Did you know the world’s foremost researcher into domestic violence spent his entire career advocating against the spanking of children? ‘The cradle of violence’, he’d call it, or ‘primordial violence’. His book ‘Beating the Devil out of Them’, didn’t mince its words, nor did his paper – the aptly named – ‘Children should never, ever, be spanked. No matter what the circumstances’. In fact, he published countless papers, books and studies on this for fifty years. The man, who became the most influential researcher on domestic violence that ever lived, was on a mission to end corporal punishment of children. His name was Professor Murray Straus, and he was the founder of the field of Family Violence Research itself, and quite literally designed the very instruments we still use today to study it (the CTS). ‘Spanking is the most prevalent, yet least discussed cause of domestic violence’, said Professor Straus in one talk I watched. So it is rather odd that spanking has never been mentioned by any of our domestic violence charities, who continue their tirade of whines about men, toxic masculinity and of course, that god darned patriarchy. That's right. The ‘most prevalent cause’ of domestic violence, doesn’t get a mention. Ever. Straus was also a loud advocate of domestic violence *not* being a gendered issue, saying it was largely bilateral, and had a multiplicity of causes. “These people are fanatics. They insist on a single cause. They think it’s men who are the problem, and they are a problem, but so are women.” I heard him say once, and no prizes for guessing who he’s speaking about. Professor Straus died in 2016, and it seems his legacy, and his lifetime of wisdom and insight died with him. The hard work of a wonderful man, ignored by a domestic violence industry; that is more intent on causing a gender war, than actually protecting those who need them. His mission of shining a light on the dangers of hitting children was never realised. So can I do a little better, with a little bit of time, and none of the money? ~ Images by Gradienta, Kiwi Hug, Black Kiwi Hug, Luke Pennystan, Xavi Cabrera, Mathias Reding. #domesticviolence #parenting

2023-04-15