Maureen Curtis, vice president of criminal programs for victims\u2019 service agency Safe Horizon<\/a>, tells A&E True Crime. Based in New York City, Safe Horizon is the largest such agency in the United States.<\/p>\nYoung people, possibly out of insecurity and newness to relationships, generally have a tendency to view extreme jealousy as a sign of love, rather than the dangerous desire to control, Curtis says. They can also be more subject to peer pressure. So if they find themselves dating a popular person, for example, they might be more likely to excuse that person\u2019s abusive behaviors, she says.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen the behavior becomes more concerning, it can be really hard to get out of that relationship,\u201d Curtis says.<\/p>\n
For Petito, embarking on van life might have heightened her risk because it isolated her from others, Curtis adds.<\/p>\n
The prevalence of intimate partner violence hits a peak in the 20s and declines over the adult lifespan, Sabina Low, an associate professor at Arizona State University\u2019s T. Denny Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics, tells A&E True Crime. Low was among researchers from the Oregon Social Learning Center who in 2017 published a 15-year study of young adults at risk that found intimate partner violence is most often bidirectional\u2014meaning both partners engage in some form of violence.<\/p>\n
The study, funded by the U.S. Department of Justice, examined relationships involving a total 323 couples or 646 young adults with an average age of 21.5. The results showed that 91 percent of couples participated in bidirectional intimate partner psychological violence, 71 percent in bidirectional physical violence, 66 percent in bidirectional sexual violence and 27 percent experienced bidirectional violence-related injuries.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s not to say there isn\u2019t unidirectional violence [where only one partner is engaged in violence]\u2014it\u2019s just a smaller percent of couples,\u201d Low says.<\/p>\n
However, the study doesn\u2019t address which partner started the violence, and focused on a community sample that didn\u2019t include many cases of severe violence.<\/p>\n
Evaluating Risk Factors<\/strong><\/p>\nEach person in a couple comes with their own developmental history, risk factors and personality, says Low, and the mix of all that creates a dynamic unique to each relationship. That dynamic can lead a couple to violence, give them the inability to deescalate a quarrel or even get them to the point of connecting through the conflict, she says. Individual risk factors can also determine whether people decide to stay in the relationship or leave, she adds.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have to consider both the risk factors that Brian [Laundrie] presents, and also the profile of Gabby [Petito] that, in some ways, makes her a target\u2014or makes her vulnerable to staying with someone like him, or giving him multiple chances,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not about blaming the victim,\u201d she adds. \u201cIt\u2019s more about understanding how assessing risk factors for both individuals gives you a more complete picture, versus only focusing on the perpetrator as we tend to do. Because then, you\u2019re missing half of the story.\u201d<\/p>\n
Laws mandating an arrest in domestic violence cases started in the 1990s and spread across the country, Curtis says. Now, some states allow charging both partners, she says<\/p>\n
Curtis and Low agree law enforcement must carefully analyze the situation with in-depth interviews and risk assessment for both partners before making an arrest. Arresting both people can be appropriate if both engaged in violence, Low says.<\/p>\n
Curtis cautions against arresting victims who were violent to defend themselves. New York, for example, requires officers to determine, to the best of their ability, who was the primary aggressor, she says.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven in a relationship where you have a survivor who has hit back or punched back, it doesn\u2019t negate there is a coercive-control domestic violence relationship where one person has control over the other,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
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