By Dr. Carla Buntyn
December 21, 2025 | Editorial Desk

Mental health can play a role in domestic violence, but it is not the sole cause, and it does not excuse violent behavior. Domestic violence has become the nation’s leading public interest. In the state of Louisiana, domestic violence is spiraling as a controversial crime committed by men. Men make up the vast majority of the state’s prison and jail populations, while women represent a small fraction, around 4–6%.

The Louisiana Department of Public Safety & Corrections’ public data dashboards do not break down incarcerated people by specific charges like “domestic violence.” There is no reliable statewide published number specifically listing how many men are incarcerated in Louisiana for domestic violence alone. If we do not have a published number, how do we know if domestic violence is a leading public interest?

Domestic violence often intersects with other societal issues: homelessness, substance abuse, criminal justice involvement, and mental health. According to the Centers for Disease Control, about 1 in 4 women experience severe intimate partner physical violence, while about 1 in 9 men experience severe intimate partner physical violence. Men are more often the perpetrators of severe physical violence, but women also perpetrate abuse, particularly psychological, emotional, and sometimes physical abuse.

Men are typically the aggressors, while women can be psychologically and emotionally abusive. According to the Louisiana Department of Corrections, as of September 30, 2025, there were 29,947 incarcerated individuals in total: 28,114 men and 1,833 women. National and state criminal justice reports often group domestic violence under broader violent offense categories, making it hard to extract a precise count of people incarcerated for domestic violence in Louisiana. Of the incarcerated population, 96.1% are male, 73.2% are Black, and 62.2% are serving time for violent crimes. The African American community is approximately 31.2% of the population in Louisiana.

There are more men incarcerated for domestic violence than women; however, both play a role in violence, males as the aggressors and females as psychological aggressors. How does the state determine the violent crime committed by both genders and who is incarcerated? There are three forms of crime, aggression, deception, and manipulation, that share convictions according to law. Among women, 6.1% of the incarcerated population are women, 64.38% are Black women, and 55.1% are incarcerated for violent crimes. Once again, domestic violence is reported under violent offense categories.

According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, an estimated 715,000 Louisiana adults have a mental health condition. According to the Louisiana Department of Health, 28% of incarcerated people have mental health issues, with 10% having serious mental health issues. Mental health is typically assessed three times while incarcerated. The numbers of mental health and violent crimes have no direct correlation; however, mental health conditions can affect anger management, frustration tolerance, impulse control, irritability, emotional volatility, impulsivity, difficulty interpreting social cues, and sensory overload.

Men are typically liable for domestic violence because they can inflict serious physical injury. Women may also be liable through verbal, emotional, and psychological aggression. The numbers of violent crimes comparing women and men based on the three crime types do not correlate. Research consistently shows that, on average, women report higher rates of mental health conditions than men. Domestic violence can be a result of underdiagnoses or diagnoses later in the lives of Black women and men in Louisiana.