Monday, November 02, 2015

The Duluth Model Part 2: Power and control wheel

For reference, take a gander at the "Power and Control Wheel" showed by proponents of the Duluth Model. 

OK, for starters, note that the wheel always assumes that the perpetrator is male and the victim is female; this is, of course, the basic logical fallacy of begging the question.  Here are the BJS statistics on the matter; suffice it to say that it's not just male on female violence in marriage, to put it mildly. 

But apart from this, another problem is that power and control is presented as the problem, and not as a tool used by people who sin.  Reality is, however, that most of the behaviors are only sinful in light of the motivation.  For example, "give an allowance" is just another term for "setting a budget".  So what we have here is, in part, a list of benign and malign behaviors that will be interpreted uniformly as malign--leading Duluth victims (enthusiasts?) to jettison otherwise worthwhile relationships.

And having abandoned their first love, are they going to find another husband?  Statistically, no; they end up in unwed heterosexual or homosexual relationships, the most likely place for domestic abuse.

In other words, it is likely that the continued of the Duluth model may actually be increasing domestic violence versus what it would otherwise be.  Having seen domestic violence up close, I'm glad that we're punishing it, but we really would do well to take a close look at what we're doing after the arrest.

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