Veteran Status and Marital Aggression: Does Military Service Make a Difference?

• NCJ Number: 218930
• Journal: Journal of Family Violence Volume: 22 Issue: 4 Dated: May 2007 Pages: 197-209
• Author(s): Christopher Bradley
• Date Published: May 2007
• Length: 13 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study examined whether being a military veteran increased an individual's tendency to engage in domestic violence.

Abstract

The study found that being a military veteran did not in itself increase an individual's propensity to behave violently toward his/her intimate partner. Further, combat exposure did not significantly increase the likelihood of the occurrence of such violence. Stress, more than any other factor examined in this study, was related to domestic violence. Despite the limitations noted in how this study was conducted, the findings suggest that veteran status does not increase the likelihood that an individual will engage in domestic violence. The next step should be the analysis of whether prior service in the armed forces has a similar impact on other areas of a veteran's intimate relationships, such as dating violence and marital sexual assault. Study data were obtained from the national Survey of Families and Households Wave 1. This survey involved a national, stratified, multistage probability sample of both married and unmarried individuals in the continental United States, based on the 1985 population projections for Standard Metropolitan Statistical Areas and nonmetropolitan counties. The final sample size for this study consisted of 5,418 heterosexual married couples or couples living together. The dependent variable was the type and severity of domestic violence perpetrated by both members of an intimate relationship against his/her partner during the previous year. Five separate questions pertained to this issue. The primary independent variables in the study were measures of previous military service for both men and women and combat exposure of military veterans. Other independent variables measured several factors that could place stress on an intimate couple living together, such as debt, unemployment, and substance abuse. 2 tables and 66 references