Stacy Bannerman’s Domestic Violence Hoax
Last week Stacy Bannerman, well-known advocate for military families, published an article titled, “Husbands Who Bring the War Home:” Author of When the War Came Home, Bannerman has been credited with helping to secure passage of the Military Family Leave Act in 2009.
As weary American troops return from their Iraqi deployment, the Bannerman column is important and timely. And the harrowing account of Kristi, victim of an attempted strangulation by a husband who had just returned from a 10-month deployment, was riveting.
But was it true?
As a columnist who specializes in the field of domestic violence and who has spoken with countless victims of abuse, I found myself feeling increasingly unsettled as I worked my way through her engaging yet enigmatic essay.
The question of the veracity of her claims is paramount because the partner abuse field is strewn with the battlefield debris of half-truths, misrepresentations, and utter fabrications. University of New Hampshire researcher Murray Straus has written of domestic violence researchers who “have let their ideological commitments overrule their scientific commitments.” And University of Pennsylvania School of Social Work Dean Richard Gelles has coined the whimsical phrase about the ubiquitous partner abuse “factoids from nowhere.”
So I sent Ms. Bannerman an email requesting documentation of her various statements and claims.
She cheerfully answered a couple of my questions. But when pressed for citations of the research studies, Bannerman firmly demurred: “I am sorry that my travel schedule doesn’t allow me to provide any further assistance.”
Knowing that her article had garnered extensive media attention and could well shape future legislation, that brush-off hardly seemed to fit the ticket. So I did some digging. And to my dismay, I learned that “Husbands Who Bring the War Home” likely contains more fiction than fact.
Let’s put the issue into perspective. Partner abuse is a problem in our society. But research paints a very different picture than the Dagwood and Blondie comic strip stereotypes.
The largest study on partner violence in military families was conducted by Richard Heyman of the State University of New York-Stony Brook. His survey of over 33,000 active-duty Army personnel found 4.4% of female soldiers had committed severe domestic violence in the past year, compared to only 2.5% of the men. Other studies with military personnel reach a similar conclusion: Women are as likely, if not more likely, than men to engage in partner aggression.
So let’s dissect the eight key claims in Bannerman’s 1,400-word article. I’ll first quote her statement, then tell you what my investigation turned up.
1. “The journal Disabled American Veterans stated that veteran interpersonal violence often involves ‘only one or two extremely violent and frightening abusive episodes that quickly precipitate treatment seeking.’”
I visited the website of the Disabled American Veterans Magazine. Entering the terms “interpersonal violence,” “partner violence,” and “domestic violence” into the magazine’s search engine, I searched every issue of the magazine from 1960 on. The Bannerman statement could not be verified. (When I later informed Ms. Bannerman of this fruitless search, she did not offer any comment.)
Conclusion: The statement appears to reflect the fanciful musings of an imaginative commentator.
2. The Veterans Administration “found that the majority of veterans with combat stress commit at least one act of spousal abuse in their first year post-deployment.”
Even after I offered to extend my deadline to accommodate Ms. Bannerman’s travel plans, she still did not provide the source of this claim. So I searched high and low — no luck. Finally I contacted the Veterans Administration. Tina Crenshaw, PhD of the National Center for PTSD replied, “I checked with a couple of researchers in this topic area — they were not aware of research supporting that statement.”
Conclusion: Add this gem to your Factoids from Nowhere collection.
3. “[S]ince 2003, there has been a 75 percent increase in reports of domestic violence in and around Ft. Hood.”
Bannerman emailed me, “As for the Ft. Hood figures, they were drawn from an article in USA Today.” But the USA Today article that is linked to her article says nothing about domestic violence, much less reports on an alleged “75 percent increase” in partner abuse.
Conclusion: Factoid from Nowhere No. 2.
A story in the media that reflects poorly on the morals of our soldiers? Shocking!
