Stacy Bannerman’s Domestic Violence Hoax
Stacy Bannerman, well-known advocate for military families, recently published an article titled, “Husbands Who Bring the War Home:” http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-09-25/ptsd-and-domestic-abuse-husbands-who-bring-the-war-home/ Author of When the War Came Home, Bannerman has been credited for helping to secure passage of the Military Family Leave Act in 2009.
As weary American troops return from their Iraqi deployment, the Bannerman column is important and timely. And the harrowing account of Kristi, victim of an attempted strangulation by a husband who had just returned from a 10-month deployment, was riveting.
But was it true?
As a columnist who specializes in the field of domestic violence and has spoken with countless victims of abuse, I found myself feeling increasingly unsettled as I worked my way through her engaging yet enigmatic essay.
The question of the veracity of her claims is paramount because the partner abuse field is strewn with battlefield debris of half-truths, misrepresentations, and utter fabrications. University of New Hampshire researcher Murray Straus has written of domestic violence researchers who “have let their ideological commitments overrule their scientific commitments.” And U. Penn School of Social Work dean Richard Gelles has coined the whimsical phrase about the ubiquitous partner abuse “factoids from nowhere.”
So I sent Ms. Bannerman an email requesting…
The article, as the title clearly states, was focused on returning male veteran household violence against female spouses. Therefore, other veteran/spouse/partner populations were not discussed. As I
repeatedly told Carey, I was 3,000 miles away from my office and research data and files attending a conference. I do not travel with a laptop or own a Blackberry. I paid for a few minutes of internet
access in the hotel business center on Monday and Tuesday. I let Carey know several times that I would not return until the weekend, and that I would not be able to check my e-mail again for the remainder of the workweek due to the conference and because of several full days on airplanes and in airports. When I checked my inbox Monday morning, his editorial timeline had expired, according to him.
I have provided research sources and links for statistics below.
Statistics were drawn from studies of treatment-seeking veterans with
PTSD. Which I stipulated.
I stated in the article: “The majority of studies of treatment-seeking veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or combat-related mental health issues report that at least 50 percent of those veterans
commit wife-battering and family violence.”
Williams, C. M. (1980) found reports of wife-battering in 50% of treatment-seeking veteran couples. Unlike the chronic cycle of ongoing abuse often reported in the general domestic violence literature, the veteran may commit only one or two extremely violent and frightening abusive episodes that quickly precipitate treatment seeking. (pp. 73-122) Cincinnati, OH. Disabled American Veterans.
Additional info/background/research/statistics: Psychological sequelae of combat violence: A review of the impact of PTSD on the veteran’s family and possible interventions [An article from: Aggression and Violent Behavior] [HTML] [Digital]
T. Galovski (Author), J.A. Lyons (Author) 9 (2004) 477-501
A 2006 study in The Journal of Marital and Family Therapy (Sherman, Sautter, et. al.) looked at veterans who sought marital counseling at a Veterans Affairs medical center in the Midwest between 1997 and
2003. Those given a diagnosis of PTSD were significantly more likely to perpetrate violence toward their partners, the study found, with more than 80 percent committing at least one act of violence in the
previous year, and almost half at least one severe act.
: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/11/081106181415.htm
OR
Violence Between therapy Seeking Veterans and Their Partners (Teten,
Sherman, Han, 2009)
OR
Intimate partner violence among military veterans and active duty
servicemen
As for the uptick in DV reports in and around Ft. Hood:
But in the town of Killeen and other surrounding communities, the
attack, one of the worst mass shootings on a military base in the
United States, is also seen by many as another blow in an area that
has been beset by crime and violence since the wars in Afghanistan and
Iraq began. Reports of domestic abuse have grown by 75 percent since
2001. According to The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/10/us/10post.html?_r=1
When CBS News looked at the small town of Killeen, Texas, – home of
Fort Hood – another disturbing trend became clear. Of the 2,500
domestic violence cases reported to police last year – half of them
involved military personnel.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/01/29/eveningnews/main4763053.shtml
Figures from another post (this shows a more than 250% increase, but
it wasn’t referenced in the piece, just something I came across as I
was doing research):
Domestic violence among Fort Carson soldiers has become more prevalent
since the Iraq war began in 2003. In 2006, Fort Carson soldiers were
charged in 57 cases of domestic violence, according to figures
released by the base. As of mid-December, the number had grown to 145.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/02/us/02veterans.html
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