MYTHS ABOUT FAMILY VIOLENCE
Domestic Violence is a private family matter. Officials are acting in the best interest of the family if they don't interfere. A man has no right under existing laws to beat his wife or any other family member. It is violent behavior; assault is no less a crime when it is carried out against ones wife or girlfriend.
Domestic violence is usually precipitated by the victim's provoking statements or actions. This myth stems from a belief that, on some level, men still have a right to chastise their wives for behavior that the men do not like. Experts in family violence refute models of spouse abuse that blame the battered woman for her own victimization and relieve the batterer of responsibility for his violent behavior.
Batterers are sick, poor, or alcoholic.
Many assumptions about the batterers stem from a desire to deny the widespread occurrence of violence in normal families. Researchers and clinicians have consistently refuted the notion that these men are mentally ill. Recorded figures do not necessarily reflect the actual incidence of spouse abuse among various social and economic classes.
Battering is caused by an inability to express anger or handle stress. While domestic violence is sometimes associated with anger, counselors who work with batterers report that this is not the cause of the use of violence. If battering reflected solely an inability to control anger, it is unlikely that the same target would be singled out time after time.