Domestic Abuse Against Men in Scotland

Footnotes

1 Further studies using modified versions of the CTS (and typically smaller samples) have been conducted subsequently in the US (Brush, 1993) and also in Canada (Lupri, 1990 referenced in Cook, 1997: 11) and Australia (Headey et al., 1999).

2 Subsequent self-report studies of women living in refuges suggest that the majority of battered women perceive their own violence as self-defence (Saunders, 1986). Likewise self-report studies of US women arrested by the police for partner violence also show that around two-thirds of female 'perpetrators' use violence to protect themselves or in retaliation for previous victimisation (Hamberger, 1997). Of course, these subsequent studies do not capture men's perspectives on the contexts in which 'family conflict' occurs. But they do, at the very least, call into question the use of the NFVS findings to make inferences about either the relative impact of victimisation on men and women, or the relative culpability of male and female victims (Saunders, 1988).

3 See Chapter Three for examples of these.

4 The phrasing and ordering of questions in the SCS 1996 was not identical to the phrasing and ordering of questions in the BCS 1996. The SCS 1996 focussed on a partner or ex-partner saying 'threatening things', whereas the BCS focused on a partner or ex-partner having 'ever said things to you that frightened you'. Whereas the SCS simply asked respondents whether their partners or ex-partners had ever used force towards them, the BCS introduced its questions about 'force' by telling interviewees that '[P]eople often use some force in a relationship'.

5 See Chapter Four for our re-analysis of the SCS 2000 data on domestic abuse.

6 Unlike the BCS figures, the percentages for experiences of force or threat in the SCS are rounded to 1s.f. (MVA, 1998: 34-37).

7 By 1999 this was no longer the case. See Chapter Three of this report.

8 Crime survey data on victims' violence towards partners has not been collected in Scotland.

9 Especially young men, poor men and ethnic minority men.

10 In the US, Australia and Canada there are approximately three times as many partner homicides against women as there are against men (Headey et al., 1999: Locke, 2000; Rennison & Welchans, 2000).

11 The vast majority of partner homicides in Scotland are recorded as having occurred in circumstances of 'rage or quarrel' (Soothill et al., 1999: 27)

12 This survey involved telephone interviews with 8,000 US men and 8,000 women.

13 This survey involved telephone interviews with 14,269 women and 11,607 men aged 15 or older.

14 Also like Stitt and Macklin and Brogden and Harkin, Cook did not elicit any accounts of male victims' violence towards partners, in spite of his self-acknowledged indebtedness to the 'family violence' paradigm of research.

15 The picture is further complicated by the fact that many male rapes happen between acquaintances who are not necessarily in sustained dating relationships, and also by evidence suggesting that the many male rapists consider themselves heterosexual (McMullen, 1990). The extent to which male victims of sexual assault are able to come to terms with their experience of victimization depends considerably on the availability of support from peers, partners and professionals, as well as the individuals' own coping strategies.

16 In 1999 the definition was slightly different. Hence, the first of these bulletins (Scottish Executive 2000: 1) documented the returns of officers attending incidents of 'domestic violence', which was ' in most cases…between partners…or ex-partners' (our emphasis).

17 The appendix in the 1999 Bulletin reports statistics for a total of 25,894 incidents, which is rounded up to 26,000 within the main body of the Bulletin. Our dataset comprised 25,728 cases, and the analyses reported in this chapter refer to our dataset. This disparity in numbers is due to the sex of the victim not being recorded in 166 incidents.

18 The appendix in the 2000 Bulletin reports statistics for a total of 36,416 incidents, which is rounded down to 36,000 within the main body of the Bulletin. Our dataset comprised 36,351 cases, and the analyses reported in this chapter refer to our dataset. This disparity in numbers is due to the sex of the victim not being recorded in 65 incidents.

19 For example, in both 1999 and 2000 the area with the highest rate of reported domestic abuse was Grampian (766 and 882 per 100,000 respectively). In 1999 the area with the lowest rate of reported domestic abuse was Central with 363 per 100,000. In 2000 the area with the lowest rate was Dumfries and Galloway with 457 per 100,000.

