Although combat-related conditions like PTSD and TBI are sometimes correlated with certain types of violence, we need to be careful not to let them be used as an excuse for violent behavior. “My PTSD made me do it” is not a valid excuse for committing acts designed to enforce coercive control over a partner. It is always vital to look carefully at the history of such behaviors by the abuser. A TBI or PTSD will NOT turn someone into a person who believes s/he is entitled to have what s/he wants when s/he wants it, without regard for the partner’s wishes or needs. If that attitude of entitlement is already present, combat trauma and related conditions may in fact exacerbate the violence already present in the relationship. More overt forms of violence, which are often physical or sexual, are more likely to come to the attention of law enforcement. Physical and sexual violence are usually the only kinds of violence that are officially recognized and counted. It is also true that some physical violence by one intimate partner against the other actually is related to symptoms of PTSD or TBI. However, this violence does not involve use of coercive control. It may happen in sleep or during a flashback and happens to be directed at the intimate partner because that is the person who is there at the moment. This violence, however, is likely to be seen as a problem by those committing the acts and is not an IPV tactic. This is a complex area in a world that looks for simple answers to problems. One of the real issues in IPV is that there are no simple answers. Treating PTSD will help if the violence is truly part of the symptoms being suffered by the veteran or service member. However, treating PTSD will not change people’s sense of entitlement and belief that whatever they do is justified; neither will anger management, substance abuse treatment, incarceration, or batterers’ intervention programs if these beliefs are not challenged. Victims would certainly like those programs to help. Research, however, shows that they do not help everyone. The only thing that can help is a radical re-focus of abusers’ sense of entitlement, so they no longer view themselves as the center of the universe. That can only happen when abusers recognize that their behavior is a problem and sincerely want to change. Sometimes the criminal justice system can be the catalyst for that necessary change, but sometimes it is not. While it is important to recognize when service members and veterans are dealing with problems stemming from their service to our country, we do them no favors by excusing or condoning their acts of coercive control against intimate partners, and in so doing, may endanger the victims and their children.
Source of this blog: Battered Women’s Justice Project
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