Prevalence Rates and Symptom Patterns.

             Not only is domestic violence hardly new, it is also quite common in modern times and advanced nations like the United States, evidenced by the following cited statistic: in 2000, the National Violence Against Women Survey reported, in a study of 8,000 women and 8,000 men, that nearly 25% of women and 7.9% of men indicated that a current or former spouse, cohabitating partner, or date victimized them at some time in their life. Rape was reported by 7.7% of women and 0.3% of men. Physical assault affected 22.1% of women and 7.4% of men. Internationally, over 2 million men and women report being victims of domestic violence annually, although some sources estimate that the true number of cases may be twice that figure. Beyond the violence itself is the possibility of death at the hands of a domestic abuser, which some sources quote as domestic violence victims being as much as 5 times more likely to be a murder victim than others in the population, even those of a violent nature, such as drug dealers and homeless individuals (Burnett E, 2006).

             Research also indicates that those who are domestic abusers commonly exhibit similar symptoms in most of the cases that have been documented, as do those who are victims of the abuse as a result. .

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             Abusers, in most cases, are carrying on a sort of twisted family tradition as many abusers were victims of domestic violence at some point in their lives themselves, be it as a child or perhaps in another domestic situation as adults. Regardless of the legacy of domestic violence that has brought the abuser to this point, there are some generally accepted symptoms that are summarized as follows:.

             LACK OF COGNITIVE SKILLS- Citing the accounts of law enforcing personnel worldwide who frequently respond to distress calls stemming from domestic violence situations that have spiraled out of control, in most cases, the law enforcing personnel cite that the abusers, when confronted and questioned, exhibit very little cognition; beyond the typical anger that is exhibited, many abusers seem to be in a sort of trance, which prevents them from fully fathoming the severity of the situation that they have created.