Four days ago, we brought to Union Gospel Mission’s attention our concern about them listing “mother treated violently” as of top cause of homelessness in their “Homelessness in Seattle” publication (page 1). The donor relations officer then conveyed our concern to the director of donor relations. The director responded that the “mother treated violently” phrase came from the Centers for Disease Control.
Oh, we absolutely agree domestic violence is traumatizing regardless if a child witnesses one parent or the other being abused. However, the Mission’s materials reflect the study that was done by researchers Vincent Felitti and Robert Anda. Here’s the original study/paper on the CDC’s website.
Director of Donor Relations, Union Gospel Mission
We took a deep dive into the study, originally conducted in 1997, and realized that the problem’s root cause was the significant error made by the originators of the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) concept. The authors of the study asked survey respondents whether their fathers were violent with their mothers, as seen below. Bizarrely, the survey does not ask respondents whether their mother was violent with their father. Did the researchers think men perpetrate domestic violence but women do not? Did they think a boy witnessing his mother attacking his father is less traumatizing than the reverse?
Today, August 4, we sent an email explaining our position that UGM should choose gender-neutral language when explaining causes of homelessness whenever appropriate. We are hopeful they will respond positively.
