Posted on 07/13/2006 2:10:55 PM PDT by srotaG adirolF
Women more likely to be perpetrators of abuse as well as victims
Filed under Research, Education, Family, Law, Gender on Thursday, July 13, 2006.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. Women are more likely than men to stalk, attack and psychologically abuse their partners, according to a University of Florida study that finds college women have a new view of the dating scene.
Were seeing women in relationships acting differently nowadays than we have in the past, said Angela Gover, a UF criminologist who led the research. The nature of criminality has been changing for females, and this change is reflected in intimate relationships as well.
In a survey of 2,500 students at UF and the University of South Carolina between August and December 2005, more than a quarter (29 percent) reported physically assaulting their dates and 22 percent reported being the victims of attacks during the past year. Thirty-two percent of women reported being the perpetrators of this violence, compared with 24 percent of men. The students took selected liberal arts and sciences courses. Forty percent were men and 60 percent were women, reflecting the gender composition of these classes.
In a separate survey of 1,490 UF students, one quarter (25 percent) said they had been stalked during the past year and 7 percent reported engaging in stalking, of whom a majority (58 percent) were female.
Although women were the predominant abusers, they still made up the largest number of victims in both surveys, accounting for 70 percent of those being stalked, for example.
The reason more college men werent victims may be that women in the study did not exclusively date them, preferring men who had already graduated, not yet enrolled in college or chose not to attend college at all, Gover said. It shows that students who are perpetrating these attacks arent just targeting other students on campus, she said.
It also is possible that some of the physical attacks women claim they are responsible for are actually acts of self-defense, Gover added. Maybe some of these women have been abused by their partner for some time and theyre finally fighting back, she said.
Recent studies on domestic violence suggest that whereas in the past victims might have felt trapped in violent situations, todays women are more likely to understand they have options instead of putting up with mistreatment, she said.
I think we may also be seeing sort of a new dynamic in dating relationships in terms of women feeling more empowered, she said. They recognize they dont have to be in a dating relationship forever. They can get out of it.
Child abuse was the single biggest determining factor for men and women becoming perpetrators or victims of either dating violence or stalking, Gover said. Even if one never personally experienced abuse, witnessing violence between ones parents as a child increased the likelihood of stalking or being stalked as a young adult and it made girls more susceptible to becoming victims of dating violence when they grew up, she said.
The survey found that men and women who were abused as children were 43 percent more likely than their peers who were not mistreated to perpetrate physical violence and 51 percent more likely to be victims of physical violence in a dating relationship. Violent acts included kicking or slapping, pushing or shoving, punching or hitting with a hand or object, slamming someone against a wall and using force to make a partner have sex, she said.
Sexual risk-taking the age when survey respondents first had sex and the number of sexual partners in their lifetime was another important risk factor, but surprisingly, attitudes toward women made no difference, said Gover, who did her research with Catherine Kaukinen, a University of South Carolina criminology professor, and Kathleen Fox, a UF graduate student in criminology. Some of the findings were presented at the American Society of Criminology annual meeting in November in Toronto.
The study also was among the first to look at psychological abuse. Examples included preventing partners from seeing family or friends, shouting at them and using threats to have sex. Fifty-four percent of respondents reported being psychologically abusive, and 52 percent said they were victims of this type of behavior. Women were more likely to be psychologically abusive, with 57 percent saying they were perpetrators versus 50 percent of males.
Shelley Serdahely, executive director of Men Stopping Violence, in Decatur, Ga., questions the validity of studies showing women are more violent. Women might be more likely to get frustrated because men are not taught how to be active listeners and women feel like they are not being heard, she said. Often women are more emotional because the relationship matters a lot to them, and while that may come out in a push or a shove or a grab, all of which are considered dating violence, it doesnt have the effect of intimidating the man.
Credits Writer Cathy Keen, ckeen@ufl.edu, 352-392-0186
Source Angela Gover, agover@ufl.edu, 352-219-4977
No. All your grammar belong to us. I am stuned at your qwestshun.
interesting.
I say we raise taxes and ban jury trials.
(/sarcasm)
Hmm I wouldn't count pet names among the worst crimes.
