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Black and Hispanic couples are two to three times more likely to report male-to-female and female-to-male partner violence than white couples, and alcohol plays a role in the increased risk of violence, especially among black couples.
It is probably not surprising that statistics concerning intimate partner violence vary widely from study to study and from year to year. Interpersonal violence is not a topic that either the victim nor the perpetrator is eager to reveal.
Therefore, intimate partner violence is probably vastly under-reported, and the actual percentages reported in research surveys can and do vary widely from study
Domestic Violence More Prevalent Among Ethnic Groups?
Although completely accurate numbers are probably not available, research generally agrees that among ethnic groups in the United States, blacks are the most likely to experience domestic violence - either male-to-female or female-to-male - followed by Hispanics and then whites. Asians are the least likely to experience intimate partner violence.
A five-year University of Texas Houston School of Public Health study in 2000 of 1,025 couples - including 406 white, 232 black, and 387 Hispanic - found that black and Hispanic couples are two to three times more likely to report male-to-female and female-to-male intimate partner violence than white couples.
White couples reported rates of male-to-female and female-to-male partner violence at eight and 10 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, black couples reported rates of 20 percent and 22 percent, respectively; and Hispanic couples reported rates of 21 percent and 20 percent, respectively.
Alcohol Increases Violence More in Blacks
The graph shows that the more the perpetrator drinks, the greater the percentage of violence in all groups. In white females, for example, the rate goes from a little over 10% for nondrinkers to almost 20% for heavy drinkers. But for black females, the rate of violence skyrockets from 22% for nondrinkers to almost 60% for heavy drinkers.
Of all the ethnic groups, heavy alcohol consumption increases the risk the greatest for men who are in a relationship with a frequent or heavy-drinking black female.
In male-to-female violence, the rate for males went from 20% for nondrinkers to more than 40% for frequent-heavy drinkers.