When we hear the term “domestic violence,” we usually think of violence between two people in a romantic relationship. And, in fact, the vast majority of domestic violence charges (almost 82 percent) are for violence between those who are currently in a romantic, intimate relationship or who were in a romantic, intimate relationship. That said, there are many other times when domestic violence involves family members rather than romantic partners.
The incidence of domestic family violence increases when financial hardship, unemployment, lower education, drug and alcohol abuse, and an adult’s history of his or her own childhood abuse are present. When police see a child or a woman who has been injured by domestic violence, determining who to arrest may be relatively easy – it is usually the larger male with no visible injuries.