Sociology 1201 Duluth Domestic Abuse Intervention Project: 1980: After a particularly brutal domestic homcide, founders set out to reform police, court and human services response to domestic violence Activists from battered women’s movement around the country invited to Duluth to help build guidelines for counselors to use in court-mandated grps

Questions from the standpoint of women who are battered Why is she the target? How does his violence impact the balance of power in their relationship? What did he think he could change by hitting her? Why does he assume he’s entitled to have power in the relationship? How does the community support his use of violence against her?

Assumptions of curriculum Violence and its threat are used to control other person’s behavior A continuing force in the relationship –Not cyclical but ongoing –Intention to gain control over partner’s actions, thoughts, and feelings –Learn these tactics in families of origin and in the culture –“Out of control” with a purpose: See power and control wheel (schedule, week 14)

Cultural scripts “You can’t have two captains for one ship” “If I don’t control my child/partner/wife, she’ll control me.” “God made man first…” “This is my child…”

Abusers are capable of personal transformation Not all are alike; some show no apparent remorse, others are truly appalled at their behavior. –Must be held personally responsible by a community –Must have an environment that is non- judgmental, nonviolent, and respectful of women and children –Must be willing to work through a long process in which he becomes accountable –Equality wheel

Women’s violence “Women’s violence toward their male partners that is neither in self-defense nor in response to being battered is rare but can still be very dangerous. During its first ten years DAIP worked with just under 100 women who physically assaulted their partners(3.5% of offenders). In seven cases, the men “were being pursued and terrorized by their partners and were unable to leave the situation.”

How could the program be evaluated? Suggestions from class Would love to be able to access reliable information on the changes in the rate of domestic violence in Duluth over the years the program has operated, including partners murdered

Popenoe, “The Future of Marriage in America,” 2007 The National Marriage Project, Rutgers University ( “Marriage is now based almost entirely on close friendship and romantic love, mostly stripped of the economic dependencies, legal and religious restrictions, and extended family pressures that held marriages together for most of human history.”

The past decade “There can be no doubt the institution of marriage has continued to weaken in recent years.” Popenoe –Fewer American adults are married. –More divorced or remaining single. –More children born out of wedlock (40%) –More living with stepfamilies, with cohabiting but unmarried adults, or with a single parent.

Marriage gap People who have completed college (around 25% of the population) have higher marriage rates and lower divorce rates –16.5% of college educated women divorced within 10 years of marriage –46% of high school dropouts

But there’s also a fertility gap 24% of college educated women are childless Only 15% of women that age who didn’t finish high school are childless Therefore more of our kids are growing up in the circumstances in which marriages are more fragile.

Red states vs. blue states Red states more conservatively religious. People marry younger(and more often), cohabit less, and have more children. But people in red states also more apt to divorce and more apt to have children outside marriage. What if we control for race?

Marriage and happiness If we have less marriage than in the past, are those that remain of higher quality and more happiness. Since 1973, the General Social Survey has periodically asked a cross section of married Americans to rate their marriages as either “very happy,” “pretty happy,” or “not too happy.” The trend has been modestly down over the last 25 years.

U.S. and Western Europe 10% of Americans agree marriage is an outdated institution, compared with 26% in UK and 36% in France 10% of Americans cohabiting vs. 33% in Sweden But U.S. and Eastern European nations trending in the same direction as Western Europe.

U.S. “leads” in single mother families New Zealand, Canada, and five European countries catching up Could our high immigration rates reverse these trends toward weaker marriages –Largest immigrant group Hispanic Unwed birth percentage in this group jumped from 19% in 1980 to 48% in 2005 Hispanics have same divorce rate as non- Hispanics

David Popenoe “So if we are moving in the direction of the of the more negative family trends of other modern nations, and they are moving in the direction of our negative trends, where does this leave us?”

What can be done? “The institution of marriage needs to be promoted at all levels of society, particularly the families, the schools, the churches, the nonprofit sector, and the government.” “Young people need to be continually made aware of how many benefits married life brings, both for themselves and for their children.”