“Philly Domestic Violence Analysis Shows More Violence in Unmarried Couples”

“Philly Domestic Violence Analysis Shows More Violence in Unmarried Couples.” Forensic Magazine, 1 Feb. 2018, www.forensicmag.com/news/2018/02/philly-domestic-violence-analysis-shows-more-violence-unmarried-couples.https://www.forensicmag.com/news/2018/02/philly-domestic-violence-analysis-shows-more-violence-unmarried-couples

In the article “Philly Domestic Violence Analysis Shows More Violence in Unmarried Couples” by Seth Augenstein, it explained new found data when using forensic technology to compare incidences of domestic violence between certain types of couples, in Philadelphia. The article said 82 percent of intimate partner violence incidents were between dating partners, with the remainder involving those who were married or previously married, the scientists from the University of Pennsylvania have found. Though there are limitations to the conclusions, the data appears to indicate that more domestic violence happens between people who are dating, compared to married couples. “Current boyfriends or girlfriends were more likely that current spouses to injure their victims and to be arrested,” the scientists concluded. Susan B. Sorensen has recorded 31,206 incidents that were reported to the Philadelphia Police Department. Of the 31, 206 incidents, 82 percent were dating partners, it was split between currently dating (44 percent) and formerly dating (38 percent) partners, according to the data. The remaining incidents involved spouses. Current spouses made up a total of 15 percent of the calls, and 3.5 percent involved ex-spouses.

But there are some interesting factors that may be the reason for the data that was found. For instance, Philadelphia has the highest percentage of never-married adults (51.5 percent) among the 10 biggest U.S. cities. Underlying that statistic is a changing nature of relationships over the period of 1970 to 2009: over that time frame the average age of first marriage for men rose from 22 to 28, and from 20 to 25 for females. (Divorce rates also doubled over that period.) Even though this data informs us that dating couples are more likely to have a domestic violence incident, it is focused on one city were more than half of the population count are never married adults.

Although this data doesn’t give any solutions toward the end of domestic violence it gives us a sample of the data that's being tracked by forensic scientists, related to the ongoing problem of domestic violence. Also how organizations are trying to end domestic violence can target specific communities, towns, and cities.

I think the article did a good job providing specific data regarding the study by the forensic scientists. But they didn’t provide much else. All the article really contained was a couple lines with a bunch of numbers and why they are so significant. This article was very different then articles I have read in the past because there was no story, but the main purpose of this article was to inform people across the country with forensic data.