Power And Control: Domestic Violence In America

“Domestic violence is a type of abuse by one or both partners in marriage, friends, family, dating or cohabitation” (Aziz & Mahmoud, 2010). There are many forms of abuse from verbal and emotional to physical that often escalates over time in intensity for the victim. Data from the criminal justice system, hospital patient medical records and mental health records, police reports, surveys and social services reports of thousands of women revealed that many are injured and killed as a result of violence from someone close to them. “The US Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) defines domestic violence as a pattern of abusive behavior in any relationship that is used by one partner to gain or maintain power and control over another intimate partner regardless of race, age, sexual orientation, religion, or gender” (Robertson & Murachver, 2009). Researchers and the criminal justice system have not been able to agree on a clear definition to domestic violence which can range from physical injury, stalking, verbal abuse and humiliation, denial of shelter and access to money, and intimidation through aggressive behaviors. The definition of domestic violence may vary but the results from physical injury, mental and emotional trauma, and sometimes even death can last a life time.

Deaths, altercations, arrests, and separations. What could they possibly all have in common? That would be domestic violence. From professional football players to celebrities that have committed domestic violence. Domestic violence is now a trending topic that is being heard throughout the country. Lawrence Sherman and Richard Berk conducted a domestic violence experiment in Minneapolis. In April of 1984 this experiment came out in the American Sociological Review, Volume 49, Issue 2.

The Violence against Women Act (VAWA) delineated funding programs to avoid violence against women and set a national domestic violence hotline. Also, new protections were given to victims of domestic abuse, such as confidentiality of new address and modifications to migration regulations that permit an abused partner to apply for permanent residency. This act also discourses federal tools to accuse domestic violence offenders in certain situations including firearms or interstate travel or activity. The federal domestic violence statutes offer

The National Network to End Domestic Violence gives a report on how with the renewal of the Violence Against Women Act the needs for more victims will be met. The reauthorization of Violence Against Women Act now includes justice to Native American women, LGBT survivors, safe housing for victims, protection for immigrant victims, justice on campuses, and maintaining grant programs. This source is beneficial to get an synopsis of the reauthorization of the VAWA and the changes that were made.

One in three women in the world has been in a sexual or physical abuse with either a non-partner or partner in their lifetime (World, 2016). There are agencies that are willing to help people from these solutions by giving shelter or help in any way they can. To have a better understand what agencies does to help there is a particular county that has an agency that helps victims of domestic violence. The agency that will be discussed is The PATH shelter in Rutherford County, and how is the experience of a member who works in the PATH shelter, and learns more about the Domestic Violence.

As for Michele Paddon, creator of the Women’s program currently delivered by Changing Ways, she describes in her book abuse as the use of "[...] words, actions or behaviours – on purpose and repeatedly – with the intention of gaining control over that person" (Paddon, 2015). She also establishes three different dimensions of domestic violence, based on the work of Michael P. Johnson: common couple violence (CCV), intimate terrorism and violent resistance (VR).

On July 29th, 2006, Rafael Dangond and Lissette Ochoa were invited to a wedding party in an exclusive Country Club in the city of Barranquilla, Columbia. Dangond soon became outraged and aggressive after seeing Ochoa was dancing with a young male, who is one of her friends traveled from Venezuela to attend the wedding party. He fiercely attacked Ochoa once she exited the event and the violence constantly continued for over two hours. This extreme brutal act is a product of Dangond’s desires to control and dominate his wife because of his low self-esteem and extreme jealousy. As a result of Dangond’s abusive act, Ochoa suffered multiple physical traumas mainly on her head. Although Dangond’s performance seem to be a case of direct violence stemming from jealousy and frustration, it is also important to recognize the cultural and structural aspects involved in the conflict. The culture of domestic violence in Columbia, which are usually considered as being part of normal married life in the society and the vertically hierarchical relationships between husband and wife in a family must also be examined in order to fully determine the complexity of the conflict. Because of the vertical social structures, Dangond’s action is likely to continue between he and his wife. However, in order to decrease the prospect of future violence, laws regarding violence against women must be enforced and the abolition of the vertical familial patriarchal social system in

“Only approximately one-quarter of all physical assaults, one-fifth of all rapes, and one-half of all stalkings perpetuated against females by intimate partners are reported to the police” (Tjaden). How does this happen? Anyone who sees this statistic is firstly appalled, and secondly unable to comprehend how such blatant abuse occurs without reprimand. And furthermore, someone who has studied sexuality would look at this statistic and wonder about how many men or transgender people are affected by physical assaults, rapes, and stalkings. But regardless of your response to this statistic, there is one thing that we all can agree on: domestic violence must stop now. And for us to move

Domestic violence is a single act or a pattern of cruel acts in any relationship that a partner uses to get or keep power and control over another partner. The violence can be sexual, physical, economic, emotional, or psychological actions or threats of actions that impacts another person. Any actions that manipulate, intimidate, isolate, humiliate, terrorize, frighten, threaten, coerce, hurt, blame, wound, or injure someone can be domestic violence (The United States Department of Justice).