20 See Stanko (2001) for similar figures for England & Wales.

21 Throughout this report a probability level of .05 is used as the critical level of significance. The level .05 demonstrates that the probability of this observable difference being due to chance is below 5%. In this case p = .005 (Pearson Chi-Square = 8.020), indicating that it is very unlikely that the difference occurred by chance.

22 The vast majority of incidents (93%) take place in the homes of either victims and/or perpetrators. Male victims (5.3%) appear to be involved in more incidents in the street than female victims (5.1%), but these differences are not statistically significant.

23 In 1999 the Scottish Police did not record this information for 21% of all incidents, compared to 10.3% in 2000.

24 It is unclear whether the time frame, to which this previous experience of domestic abuse refers,` includes incidents before 1 st January 2000.

25 This difference was statistically significant; Pearson Chi Square = 182.280; p < .001.

26 Pearson Chi Square = 7.218; p = .007.

27 In the Statistical Bulletin (Scottish Executive, 2001: 4), crimes are defined as being " generally regarded as more serious than offences". For convenience we use these words interchangeably in this report.

28 Pearson Chi-Square = 57.211; p < .001.

29 We use the term 'no criming' to refer to incidents in which the offence type is reported by the police as 'not a crime', not to question the police classification of these incidents.

30 See Scottish Executive (2001: 6).

31 The mean rate of 'no criming' for the remaining six regions was 62%.

32 Pearson Chi-Square = 11.334; p = .001.

33 Pearson Chi-Square = 15.012; p < .001.

34 Pearson Chi-Square = 98.925; p < .001.

35 Pearson Chi-Square = 30.478; p < .001.

36 This represented a statistically significant difference; Pearson Chi-Square = 23.926; p < .001.

37 This represented a statistically significant difference; Pearson Chi-Square = 38.860; p < .001.

38 The numbers used to calculate the percentages in Table 2.3 differ greatly between the four groups. For example, only 27 female perpetrators against female victims were referred to the Procurator Fiscal compared with 10,906 male perpetrators against female victims.

39 'Other action' typically entails referrals to Domestic Abuse Liaison Officers, Family Welfare Liaison Officers, Victim Support, Social Services, refuges or Housing Agencies, and/or advising the victim, perpetrator, or relatives.

40 Pearson Chi-Square = 20.998; p < .001.

41 See also Hoyle, 1998 for a similar conclusion about English victims of domestic abuse.

42 Pearson Chi-Square = 166.063; p < .001.

43 Pearson Chi-Square = 9.466; p < .001.

44 Pearson Chi-Square = 35.213; p < .001.

45 Pearson Chi-Square = 9.603; p = .002.

46 When analyses were being carried out for this chapter, the report on the domestic violence questions from the SCS 2000 had not been finalised. Hence, some figures in this chapter do not exactly match those quoted in MacPherson (2002). The weighting factors used in MacPherson's (2002) analyses mean that percentages cannot be simply calculated from the raw numbers supplied. In our own analyses we did not apply the weightings. What is important, given the relatively small samples involved, are the relationships between figures for men and for women rather than the somewhat spurious accuracy achieved through the presentation of percentages.

47 These figures are based on the rounded percentages in MVA (2002: 5-6).

48 Slightly fewer men reported experiences of domestic abuse in 1999 than in 1995.

49 Like MVA we use the term 'threats' to refer to the question about 'frightening things'. We appreciate these two things are not necessarily equivalent, and do this only for brevity. Likewise we use the term 'forced' to refer to reports of 'force' in the past tense, although we recognise that in some cases this entails definitional imprecision.

50 Note that respondents were not asked whether they considered themselves to be victims of 'domestic abuse'.

51 Pearson Chi-Square = 6.212; p = .013.

52 This difference is statistically significant. Pearson Chi-Square = 8.125; p = .004.

53 Pearson Chi-Square = 45.543; p < .001.

54 16 years old and above.

55 Office for National Statistics (General Register Office for Scotland, 2001).

56 Pearson Chi-Square = 10.249; p < .001.

57 Pearson Chi-Square = 10.312; p = .016.

58 Pearson Chi-Square = 72.081; p < .001.

59 This difference was also statistically significant; Pearson Chi-Square = 5.615; p = .018.

60 For example, 65 per cent of victims stated that they would find it a problem obtaining immediate access to 100, compared with 42 per cent of non-victims. This difference was statistically significant; Pearson Chi-Square = 73.590; p < .001.

