Domestic Violence: Intervention, Prevention, Policies, and Solutions PDF

Deborah Capaldi, PhD, an acknowledged domestic violence expert and senior scientist at the Oregon Social Learning Center in Eugene, Oregon, is currently the principal investigator of three studies for the National Institutes of Health: (1) the cause and consequences of antisocial behavior; (2) young couples' relationships and (3) intergenerational influences on risk. Some of Capaldi's most recent research focuses on understanding the dynamics of romantic relationships in early adulthood with a particular interest concerning the development of aggression in romantic-styled relationships.

Andy Klein, PhD, also an acknowledged domestic violence expert, is a senior research analyst at Advocates for Human Potential, Inc.; a domestic violence consultant; and the former chief probation officer for the Quincy, Massachusetts District Court, one of the first courts in the nation to recognize the unique problem domestic violence presents to the criminal justice system. Klein is an author and a columnist for the National Bulletin on Domestic Violence Prevention.

A recent study coauthored by Capaldi documents that many of the young women in that particular subgroup of the population (at-risk young couples who have displayed frequent physical aggression toward their intimate partner) were more likely than the young men to initiate assaultive behavior or to engage in mutual aggression with their dating partner. Further, the study concludes that the behavior of these young women increases the chance of their being injured (Capaldi, Kim and Shortt, 2004).

On June 24, 2005, Capaldi and Klein appeared on the MSNBC show Scarborough Country (Soler, 2007). In their interview, Klein asserted that the Capaldi study is a misrepresentation of what domestic violence is all about. Klein notes that domestic violence, as seen by Klein in the criminal courts, is not about two people engaged in mutual fights and pushing, slapping, or hitting each other. The violent behavior Klein had seen as a chief probation officer is the type that often can land females (primarily the injured victim) in the hospital with serious injuries or in the morgue (usually at the hands of males).

The truth is that both Capaldi and Klein are correct. However, each of them, at least concerning the Scarborough Country interview, is describing a different and individual subdivision of a very complex and multifaceted phenomenon as if it represents the entire phenomena. I do not believe that either Capaldi or Klein should suppose that their individual "expertise" concerning any particular subgroup of a population is representative of the population in general.

Capaldi's view of domestic violence primarily involves at-risk young people living at the lower end of the socioeconomic educational strata of society— those who have social or behavioral factors that can increase the risk that they will hurt or harm their partners (Capaldi, Kim and Shortt, 2004).

Klein's view is that domestic violence involves men and women who, more often than not, have been engaged in the criminal justice system as juveniles or adults (Klein, 1996). Neither Capaldi nor Klein presents any evidence that his or her particular subgroup is representative of the majority of the population.