See: John Kerry,U.S. Navy slanerous fabricated war crime stories never questioned or verified, but just happened to launched his political career with a sympathetic media
See: Various “cold blood” murder of Afgan/Iraqi stories that never seem to pan out when the court matials are concluded
See: Abu Ghraib photos commonly acompaniying storied 3-5-7 YEARS after the incidents, but never a falling body from WTC, or any mention, let alon photo’s, of islamic beheadings
Liberal jor-o-lists fabricating factoids to support their bias against the US military?
Call me when they say something accurate, as THAT would be “news worthy”
This is just another smear campaign to make our military men look bad for choosing to serve their country.
Here’s an idea. Why don’t we send these lefty wailers to the front lines, without the military to back them up. Then they can put into practice how to ‘talk’ evil into doing what is right?
It would be a good eye opener for them.
Since these wailers are of the same spirit as the enemy they would probably be received with open arms. Discrimination is called for. We should choose the truth over the untruth.
Well done. An article like hers, I would probably take with a grain of salt anyway, but it’s nice to see claptrap dismantled piece by piece.
Gee, liberals making up bogus “data” to support their claims? Color me shocked.
Looks like a two-fer to me. She got to bash both Men and the Military! Damn, if only she could have worked Christians in there we would have had a trifecta!
I bow, sir, to your observational hammer….the nail is fully struck, square in on head!
Genius!
The whole purpose of feminism, from the beginning until now, was always to further the agenda of the left by weakening and finally eliminating the social infrastructure that maintains family life, for the purpose of forcing everyone to become more dependent on the government. The feminists have perverted the legal system to drive a wedge between husbands and wives, between fathers and children. It was never about making life better for women or for the next generation. It was always about power for leftists.
Oh, and by the way, I happen to be a happily married woman.
Number Six, actually, is a quasi scientific formulation. If the phrase “my gut feeling” is replaced by “the hypothesis suggests”, then the statement would fit the accepted social science paradigm.
Of course, that would necessitate a simple statistical test, with empirical data, to evaluate the null hypothesis: there is no expected increase of post deployment domestic violence. No increase, beyond what might be expected by chance alone, no association or correlation, translates into the wonderful social scientific phrase, “we therefore fail to reject the null hypothesis of no relationship.”
Short and sweet, no grounds for post deployment and increase in domestic violence.
Roberts might want to reply in this format since it would go a long way to redress the damage already being done by the pseudo-science she is currently debunking.
She doesn’t think she really HAS to provide supporting documentation because everyone just KNOWS it’s true!
This comes from the myth that “violence begets violence”. They’ve been promoting that bit of lazy thinking for at least forty years that I know of! The idea is that anyone exposed to the violence of war MUST be tainted by it is classic excuse-making of the left. The same argument was made some years back against cartoons; and don’t forget the “Super Bowl Wife Beaters” myth that was floated some years back as well. It all goes back to the argument over “nature vs nurture”. Lefties like to argue the “nurture” side because it absolves the individual of personal responsibility, pushing it onto society. Classic collectivist thinking! If the responsibility lies with society, then the “government” can play a heavy hand and fix it. Also, if the individual is not responsible, then the Army is, or the NFL is, or the TV networks are; which opens the opportunity for lawsuits. Funny how this all boils down to an opportunity for a lawyer to make a buck and for the government to gain a little more control! I’m sure it’s just coincidence!
I noted that Carey Roberts made no mention of Lawyers but Dr.Cory of Equal Justice has and their influence on domestic violence should be researched.
Great Article!!
She did a fine job killing two lefty birds with this stone: not only did she add to the claptrap that fuels the multi-billion dollar domestic violence industry, she smeared our military in the process.
Will she be running for Congress soon?
It is an industry whose purposes are 1) to justify feminist orthodoxies, 2) perpetuate the feminizing of society, 3) launch political careers. Of course, there is real violence, but in terms of actual abuse as much or more is done by women as by men.
Too many bogus academics and bogus journalists promote misandry for their own personal aggrandizement and to promote the leftist agenda. Too few people call them out on that. I’m glad someone finally did.
“Let’s put the issue into perspective. Partner abuse is a problem in our society. But research paints a very different picture than the Dagwood and Blondie comic strip stereotypes.”
