Is Violence in Black Families Increasing? A Comparison of 1975 and 1985 National Survey Rates

Abstract

This article compares the rates of physical violence in black families from the First National Family Violence Survey, conducted in 1975, with the rates from the 1985 replication. It also compares these rates to the rates for white families in the same surveys. Both studies used nationally representative samples (2,143 families in 1975 and 6,002 in 1985). There were 147 black families in the 1975 survey and 576 in the 1985 sample. The rate of severe violence toward black women declined 43%-a statistically significant change. Similarly, the ratio of severe violence toward women for blacks to whites declined from 1975 to 1985. The rates of severe violence toward black children and men were higher (48% for children and 42% for men), but the differences were not statistically significant. The black-to-white ratio for severe violence toward children and men increased between 1975 and 1985. Explanations are explored for the unchanged rate of violence toward black children, compared to a significant decline in the general population, and the decline in the rate of violence toward black women, compared to no change in the general population. This article compares the rates of physical violence against black children and spouses found in the Second National Family Violence Survey conducted in 1985 with the rates found in the First National Family Violence Survey conducted in 1975 (Straus, Gelles, and Steinmetz, 1980). It extends an earlier analysis conducted by Straus and Gelles (1986) in which they compared the results of the 1985 survey on family violence to the 1975 survey. In examining rates of severe, very severe (children only), and overall violence, Straus and Gelles (1986) found that rates of severe and very severe violence (child abuse) toward children declined 23.6% and 47.2%, respectively, and that the rate of severe violence (wife beating) toward women declined 21.1% in the past decade (although the change in violence toward women was not statistically significant). The rates of other measures of violence toward children and women and all measures of violence toward men remained essentially unchanged.' The report that the rates of severe assaults against women and children were lower in 1985 than in 1975 raised considerable controversy (see, for example, Berliner, 1987; Cohn, 1987; Schene, 1987; Stocks, 1988). Straus and Gelles argued that the decrease, at least in part, was due to a change in family structure, improved economic conditions, and the growth in treatment and prevention services. In view of the important policy implications of these findings, as well as the controversy surrounding the data, further investigation of the Office of the Dean, Connecticut College, New London, CT 06320.

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