Domestic Violence Missing from USA Today’s “Behind the Bloodshed”
USA Today’s “Behind the Bloodshed” tracks data on mass killings in the U.S. Credit: Screenshot/USA Today
In the wake of the recent shooting massacres in Charleston and Chattanooga, USA Today’s landmark investigation into mass killings in the U.S. is rightfully receiving renewed attention. USA Today has kept up-to-date records on almost a decade of mass killings in an interactive website entitled “Behind the Bloodshed,” originally published in 2013. While this website raises awareness about the frequency and characteristics of these terrible crimes, it doesn’t identify the central role of domestic violence in a significant percentage of the cases.
According to USA Today, “the majority of mass killings are family related (52%)…a breakup is the trigger behind 1 in 4 mass killings that do not involve strangers, gangs or a robbery gone wrong” and “1 in 4 victims were close family members — children, siblings, spouses, etc.” Federal law is clear:any act indented to intimidate, coerce, or injure a current or former intimate partners is domestic violence. Despite this, domestic violence is only mentioned once in the entirety of the site.
This is a significant oversight. As Monica McLaughlin, Deputy Director of Public Policy at NNEDV commented in a recent blog post addressing USA Today’s research, “In order to work towards preventing these mass murders, we need to first name the underlying reality of domestic violence.” Domestic violence consists of a cycle of abusive and controlling behavior that escalates over time. Tragically, an attempt to take the life of a victim can be the ultimate expression of control. Domestic violence isn’t just the context behind the murder of a spouse or partner. It is at the heart this crime.
USA Today’s crucial inquiry counters prevailing wisdom about mass killings and reveals gaps in the way that these cases are officially recorded. However, the inclusion of a thorough definition of domestic violence, and the acknowledgment that domestic violence is a fundamental reality in many of these cases, would make “Behind the Bloodshed” a more powerful resource for understanding mass killings.