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Maybe not but when you tell someone that you not only don't like it but are actually VERY OFFENDED and she is stupid enought to insist on continuing with it and in front of other people to boot and then she wonders why you tell her to get lost you tend to wonder if there is anything other than air between her ears! If I called a woman by some pet name and she objected then she would never hear it again. What is the problem?
That is just one example anyway, there were plenty of others.
This is the dirty little secret in a whole lot of marriages. From what I've seen, I would say the percentage of women who do this compared to men is a lot higher.
In a lot of relationships I see, the women are the ones who stomp around angry or sit with their head down giving out "the silent treatment" if they don't get what they want. They behave this way until the man gives in, admits that he was the one who was totally wrong, and grovels to her satisfaction. If a guy acts like this, he's a big baby. If a woman acts like this, it's normal.
Have you remarried?
Have you remarried?
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Yep.
I think its totally amazing.
I think its totally amazing.
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I find many things amazing.
I believe it is not the pet name that is the crime; but, it is more likely to be the use of [fill in the blank --- pet name or whatever] to taunt the other person who has made it clear that he/she finds it offensive that is the "crime".A deliberate pattern of behaviour, especially in front of outsiders, designed to irritate or offend another person is often the beginning of the breakdown of a relationship.
SoS
Considering how many women you met blaming their ex husbands instead of accepting the blame for themselves of them being divorced.
Its called "respect." And it works both ways for men and women alike.
Considering how many women you met blaming their ex husbands instead of accepting the blame for themselves of them being divorced.
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My current wife accepts the blame for marrying her ex-husband in the first place, I have met him and I the only question I had is how a woman with a genius level mind could have been duped into marrying a man with such a stunted emotional development, he has the maturity level of a three year old. My stepdaughter has two beautiful boys who call me "Grandpa" instead of him, he lives within a three hour drive of them but has never even tried to meet them.
"My current wife accepts the blame for marrying her ex-husband in the first place, I have met him and I the only question I had is how a woman with a genius level mind could have been duped into marrying a man with such a stunted emotional development, he has the maturity level of a three year old."
If I was your wife after a comment like this, I'd be wondering why I then proceeded into a marriage with you.
Damn! They were studying my ex wife! LOL
(Well, somebody had to say it. lol)
Yes, it is indeed called respect; and, I don't believe I singled out one gender over the other.Any time one person in a relationship, male or female, insults the other and/or deliberately taunts the other [especially in front of outsiders] with something known to be disliked ---- well, that is just poison and is a sure fire relationship killer -- or worse.
Usually, I have observed that when a relationship reaches this point it is all over already anway and it's time to put the final nails in the coffin of that relationship.
SoS
She was outside BANGING on my window screaming at the moon trying to get inside. The window finally shattered and then I ran to the door to confront her. She stormed into my apartment, hitting me and screaming at me. I finally got her outside when she fell over and I dragged her out.
Needless to say, I was a bit shaken up by all this. So, I started a pot of coffee and tried to calm down. About 20 min. later, 2 cops came to visit me. One of the other neighbors had called them.
They asked me what happened, and I told them. What bothered me was that they ASKED ME SEVERAL TIMES IF I HIT HER OR LAID A HAND ON HER. It felt as if they were baiting me.
Well, they finally got into her apartment, arrested her and took her downtown. She was a violent drunken mess the entire time. This was also the second time she had been arrested in 2 months for having a violent drunken tantrum.
So in the end, she was not charged either time. No criminal record, nothing.
What would have happened if the roles were reversed? If a man had done this, he would probably STILL be in jail.
Nope, it's the same everywhere. For years and years I have said to people "excuse me, pardon me, thank you, you're welcome." The past 2 or 3 years, I slowly started to realize that I'm the only one that ever does this. Women in stores on in public are completely oblivious to everybody else on the planet.
So these days, I leave my cart in the aisle, don't open doors, none of that. Why put myself through so much trouble when the courtesy is NEVER returned or even appreciated?
How do you force a guy? Or in other words, how do you push a chain?
f I was your wife after a comment like this, I'd be wondering why I then proceeded into a marriage with you.
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Then I suppose you are glad that you are not my wife and I suspect that she is glad that she is.
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