Mark Katz of Hallowell, ME First, deep gratitude to the writer; perhaps one of the most difficult pieces she has written.

WiseCrone, your response is important. So is fattubbo's concern. What strikes me most is the relationship between adult domestic violence and the origins of abuse. Without an understanding of "causes" we have little hope for prevention.

Although counter-intuitive, research studies abound indicating that physical abuse is initiated as often by women as by men. Perhaps this is less surprising when we consider that children are exposed to violence as a problem-solving strategy regardless of gender. As many young girls as boys are raised in violent households. I know of no evidence suggesting that girls benefit more than boys from whatever protective factors allow some children to escape the trans-generational recurrence of such behaviors.

Of course, not all abusers were themselves abused. War heroes returning after WWII and Korea were not immune from the devastation identified later as PTSD. Many families experience the consequences of heritable or "de novo" mental illness and substance abuse.

Unfortunately, for each abusive parent there are likely to be two or more offspring who themselves are more likely to become abusers.

As the writer observes, we have made progress in our systemic and structural responses to perpetrators. We have not made comparable progress in each of our institutional responsibilities to children for intervention and prevention. Although our public schools do much better in terms of surveillance and reporting, the systems accountable for child protection and treatment continue to fail in far too many cases.

For years we have lacked the political will, values, and public understanding to support the needs and basic rights of these children. Advocates like the Maine Children's Alliance can provide the facts and figures; more importantly, they deserve our support in guiding public policy and research toward prevention.report abuse

WiseCrone of Chelsea, ME fattubbo, there's a good chance that those women were abused and had reached the point where they didn't care if they went to prison for what they did.

Yes, there are men who are abused. But they are few and far between. 99.9% of people who suffer domestic violence are women and children who are beaten by men.

Women who abuse should be arrested. The men who are abused should receive help.

But keep in mind your posting represents only a very very few cases. You try to deflect from what the women go through by saying, 'men too, men too'. It's like Paris Hilton complaining because she has gained a pound and now considers herself fat. It's a false issue.report abuse

98thRET of Winthrop, ME It seems stikingly similar to a womans life in a fundamentalist Muslim nation. Not that I have ever lived in one.report abuse

fattubbo of Winthrop, ME "men who beat their wives, girlfriends and children don't give a damn about the legality of what they're doing"

Once again, the assumption is that only men can be an abuser. So far in 2009, we have had two Maine men murdered as a result of domestic violence. Or do they no count due to their gender?report abuse