAS, a phrase coined by the late Dr. Richard Gardner, arises almost exclusively during child custody disputes, and primarily focuses on alienation of the child's father, by the mother. It supposedly  occurs when the mother alienates the child's affection for the opposing parent, often by accusing the other parent of child sexual abuse.

    God help the mother, these days, who even suggests her child is being abused by an ex-husband. If she does, she stands a good chance of losing her child.

    The PAS theory was developed by Richard Gardner, a psychologist, around 1985. One must note though that Gardner was seen by many as having extreme views and, according to his writings, a perceived acceptance of pedophilia. Gardner committed suicide in 2003.

   According to the late Dr. Gardner, children who accuse their father of sexual abuse, are being force fed lies by the mother, in an attempt to have the children's visitation with their father stopped by the court.

   Dr. Gardner's theory proposes that "' ... the vast majority of allegations in this category [divorce cases with custody disputes] are false.'"

   According to an article by the American Prosecutors Research Institute, entitled Parental Alienation Syndrome: What Professionals Need to Know, the PAS theory is based primarily upon two notions, "neither of which has a foundation in empirical research."

Theory I

   There is a high incidence of false allegations.

    Research, however, does not support his theory. In fact, studies have shown that the incidence of false allegations is very small.

    In a 1990 study by Thoennes and Tjaden, 9,000 divorces in 12 states were studied. It was found that sexual abuse allegations were made in less than 2 percent of the contested divorces involving child custody.

   Out of that two percent, only 5%-8% were determined to be false.

     In her article, Merrilyn McDonald, M.S.W, who does forensic work as a guardian ad litem in Bremerton, Washington, reports that in Australia, studies showed that allegations of sexual abuse were present in only 1.7 percent of custody or visitation dispute cases.

   She went on to write that in Canada, hospital records involving sexual abuse allegations of children were reviewed. The review indicated that "... children of parents involved in custody disputes had as much physical evidence of sexual abuse as children of non-disputing parents."

    "In a study that looked at all reports of sexual abuse received by the Denver child protective services In 1983, child protective social workers reported that 53 percent of allegations were well founded, 24 percent didn’t have enough information to allow substantiation, 17 percent were made in good faith and involved a legitimate concern, but had other explanations, and 6 percent were probably false."

Other studies have indicated that false allegation rates range between 2% to 8%.

  Dr. Gardner developed, what he called, the “Sex Abuse Legitimacy Scale.” Dr. Gardner claimed that this scale can point out falsely accusing mothers and children.

   Jon Conte, editor of the “Journal of Interpersonal Violence,” stated his opinion of the "Sex Abuse Legitimacy Scale": "“Probably the most unscientific piece of garbage I’ve seen in the field in all my life.”

  Dr. Gardner self-published this scale, which has never been subjected to scientific scrutiny or empirical studies.

   It's interesting to note that in his book, True and False Accusations of Sexual Abuse, Gardner wrote, " ...our present overreaction to pedophilia represents an exaggeration of Judeo-Christian principles and is a significant factor operative in Western society’s a typicality with regard to such activities."

Theory Number II: 

   "Women more often than men resort to making false allegations of abuse in disputed custody proceedings."

  Dr. Gardner's theory is that mothers encourage false accusations in order to obtain financial or strategic advantage during custody determinations."

  According to the American Prosecutors Research Institute, "This hypothesis ignores the fact that most sex offenders are indeed men."

   "It also fails to account for the possibility that the divorce process might liberate an abused child from the heavy burden associated with keeping a secret like sexual abuse, or that post-divorce living conditions or circumstances might render a child vulnerable to sexual abuse... It is a courtroom diagnosis befitting adversaries involved in legal sparring."

  The American Prosecutors Research Institute goes on to state: "In short, PAS is an untested theory that, unchallenged, can have far-reaching consequences for children seeking protection and legal vindication in courts of law...

... Prosecutors and other child abuse professionals should educate themselves, their colleagues and clients when confronting PAS in the legal realm."

  [For Part II, PAS & Case Law, read here]