Domestic violence (spousal)

• marital and similar unions universal cross-culturally

• paternity uncertainty

• human mothers know who their (biological) children are

• men cannot know with total confidence who their biological children

• "mother's babies, father's maybes"

• about 10-15% fathers of record in UK are not biological fathers

• in U.S. and Finland, women report 15-20% more children than men on average

• mother's relatives try to affirm offspring resemblance to father

• enhance paternity uncertainty and ensure father's investment in child (unconscious)

• men are more distressed by sexual fidelity (concerns about paternity certainty)

• women more distressed about emotional fidelity (concerns about diversion of resources)

• sexual double standard universal - restricted sexual activity of married women, but not married men

• adultery considered greatest provocation to murder in legal systems throughout world

• perpetrators express these motives; recognized popularly as well

• domestic violence associated with crack use by women (Brewer, Fleming et al.)

• sample = women in methadone maintenance treatment

• longitudinal study

• women who used crack early in study moderately more likely to have been abused by their partners later in study

• use of other drugs did not predict victimization

• why the drug-specific relationship?

• male partners perceive women's crack use as indicating infidelity

• crack use popularly perceived to be linked to promiscuity (e.g., sex for crack exchanges)

• crack-using women actually do have more sex partners than non-crack using women

• males' perceptions = key, regardless of true behavior

• female to male domestic homicides due primarily to self-defense

interventions:

• mandatory arrest policies (arresting men accused of domestic violence)

• randomized experiments to evaluate such policies (Sherman et al.)

• domestic violence perpetrators randomly assigned to be arrested or given warning

• arrests do not decrease repeated incidents of domestic violence

• arrest does reduce violence against middle-class women but increases recidivism among low status perpetrators
• interpretation: arrest involves loss in status; middle-class perps. have more to lose than lower status perps.

• conclusion: arrest does not necessarily prevent further domestic violence

• no strong evidence supporting other interventions for preventing domestic violence

• abuse and neglect = ultimate in lack of investment in children

• victims

• young age (under 4)

• ultimate explanations:

• young kids require more active investment

• older children are more reproductively valuable

• handicapped/deformed, sick, low birthweight/premature

• proximate explanations:

• possibly more aversive behaviors

• parents less likely to bond with less responsive infants

• ultimate explanation:

• require intensive investment but less likely to be reproductively successful

• living in home without both biological parents

• greater risk of unrelated, less investing caretakers

• doesn't pertain to adopted children

• perpetrators:

• male (physical abuse)

• female (neglect)

• large family size

• fewer resources available per child

• reflects r strategy - mating effort (quantity)

• single parent

• less instrumental and social support

• may be more focused on mating effort than parenting effort

• may neglect or allow abuse of prior kids to secure new mate's support

• low socioeconomic status/unemployment

• fewer resources to invest in children, greater stress

• stepparent (esp. stepfathers)

• negative maternal attitude toward pregnancy

• unwanted children are less likely to be loved and protected

• marital violence

• may indicate sexual jealousy/ suspected infidelity ----> paternity uncertainty ----> abuse/neglect of children

• child abuse/neglect as a child not a risk factor for perpetrating child abuse neglect as an adult (longitudinal evidence - Widom)

Trivers-Willard hypothesis

• parents adjust investment in different sexes of children according to reproductive prospects

• females less variable than males in terms of reproductive success (equally successful on average)

• proportionally more women become parents

• less variation in number of children women have

• key factor for males' reproductive success - high status

• key factors for females' reproductive success - physical attractiveness, youth, motherly characteristics

• investment in boy will pay off more in reproductive terms if high status family

• major investment will help increase status further

• if low status family, limited investment will not substantially alter his status

• investment in a girl will pay off more in reproductive terms if low status family

• limited investment will ensure basic level of health, attractiveness, and motherliness

• if high status family, major investment will not improve health, appearance, or motherliness much beyond limited investment

• prediction: boys favored over girls in high status families, girls favored over boys in low status families

• not conscious on part of parents

• evidence

• fatal child abuse and neglect in U.S.

• most cases involve low social status families, so expect more boys killed

• sex ratio of children in U.S., 1998

• 1.05 (105 males : 100 females)

• sex ratio of children killed by abuse/neglect (AHA, CWLA)

• 1984 1.17

• 1996 1.20

• 1997 1.18

• 1998 1.17

• similar pattern for serious physical abuse

• female infanticide more likely among higher status families cross-culturally (e.g., China, India)

• good accuracy in prenatal prediction of abuse/neglect

• comprehensive family services for unmarried mothers (Olds et al.)

• nurse regularly visits home of mother during pregnancy/early childhood

• health education for mother

• build social support for mother

• link mother with needed health and social services

• provide instrumental support

• parent education about physical and emotional care of infants and toddlers

• randomized experiment with unwed, poor, and/or teen mothers in poor region of NY

• mothers randomly assigned to receive full program or just medical checks/ developmental assessments through age 2

• at age 2 among unmarried teen mothers, 4% had state-verified abuse/neglect in full program group vs. 18% in control group

• by kids' age 15, women in full program group had 46% fewer abuse/neglect reports than women in control group (79% fewer for poor, unmarried mothers)

• positive program effects restricted to most disadvantaged

• removing children from abusive/neglectful families - permanent placements (long-term foster care or adoption)