The NFL is still imposing an indefinite suspension on Baltimore Ravens player Ray Rice. It follows a domestic violence incident in Atlantic City, New Jersey with Rice’s now-wife. Video of the incident shows Rice hit the woman, Janay Palmer. The incident happened in February 2014, but additional video was released in September which led to the suspension.
The additional video stirred up conversations about domestic violence with politicians. U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar, from Minnesota, recounted a story about violence in the family during an appearance on CNN’s State of the Union. Klobuchar said:
"We had a poster outside the door so everyone would see it when they came in. It was a picture of a woman beaten up with a Band-Aid over her nose, holding a little baby boy. And the words read, ‘Beat your wife, and it’s your son that goes to jail.’ Kids … that have seen it happen are twice as likely to commit it themselves."
PolitiFact took a look at the last part of that story. The claim that “kids … that have seen it happen are twice as likely to commit it themselves.” Writer Joshua Gillin said the claim rates MOSTLY TRUE. According to Gillin, a study backs up Klobuchar’s statement.
“She is citing a study that goes all the way back to 1990,” Gillin said. “That study was actually looking at self-reported families from 1975 to 1985. It did find a causal relationship there, that kids that have seen this are generally twice as likely (to commit domestic violence.)”
There is more recent literature that points to a similar trend. A 2010 study about found that children who witnessed any intimate partner violence were 2.6 times as likely to do it themselves.
But there is a larger problem with quantifying domestic violence. Some experts say there’s enough evidence to suggest that children who witness domestic violence are more likely to perpetrate it, but stop short of calling it twice as a likely. Because of those facts, PolitiFact rated the claim MOSTLY TRUE.
SOURCES: DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND CHILDREN
- PolitiFact's rating
- Amy Klobuchar on CNN’s State of the Union, Sept. 14, 2014
- Email interview with Jacquelyn Campbell, professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing, Sept. 14, 2014
- Interview with Ruth Glenn, executive director of the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Sept. 15, 2014
- Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, "Intergenerational Transmission of Partner Violence: A 20-Year Prospective Study," 2003
- World Health Organization, "Intervening with perpetrators of intimate partner violence: A global perspective," 2003
- Murray A. Strauss and Richard J. Gelles, "Physical Violence in American Families: Risk Factors and Adaptations to Violence in 8,145 Families," 1990
- The Canadian Journal of Sociology, "Physical Violence in American Families: Risk Factors and Adaptations to Violence in 8,145 Families," 1990
- Journal of Marriage and Family, "The Intergenerational Transmission of Spouse Abuse: A Meta-Analysis," August 2000
- Children’s Defense Fund Ohio, "Children Who Witness Domestic Violence," October 2009
- Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, "Prevalence of Children’s Exposure to Domestic Violence and Child Maltreatment: Implications for Prevention and Intervention," September 2003
- U.S. Department of Justice, "Report of the Attorney General’s National Task Force on Children Exposed to Violence," Dec. 12, 2012
- U.S. Department of Justice, "Children’s Exposure to Violence: A Comprehensive National Survey," October 2009
- Epidemiology, "Witness of Intimate Partner Violence in Childhood and Perpetration of Intimate Partner Violence in Adulthood," November 2010
- Politico, "Klobuchar says NFL players have obligation as role models," Sept. 14, 2014