Sorry to nit pick an otherwise excellent article but when has there ever been domestic violence in Blondie? Mailman abuse and the boss kicking Dagwood – yes, but when did Dagwood ever abuse Blondie or vice versa?
It’s a long time ago, but I seem to remember the occasional flying dishes and rolling pins.
Wasn’t that Bringing Up Father?
The Daily Beast…never heard of it. Is it some sort of Newspaper? What is its circulation, 5?
Does anyone actually read it.
As a soldier with three tours through OIF married to a soldier with one tour through OIF, who both know many married soldiers (one or both in the Army) with multiple tours through OIF/OEF, I have to say that my hunch is that Ms. Bannerman is full of shit.
Succinct! I like it!
Given that the orginal claims got pretty wide dissemination, this expose of the hoax will take time to reach even a fraction of the original claims distribution.
Like Mark Twain wrote, “A Lie can travel half way around the world before the Truth can put its boots on.”
Unfortunately, boilerplate BS like Ms. Bannerman’s lives a life of its own once given its foetid birth. I don’t know how many times I have provided original source material to the folks who put together Navy GMT (general military training) to correct similar “facts” in its Domestic Violence Prevention materials.
Oh, why oh why do the comments have to mention “left”, “Liberal” and “Lefty”?
It rips down your comment!
You can believe in moving the country forward and not believe idiots like the author, Bannerman.
Why does this woman being a dip lessen my fight for gay rights, or him trying to get marijuana decriminalized, or etc. etc.
Remember, “conservative” politicians have voted down every VA pay/care increase in HISTORY.
One good reason for mentioning the Left et al is that is the source of this garbage. We do have violence but they use it for political purposes.
Got some proof for that claim? As in actual roll-call voting records?
Or are your claims as full of bovine droppings as Ms. Bannerman’s?
24 hours in, and still waiting for that evidence from Joe…
48 hours in, and still no evidence. Guess Joe doesn’t really have any, which makes him a bald-faced liar for making that claim.
There are indeed plenty of studies that come to the conclusion that women are responsible for more spousal/domestic abuse than men. Of course that won’t matter to many because it doesn’t forward their goal of milking the minority victimhood wagon for all it’s worth (another funny thing is women are considered minorities when they make up over 50% of the population of everywhere in the world).
Science:
http://www.physorg.com/news72113800.html
and this one has hundreds of sources:
http://www.csulb.edu/~mfiebert/assault.htm
Not to mention that abuse in same sex relationships is at least as prevalent as in heterosexual relationships, and is most likely under-reported: http://www.aardvarc.org/dv/gay.shtml
17%-45% of lesbian women report having been victims of partner violence: http://www.musc.edu/vawprevention/lesbianrx/factsheet.shtml
This is not to beat up on gays, but simply to point out that the myth of the evil, violent man is exactly that – a myth. Yes, violence in heterosexual relationships does occur; and certainly it occasionally occurs among heterosexuals serving in the military; but it occurs to a lesser degree among heterosexual couples than it does among same-sex couples, particularly those from the feminist lesbian community – whatever the pressures that bring it on.
My point is that propagating the myth serves two evils: 1) it slanders one group unnecessarily; and 2) it diverts attention from an area where there is a REAL problem that needs to be addressed…. ….all in the name of political correctness, as is so often the case.
Anyone remember Shere Hite, of “The Hite Report” infamy?
That was in the 80′s, and later came to be known as the “Hype” report. It was the template for all future distortions, fabrications, and exaggerations about doemstic violence.
The “reporting” on domestic violence has included so many hoaxes and made up stats that I assume most of it is phony until proven otherwise. Even the people who claim to believe this stuff probably just do so because it’s politically convenient.
The fact is, this will be nothing more than a footnote report and discarded. Unless attention to Bannerman’s hate at a national level, it won’t mean any thing and absorbed as truth. People like Fox News or some other news agency than can at least attempt at national attention needs to call this kind of thing out. This or I think it will wind up just being a bark in the night.
Well congratulations Roberts, you found an article you can really lambaste Bannerman on. It’s true any author has a responsibility to deal in facts or otherwise look like a fool, however, Bannerman is anything but.
