Well-educated people can abuse and can be abused. The most common form of spouse abuse is violence by men against women. Almost half of all women murdered in this country are killed by their husbands or boyfriends. Nearly 4 thousand die each year. In the United States, a man beats a woman every 15 seconds.
Abusers tend to follow the same pattern.
Someone is unlikely to beat someone up on the first date. Most abusers are very nice at first. Then they start to seem a little too jealous. They may start putting the person down when they talk. Often the victim starts feeling worthless.