The Backlash! - November 1997

Contents: Acknowledgments; Introduction; Is It Real?: The Evidence for a Significant Social Problem; Telling Their Stories: Men Speak Out; The Domestic Violence Trap: How to Get Help and Find Freedom from Abuse; Resistance and Acceptance: The Challenge to Understanding; Exploring New Approaches to Reduce Domestic Violence; Notes; Selected Bibliography; Selected Resources; Index.

The Straus/Gelles surveys, which were conducted at the University of New Hampshire and supported by funding from the National Institute of Mental Health, were the first comprehensive survey of violent family life based on a general nationally representative sample. It found that:

• Four million women a year in the United States suffer from domestic violence by their partners and 1.8 million women are seriously assaulted. An equal number of men experience domestic violence with an even greater number (2 million) being seriously assaulted.

• The most cited reason for ignoring the higher or nearly equal rate of domestic violence against men is that the figures include women acting in self-defense. This is not true in the majority of cases. Mutual combat is the norm in violent households. About 50 percent of those surveyed report both spouses to be violent. The remainder is divided equally. In 27 percent of the cases the male was violent as opposed to 24 percent for females.

• Women said that they hit first 53 percent of the time, while their partners hit first 42 percent of the time; 3 percent said they could not remember who hit first.

• Men who had seen parents physically attack each other were almost three times more likely to hit their own wives. Sons of the most violent parents have a rate of wife-beating 1000 percent greater than the sons of non-violent parents. Women whose parents were violent had a much higher rate of hitting their own husbands as compared to the daughters of non-violent parents. The daughters of violent parents have a husband-beating rate that is 600 percent greater than the daughters who grew up in non-violent households.

A survey that examined over 6,000 spousal assault cases reported to the Detroit Police Department found that:

• Male reports of spousal assault made up 6 percent of the total number reported.

• Whereas 54 percent of abused females claim they have notified the police of the assaultive incident, only 45 percent of the male victims allege that they have taken this action.

• Male victims are significantly less likely than females to pursue prosecution once the police have been notified and the immediate need for intervention has subsided. Justice Department figures support that assumption, noting that males are 11 percent less likely than women to report any type of violent crime in which they are the victims.

• 72 percent of the attacks against women by men involved the use of bodily force (hitting, punching, slapping, kicking, etc.), but for women assaulting men, only 14 percent involved bodily force.

• Only 15 percent of women faced a gun or a knife in a domestic battle. A gun or knife was used or threatened against a male 63 percent of the time.

• The more frequent use of weapons by women (82 percent for women versus 25 percent for men) in spousal assaults results in a greater injury rate for men with 77 percent of the assaulted men reporting some injury.

• 84 percent of the men who were injured by domestic violence required medical attention, with 50 percent of those being hospitalized overnight or longer.

When most people think of domestic violence, images of battered women or abused children come to mind. But there is another side to this issue that is not as familiar -abused men. This unique book is the first to comprehensively examine this important but neglected social issue.

Already praised by a diverse spectrum of readers - from "Dear Abby's" Abigail Van Buren, to the nation's leading domestic violence researcher, to those in law enforcement and counseling - this work is sure to spark controversy and discussion. It offers gripping, emotional stories, self-help for victims, and provocative insight into public issues, and provides a basic reference source for professionals.

Abused Men presents practical solutions for reducing domestic violence, whether its victims are male or female.

Cook begins by examining the common misconceptions about this social issue and offers a wealth of what will be new information for most readers. While people have heard the statistic that 1.8 million American women are severely assaulted by their mates each year, few know that the same source indicates that 2 million men are also assaulted at home.

After laying the groundwork for a serious reconsideration of how society views domestic violence, Cook allows a number of abused men to tell their stories. He then puts these experiences in the context of what therapists and others who have worked with such men know about domestic violence and how the male victim is similar to, yet different from, his female counterpart.

After examining the reasons why so little is known about male abuse and the difficulties researchers encounter, Cook shows how the abused man, his friends and family, and the abusive or abused woman can come to grips with domestic violence. Drawing form a variety of sources, the final chapter brings these diverse elements together and proposes practical solutions for reducing domestic violence, whether its victims are male or female.

"(This book) reads like 1,000 Dear Abby letters...fascinating...but it explains the many aspects of domestic violence. It has a wealth of material that could be helpful to professionals who deal with domestic violence." - "Dear Abby," Abigail Van Buren

"Unique. The case materials presented are gripping and need to be part of the historical and social record. It is a book likely to be helpful to many men, and if action is taken on the agenda outlined in the final chapter, to our country as a whole." - Murray A. Straus, Ph.D., Co-Director Family Research Laboratory, University of New Hampshire

"I am grateful to Philip Cook for writing Abused Men. This is a brave book...(the author) brings to bear in this book his knowledge as a journalist and his evident care and compassion for all victims of domestic violence." - Erin Pizzey, Founder of Chiswick Women's Refuge, author, Scream Quietly or the Neighbors Will Hear

"Perhaps with this book, Philip Cook can accomplish what academics have for the past 25 years failed to do - to cut through the political rhetoric and finally present the case of abused men as a real social problem. Cook goes beyond the issue of battered males as he shed incredible insight into the systemic problem of family violence. Perhaps now, couples experiencing violence in their relationships can be helped. His case material sadly brings to life the statistics researchers generate." - Reena Sommer, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, University of Manitoba, Family Counselor

Philip W. Cook is a former broadcast journalist who won awards for his reporting from the Associated Press and The Professional Journalism Society, and is a scholarship recipient of the Radio Television News Directors Association.

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