Last week, I got this homework from the BIP the court gives me the choice of attending (the alternative choice being jail). I have to admit, my answers are sort of lazy, but I was wondering if anyone might have anything to add that I've missed (or was too lazy to include).

Answer myth or fact:

  1. Domestic violence usually only happens in married adult couples. As far as I know this is neither myth nor fact. I have never heard this perpetuated as a myth. As for it’s factual basis, I’d imagine that since the majority of intimate partnerships occur outside of marriage, statistically speaking, one might expect to find a higher rate of IPV in non-married couples than married couples, assuming an even distribution of IPV across all relationships

  2. Boyfriends and girlfriends sometimes push each other around when they get angry, but it rarely results in anyone getting seriously hurt. Fact. The majority of domestic violence does not lead to serious injury or hospitalization. A report on national IPV surveys published in 2007 found that 5% of female IPV victims reported serious injury between 2001 and 2005. Several things are of note here. Government sponsored IPV reports have an analytical bias towards observing female victimization and male perpetration, in part because the studies rely on crime and shelter data. These data are likely to over-represent female victimization and male perpetration because men are more likely than women to be held criminally liable for IPV, and because few, if any, shelters offer services for male victims. Male victims are also less likely to sustain serious injury from female abusers. Therefore, once all victims are accounted for, the lower rate of male serious injury would bring it downward.

  3. While females can be abusive and abuse happens in same-sex couples too, it is more common for males to abuse their female partners. Myth. Women are more likely to abuse their male partners than vice-versa (Whitaker 2007, and PASK (domesticviolenceresearch.org)).

  4. If a mother is abused by her children’s father; the children are also likely to be abused [sic]. Unconfirmed. The state of California, however believes this to be the case, as its civil code contains a rebuttable presumption against the award of sole or joint legal or physical custody to anyone found guilty of domestic violence within the past 5 years.

  5. Most people will end a relationship if their boyfriend or girlfriend hits them. I’ve never heard this perpetuated as a myth.

  6. People abuse their partners because they can’t control their anger. Emotional control can and does lead to abusive behavior.

  7. Most men who abuse their partners grow up in violent homes. Myth (PASK found a low to moderate correlation of all abusers and childhood IPV exposure).

  8. If a person is really being abused, it is easy to just leave. For some people, it is. For others it isn’t. I do not know what proportion of various populations fall into each category, but that might make an interesting point of research.

  9. Most rapes are committed by strangers who attack women at night on the streets. Myth. In the United States, men comprise the majority of rape victims, once prison rapes are accounted for.

  10. A pregnant woman is at an even greater risk of physical abuse. Than who? A non-pregnant woman? A man? The entire non-pregnant population as a whole?

  11. Relationship abuse happens most often among Blacks and Hispanics. Myth. The controlling factor appears to be socio-economic, not racial. Honestly, however, I haven’t thoroughly investigated this point.

  12. People who are abused often blame themselves for their abuse. If often is taken to mean “the majority of the time,” than I have no idea. Is there even hard data on this?

Edit: formatting

UPDATE: I was terminated from the program this morning, so I guess I'll never know what his reaction to my answers would have been. The termination report, based on the last class, is full of inaccuracies. Fortunately, I recorded the last class with his permission, which will hopefully be enough to keep me out of jail.