Domestic Violence in the Military

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Domestic violence or DV is a persistent issue in the military population. According to the Domestic Violence and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Severity for Participants of a Domestic Violence Rehabilitation Program article by April A. Gerlock, DV is more likely to occur in a military family than in a civilian family.

Over 2.3 million American veterans served in the Iraq and Afghanistan war. Twenty percent of those returning soldiers suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD. PTSD and DV are issues that coincide. It is more likely a veteran or an active soldier suffering with PTSD will act in the cycle of domestic violence than one who does not have PTSD. 

The attempt to solve the domestic violence problem with the military population began in 1995 when the Department of the Army and Department of Veteran Affairs began to plan a research program with the Madigan Army Medical Center and American Lake VA Medical Center. The plan was to deliver a state certified rehabilitation program for the domestic violence batterers.  The research showed that a program less than one year would be useless. If the abuser drops out of a rehabilitation program before one year they are more likely to repeat their actions.  The level of a perpetrator’s

PTSD mirrored the level of domestic violence.   A soldier with severe PTSD had severe abuse problems. Therefore, the need for rehabilitation for a soldier with a high level of PTSD was highly recommended. Also, the link between the severity of both PTSD and DV had a high level of dropouts. This showed the patients believed they did not have a problem or they were cured in a short amount of time. 

The research program in the mid 90’s was the first step to figure out a solution to the problem of domestic violence in the military community. Today it is still an infinite problem in both military and civilian families. The Department of Defense or DOD made domestic violence in the military a specific concern to assess an ideal solution. They came up with a system for both abusers and victims in the military. If the abuser is in the military they go through either the military justice system or the Family Advocacy Program. The process differs for on base and off base soldiers. On base, the case is investigated by the military police and sent right to the Family Advocacy Program. If it is an off base scenario, the local police handle the case but it is not always reported back to the base officials.

According to the article “When Violence Happens,” written by Linda D. Kozaryn, from the American Forces Press Service, many cases are reported early before any severe casualties occur in the household. Also, the DOD stated the success rate of the domestic violence cases are good because they are reported early and sometimes reported by the actual abuser.

 The whole issue brings up many concerns for me. Starting from the beginning, PTSD seems to be a big cause in the matter. PTSD alone is an unsolved issue. Soldiers are not getting help for their traumatic issues let alone, soldiers can’t come to terms with themselves that they have a problem. Society’s stipulation on PTSD affects the steps to get help. So many suffering do not seek help. This brings us to the cause of domestic violence in military households.

Since soldiers are not seeking help for their PTSD, they are affecting their home life. They become violent in their homes and they are putting their family in danger. So, not only are they not getting help for the PTSD they have but now they are participating in the cycle of domestic violence.

PTSD and DV are very similar because they both have a bad stigma in society. They are issues that are normally dealt with behind closed doors. The Department of Defense, according to Kozaryn’s article, says the success rate of fixing the domestic violence in the military community is improving. I cannot believe them because there are still soldiers and veterans who have not received help for PTSD, the first step to the domestic violence problem.  Therefore, if the soldier does not think they have a post-traumatic stress disorder why would they think they have domestic violence problems?

After doing research, I am glad to see the military sees this as an issue. Domestic violence sometimes goes unnoticed. It is nice to see they are spending a lot of time to do research to create the best plan to fix the problem. I just know there are so many layers to the issue that it is not going to be solved easily.

Here is a video from 2009 that shows an example of domestic violence in the military.

What do you think about the relationship between PTSD and domestic violence?

Do you agree with the Department of Defense? Do you think the success rate of rehabilitated domestic violence abusers is improving?

What else can be done to stop domestic violence in military households?