After wondering how a writer could be so callus as you describe, I decided to research her story and ended up quite impressed with the work she has done on behalf of soldiers and their families. The subsequent “trash talk” from other writers makes me feel they haven’t even bothered to discover who this woman is and what she has tried to do.
She has challenged government officials to answer what it is they’ve done to support the troops… I wonder what the trash talking readers have done to support the troops. Words like “[military]…smear campaign” or “A story in the media that reflects poorly on the morals of our soldiers? Shocking!” pale in comparison to her effort SUPPORTING the military and their families.
I would invite anyone to go to http://www.stacybannerman.com/articles-commentary.shtml and read her articles. Then ask yourself why it’s so important to completely berate this woman as if an insignificant bimbo.
She should know better than to make unsubstantiated claims but her other work seems a lot more useful and noble for the humanity of it than the work of those who would assassinate her for this single particular article. She’s certainly got it right when she questions authority. Isn’t that what everyone is screaming about doing in the coming elections?
The problem is when someone gets so wrapped up in their advocacy (hers being mental health of military members and their families and primarily reservists/national guard personnel) that they are willing to create wholesale lies to keep themselves in the limelight or to become the recognized Subject Matter Experts. What I think is most appalling about her article is that she makes the assumption that all men commit DV when they get home from a stressful situation. The appearance that she didn’t try to make her article gender neutral to give it further impact only waters down her message. Simply cause the diversity bullys will pick up on this and use it to further their own agendas. Then to add to it those that are against the diversity industry will pick up on the fact that her unwillingness to say women are just as likely to commit DV in the home post stressful situation, only makes any of her other statements suspect that she is doing doublespeak and try to apply some “Animal Farm” quote to any of her other projects or commentary. This in turn could only lead to her committing more and more research fraud to keep her star bright for this advocacy. That then becomes dangerous because when others start to do their own research on the issue, they first off have to waste time and effort refuting published papers that are wrong or have been proven wrong in the past. Simply cause they have been accepted as “fact” since they come from an advocacy group/person.
Well stated and I agree wholeheartedly. It’s so unfortunate she has created her own credibility problem and thrust her work under the microscope of close scrutiny. Her arrogance of refusing to support her facts points toward her being wrapped up in her advocacy to the point of fabrication. It’s really too bad considering her prolific work and obvious passion to do her best at it. I have to wonder if she’ll ever be able provide sufficient damage control.
This person is obviously a liar and her article a FRAUD. Whatever her motivation to spreading these lies doesn’t matter. She is a LIAR.
Who is the victim?
Soldiers who lose half their retirement they work 20 years for because they were married for 7.
If it even for real anymore?
Soldiers pushed into marriage because their income doubles when they do so that the army can keep them in on retention.
How about giving soldiers some type of maternity leave when they get back from combat. Like not a couple days off. how about 9 months of paid leave to relax from just having to be under the constant threat of death.
How bout days off when they are deployed in warzone.
Slaves working on building the white house worked 12 hours 6 days.
Soldiers are working 12 hours 7 days or MORE.
How bout realizing that an e1 would be making less than minimum wage for hours worked.
Irrespective of anything she may have gotten right (and I haven’t found it yet if she did), her making up statistics and relying seemingly entirely on anecdotal information we all know to be too, too typical of those with their own agenda to promote in their “news” stories. Too bad our journalism schools quit teaching students to diligently search for the TRUTH and now teach them it’s their “responsibility” to “try and make a difference,” presumeably by “educating” the public according to the writer’s preferred political biases. “Journalism,” as we now know it isn’t journalism at all, but advocacy of the writers’ preferred politics–almost always left-wing.
Why the LIES? I mean really, why must you continue with the LYING aboiut men? Have men not been LIED about enough already???
Knock it off with the male hate already, k? You do women NO SERVICE By perpetuating the LIES about big bad scary men waiting in every shadow to abuse them…
Thank you for your words, I mean it is awesome, very unique and useful. I would like to talk with you deeply, let us contact via emails, maybe we can help each to create much better working life!