61 Seventy-five per cent of victims recorded their earnings as less than 20,000 per year compared with 54 per cent of non-victims. This difference was statistically significant; Pearson Chi-Square = 41.532; p < .001.

62 Pearson Chi-Square = 6.398; p = .011.

63 Pearson Chi-Square = 24.347; p < .001.

64 Pearson Chi-Square = 18.429; p < .001

65 Pearson Chi-Square = 4.909; p < .027.

66 Of those 11 who were not traced, one did not report any victimisation in the SCS self-completion questionnaire according to the spreadsheets we received from MVA.

67 The self-completion questionnaire was only intended for respondents in the age range 16 to 59, and the SCS main sweep was for respondents of age 16 years and above.

68 We tested to see if our sample of interviewees were similar to those men who participated in the SCS self-completion questionnaire but were not interviewed by us (see Appendix A). Finding our sample to be broadly representative, we set about re-estimating rates of domestic abuse against men in Scotland, taking into account the number of victims counted in error (see Appendix B).

69 Those that were paid 20 were typically those who were slow to respond to our invitation to participate. We thought these men might be more forthcoming if they were offered a larger financial incentive.

70 The main difference between our approach and that advocated by Hollway and Jefferson, is that Hollway and Jefferson went back to their interviewees a second time in order to explore absences, avoidances and contradictions in the primary narrative. This was not feasible within the timescale and budget for our research.

71 See Appendix C.

72 All names quoted are pseudonyms. For brevity we have appendixed our case summaries of the 22 'confirmers' who we interviewed in-depth. See Appendix B.

73 In Scotland it is the Procurator Fiscal who usually brings charges against people. Colloquially though, the term 'pressing charges' is often used to refer to the complainant giving a statement to support the charge made.

74 This was in spite of the fact that he had ticked the 'force' box in the SCS 2000 self-completion questionnaire.

75 Insecurities that appeared to be grounded.

76 Learning disabled.

77 Gary resisted the pressure put on him by the police to have his partner charged with serious assault.

78 By this time Jimmy's ex-wife had been awarded legal custody of their son.

79 The Children (Scotland) Act 1995 replaced the terms 'custody' and 'access' with 'contact' and 'residence'. However, many people, like Neil still use the terms 'custody' and 'access' when referring to legal rulings made after 1995.

80 See Chapter Five.

81 Such as post-natal depression, pre-menstrual tension and the menopause.

82 Couple Counselling was previously called 'Marriage Guidance' in Scotland and is now 'Relate' in England & Wales.

83 Most of these organisations provide services for lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgendered people, and hence for conciseness we use the term LGBT to refer to both those organisations working with various sexual minorities and those working exclusively with gay men.

84 See Chapter Three of this report.

85 Pearson Chi-Square = .059; p = .808

86 Pearson Chi-Square = .122; p = .727

87 Pearson Chi-Square = 1.562; p = .211

88 Pearson Chi-Square = 2.096; p = .553.

89 Pearson Chi-Square = 4.788; p = .025.

90 Pearson Chi-Square = 4.255; p = .037.

91 Pearson Chi-Square = 6.236; p = .012.

92 Pearson Chi-Square = 10.210; p = .001.

93 Pearson Chi-Square = 4.586; p = .029.

94 Pearson Chi-Square = 8.897; p = .003.

95 Pearson Chi-Square = 5.711; p = .018.

96 Pearson Chi-Square = 4.941; p = .023.

97 Barry said this was probably a saucepan.

98 However, earlier in the interview Charlie emphasised 'at no time have I ever left Maureen, I've never left the home, and she's never left me, erm. We always seem to resolve it in the end'. Friends of Charlie and Maureen's were 'shocked' that the two of them had 'stayed together'.

99 His solicitor having used her 'apology letters' as evidence of her abusiveness.

100 Trevor had not been randomly selected to take part in the Scottish Crime Survey, as MVA had originally interviewed him whilst at a friend's house.

101 Zac and Jemma had broken up before they found out she was pregnant.

102 Such as 'hairspray cans and HP batteries' and a 'platform shoe'.

103 Zac told us he had been in martial arts training since he was six years old.