Since the 1970’s domestic violence against women has been a huge issue in the United States. In fact, battered women flocked to safe havens within local shelters that were created to protect them and their off spring. (Stark,E. 2012). It was determined that domestic abuse had dangerously heighten during the 80’s, and special attention was essential to addressing the spike in cases. With law enforcers being on the front line, it was determined that they needed the training to spot and assess domestic cases. Unfortunately, many cases were not simply cut and dry cases. It appears that the offenders mastered tactics which masked abuse against their partners. Physical abuse that was once an obvious and domineering sign was now replaced with a new type of abuse. This abuse crippled the victim by mentally incapacitating their victims. Such tactics are known as Coercive Control. According to Stark, this type of control uses psychological and emotional tactics in order to control the victim into doing what they wanted. (Stark, E. 2012). In fact, 40- 89% of women are under coercive control in many domestic cases. Some scare tactics used attempt to isolate, degrade, exploit, and control the victim. In comparison, Stark discussed in his article “Rethinking Custody Evaluation in Cases

The United States department of Justice (2015) defines domestic violence as a “pattern of abusive behavior in any relationship that is used to by one partner to gain or maintain power and control over another intimate partner”. Domestic violence occurs in every culture, country, and age group. It affects individuals from all socioeconomic, educational, religious backgrounds, and occurs in both same-sex and heterosexual relationships. For this paper I will take a look at how domestic violence affects marriages. I will explore the definition of domestic violence and take a look at theoretical explanations for domestic violence. With this foundation I will explore the impact that domestic abuse has on marriage and parenting along with the value and efficacy of current resources, initiatives, as well as support networks used to aid victims.

Domestic violence in recent years has become a national issue of epidemic proportions (Whiting, 2014). The current Australian Government campaign against domestic violence clearly states that domestic violence is a crime (Douglas, 2008). However, a debate continues over the value of applying criminal law in this field. This article investigates the current operation of family law in Queensland in the domestic violence sphere and explores the advantages and disadvantages of applying criminal law to this area. Areas of investigation include, the effectiveness of current law, current issues relating to domestic violence, relevant stakeholders and perspectives and alternatives and recommendations relating to the current situation. The analysis

Domestic violence is a crime that occurs regularly within the United States. It claims millions of victims each year. There is not a specific cause to establish why domestic violence occurs. However, it has been documented that domestic violence is a product of physical, emotional, sexual, psychological, and any other forms of torture or torment that the particular abuser wishes to employ to gain control or power over their victims (Gosselin, 2005). Due to the complexity of this crime, many criminologists and socialologists have studied its causes and the effects in order to determine social policies and additional theories to better understand the causation of domestic violence. The social policies and theories that are developed from

This began to change in the 1980s, as women’s groups were organized locally and internationally to demand attention to the physical, psychological, and economic abuse of women (p.369-370). Domestic violence is a serious social issue that happens to many women in our world today. This type of abuse is not declining but continually rising on a daily basis. There have been issues in the past with the way these cases were being handled. Today, there has been some improvement concerning the laws that have been enforced in order to protect women from this type of abuse. There has been extensive research done on this issue in the past concerning domestic violence. Over the last ten years there have been a number of surveys on domestic violence that have been published from around the world.

In America most cases of Domestic Violence are never actually reported, many times these cases go unheard and the victims suffer in silence. The worn out cries of a battered woman as she lays on the ground clutching herself and begging her significant other to just stop. The bruises and cuts that remain unreported due to the victim claiming they accidentally fell yet again. The abusers tend to make the victim almost entirely dependable on them. An abuser will do this to gain control and to create a weaker victim, “behaviors used by one person in a relationship to control the other” (Par. 1, Definition). Control. The abuser seeks control over their victims. When their control is threatened they act out in ways harmful to others. Domestic