Domestic Violence Program for Men

SERVING SUPREME, CRIMINAL, FAMILY, AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE COURTS

1581 Bailey Avenue, Buffalo, New York 14212
Telephone: (716) 896-6390 Fax: (716) 896-4236
Visit us on the Web at: www.ccwny.org
GREGORY R. WHITE, DIRECTOR

POSITION STATEMENT ON CULTURE AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

by Gregory R. White

There is a choice to believe that marginalized groups of people are more violent than the mainstream or
dominant group and that violence is a greater part of their culture in a way, not part of the culture for the
dominant group. In reality, every culture or groups of people, continue to support, perpetuate, and give
permission for men to perpetrate violence against women simply because they are men and afforded privileges
which are not equally afforded to women.
There is difference in the way men of color and European-American men perpetrate and justify their violence
against women which relate to differing forms of male dominance, male supremacy and male privilege. Men
who represent mainstream Anglo communities are often covert in the violence they perpetrate and tend to not
make claims for their intimate female partners acquiescence, yet, react strongly when their partners do not
comply or meet with their expectations. Most white Anglo/European-American men do not report an overt
expectation that their partners must obey and meet their rigorous expectations. Their expectations remain
subtle in an ongoing, covert pattern of male privilege. These same men typically do not see that their behavior
is abusive and controlling behavior nor do they claim that they have the right to control or abuse their partner.
More often, these men will rigorously blame their partner for the abuse they received; they will say that their
partners pushed them to the edge and that they simply lost control and that she is the problem. Men who use
more subtle tactics may appear to be less violent. Despite this appearance, these men are not less violent; they
employ tactics that instill domination, power, control, and fear over their partner.
For men whose culture supports overt dominance and supremacy over their partner, they explicitly expect that
their partner be subordinate to them and their wishes. Rigid gender roles, sexist expectations, objectification,
are common and compliance is expected. Her non-compliance to meeting these expectations is viewed as
shameful, disrespectful of him, her family, and her community and culture. Men from this group may not be
more violent, or less likely to change, than those men who were raised and operate from a more covert
position. They may talk about their partners differently than men from a covert position, but their violent
tactics remain similar. A recent national study indicates that Hispanic men are no more violent than Anglo
men. (Kaufman Kantor, et al.) Women who are partnered with men that use direct and overt abuse and male
domination tactics may respond less to asserting their rights when threatened, abused, and controlled. When
these same women do take steps to assert their rights, they may respond with great determination especially
when challenged by serious opposition from members of their family and/or their community. Battered
women from these groups may not have a greater acceptance of their partners abuse, but in fact, be actively
protecting their families and community.
There continues to be vast permission and a consistent pattern of mens violence toward women in our
mainstream culture and society. In fact, the United States of America has the highest rates of homicide of any
developed country (except Russia) on the globe.
Finally, every cultural group embraces the basic fundamentals, traditions, values, and norms that encourage
mens respect and equal treatment of the women in which they are partnered. The notion that men who
represent the marginalized or a community of color are more abusive, appear to behave more violent, or that
violence is more common to their culture (than the dominant mainstream group) is inaccurate.

The Domestic Violence Program for Men is one of the New York Model for Batterer Programs, adopted by the New York
State Coalition Against Domestic Violence and the New York State Office for the Prevention of Domestic Violence.