Black soldiers are overrepresented in the U.S. Army Central Registry of spo
use abuse cases. For each year between 1989 and 1997, the number of black o
ffendres outnumbers white offenders, while the white population outnumbers
the black population. When age-specific rates per 1000 were computed, the r
ates for blacks were greater than those for whites in every age group. The
highest rates for both races were in the 18- to 21-year age group. Age-spec
ific rate ratios between blacks and whites for 1997 ranged from 3.4 for the
18- to 21-year-old group to 1.9 for the 42- to 46-year age group. All of t
he rate ratios except the one for the 42 to 46-year age group were statisti
cally significant. Socioeconomic status (SES) is an unlikely explanation fo
r these findings as SES was reasonably controlled Culturally specific longi
tudinal studies are needed to clarify the reasons for differences in black
and white spouse abuse incidents.