Ohio State Study Examines the Spark That Results in Domestic Violence

Researchers at Ohio State University analyzed tapes of monitored telephone calls of incarcerated men who had been accused of domestic abuse. The calls that were analyzed were made between the incarcerated men and the women who were the victims of their alleged abuse. The correction facility where the inmates were incarcerated regularly records telephone calls for security reasons.

The researchers found that domestic violence most often occurred after accusations of infidelity were made by one or both partners. The research, published on the website of the Journal of Women’s Health, also showed that alcohol or drug use was often involved in domestic violence incidents.

Julianna Nemeth, a doctoral student in public health at Ohio State and lead author of the study, stated, “What we were looking for was the immediate precursor – what was the one thing that happened right before the violence that was the catalyst. We never knew that it was the accusation of infidelity that tended to trigger the violence.”

Amy Bonomi, co-author of the study and associate professor of human development and family science at Ohio State, observed, “What we had before was what the abuser and victim said to police, to courts, to advocates, to health care providers. But we never before had the couple together discussing just among themselves what happened during the violent episode.”