A CDC study on domestic violence released earlier this month found there was a significantly higher number of intimate partner violence (IPV) cases among minorities.
But some Penn State staff said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) research is not consistent with their knowledge of domestic violence.
The CDC study found that multiracial, non-Hispanic, American Indian and Alaska Native women reported more cases, defined IPV as a threat, and were victims of physical, sexual or emotional abuse from a former or current partner on at least one occasion.
Michael Johnson, associate professor emeritus of sociology, women's studies and African and African-American studies, said the study's facts could be misleading.
"In my research, I've found there's no difference in intimate terrorism between black and whites. There are more cases of situational couple violence for minorities, which could have just been one incident in one relationship," Johnson said.
Johnson said the study is not specific to intimate terrorism, which is a situation where one partner uses regular physical or emotional abuse to have complete control over the other. He also said he disagrees with the conclusions the CDC study draws about domestic violence among minority groups.
"The evidence of racial differences in classical domestic violence is minimal. But the difference in situational couple violence could come from economic stresses and stresses from living in a racist society, which could lead to arguments and violence," he said.
While the CDC study found the largest number of reported cases were in the age range of 45 to 54 for men and women, Penn State Center for Women Students Program Coordinator Audra Hixson said domestic violence typically begins in college-aged relationships.
"It's a time when people are usually getting into their first more-serious relationships, so if a perpetrator has a pattern of being controlling or trying to maintain power over dating partner, this is the time they first start experiencing it," Hixson said.
She said there has not been a noticeable ethnic breakdown among Penn State students whom they have assisted.
"We see a broad range of victims from all different socioeconomic classes as well as ethnic backgrounds," Hixson said. "I haven't seen that, but it's a problem that's highly underreported. It's good that people are talking about it, but it's hard to estimate what's really going on."
Sonya Begay, Workforce Investment Act service coordinator for the Council of Three Rivers American Indian Center, who identifies herself as Navajo, said she was a victim of an abusive relationship for 12 years; she is no longer in that relationship. Begay said that, in her experience, culture could also be a cause for domestic violence among American Indians.
"I think it's a cultural thing. That's what you see at home, and it has a lot to do with the whether you're in a matriarchal or patriarchal society," Begay said.
Johnson said he is cautious to make a cultural conclusion as quickly as Begay has, but both said it is difficult to clearly know why there are more cases of situational couple violence in any minority group.
"We're getting beat up for a number of other reasons now," Begay said. "For me, when I was in my abusive relationship, I just didn't do what he wanted. But it's really hard to pinpoint why it's happening."
