Contrary to Harry Reid's assertions, it is unlikely that unemployment increases the risk of Domestic Violence in men but not in women.

As Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid unquestionably is one of the nation’s most powerful political figures. So, as Majority Leader, how could he be so wrong on Domestic Violence?

Arguing in favor of a jobs bill and speaking before the Senate, he uttered – even by Washington standards – some of the more unusual comments to come from a politician.

Senator Reid’s comments are quoted in The Hill. To really capture the full impact of his comments, however, you need to view them on You-Tube. The Hill quotes Senator Reid as saying:

"I met with some people while I was home dealing with domestic abuse. It has gotten out of hand," Reid said on the Senate floor. "Why? Men don't have jobs." Reid said that the effects of joblessness on domestic violence were especially pronounced among men, because, Reid said, women tend to be less abusive. "Women don't have jobs either, but women aren’t abusive, most of the time," he said."Men, when they're out of work, tend to become abusive . . ."

Senator Reid likely was right in that, yes, unemployment may increase the risk of Domestic Violence – along with a host of other negative outcomes. It is unlikely, however, that unemployment only increases the risk of Domestic Violence in men but not in women. Such a position would be inconsistent with the results of hundreds of social-science research studies which find that men and women initiate Domestic Violence in roughly equal numbers and more importantly that the most recent studies indicate that the initiation rates for females have been increasing. (See http://abusegate.mensnewsdaily.com/ and www.mediaradar.org.)

So, where did Harry go wrong? As a Developmental Psychologist, I look to early childhood personal experiences and my search was rewarded by a 2008 article in Newsweek titled "Up From Searchlight: Senate boss Harry Reid's book recounts a rough road to power." Here I learned that Harry grew up in a hard-scrabble mining town with 13 brothels and no churches, with a mother and father who both abused alcohol, with a depressed father who later killed himself, and who took his purpose-in-life advice from the owner of a whore-house. Finally, and, perhaps most critically relevant to his Senate comments, Newsweek reported: "According to Reid his father beat his mother until, at 14, young Harry and his brother pinned Pop down to stop the violence."

While anyone certainly can sympathize with young Harry's plight, his personal experiences with alcoholic and abusive parents certainly are not the stuff of which public policy and broad stereotyping statements about men should be made from a position of high political power.

For his senseless and misandric statements before the Senate – which have harmed and negatively stereotyped all males — Majority Leader Harry Reid owes every boy and man in America a correction and an apology.