Repeat Victimization

Domestic violence occurs in epidemic proportions, impacting an estimated 6.2 million American women every year, and causing more

Domestic Violence can include many forms of abuse, such as verbal, psychological, emotional, financial, physical, sexual, or spiritual. In many relationships, there is a cycle of violence that repeats over and over. This cycle includes three phases: tension building, explosion, and honeymoon phase. During tension building, minor incidents of physical or emotional abuse may occur. The explosion phase includes more violent acts of abuse. During the honeymoon phase, the abuser may apologize or make promises that the abuse will never happen again. Because this cycle of violence repeats itself, abuse often escalates over time, sometimes leading to the murder of a victim (Domestic Violence

Domestic violence is not a label that can be boxed and defined. No, it is emotions of pain, fear, shock, confusion, and most surprising, love. It is difficult for many to comprehend if not brought up within a violent home; the true, passionate emotions that fall as a burden upon the victims, who often stay quiet. What brings the traumatic pain to domestic violence is that a person who is supposed to cherish and love another, ends up creating fear and panic when even mentioned. Domestic violence, which is indeed a form of abuse, is an issue that needs to be handled with delicate, yet able coherence. Within the society of America, the fight against domestic violence needs to be accepted instead of ignored. In doing so, there are many questions

76% of all DVincidents are repeat, (Flatley, Kershaw, Smith, Chaplin and Moon 24). Employees and staff at the shelter are also given very strict guidelines on how to communicate with other agencies in order to provide abuse victims with resources without putting them in danger of future domestic violence. Victims of domestic violence are more likely to experience repeat victimization than victims of any other types of crime (British Crime Survey Reports).

It is also known that domestic violence usually increases in frequency and intensity. Research has shown that about 2 to 4 million women will experience some kind of domestic violence each year in the United States, and about 23% to 34% of women will experience domestic violence in their lifetimes. This aggression towards women results in physical injuries, physical health problems, psychological disturbance, and, in some cases, death.

The causes of domestic violence start with a controlling personality to control another person. It can start off with verbal slander and turn into physical violence over time. One major cause of domestic violence is stress. Things such as being unemployed, taking drugs, drinking alcohol, or having little money can cause a person a lot of stress, which can result in abuse. Also, in some cases, it can be due to the person being abused themselves in their childhood. Statistics show that many people who are abused in their childhood become abusers

There are many reasons and theories why domestic violence exists for e.g. the dominant control or power over another human being, stress, family dysfunction, substance abuse, poor self esteem, jealously and possessiveness.

Perhaps you are thinking that this is simply a craze, a problem that has been exaggerated and amplified by the media, a problem that will eventually die out when the spotlight is taken off it. In all honesty, this isn't a completely illogical conclusion to reach, for so long this war on domestic violence has been swept under the rug; hidden from judgemental eyes. Sadly, even though this fight has been hidden, it has been evident in this "lucky country" for generations. In 1996, 7.1% of women in Australia, or 490,400 individuals, had experienced some form of domestic violence

With approximately 1.3 million women being victimized by an intimate partner each year and one in every four women experiencing domestic violence at some point in her life-time, domestic violence, also referred to as intimate partner violence Even after decades of increased activism and raised awareness by government agencies, the public and many nonprofit organizations, domestic violence still remains a serious problem within the United States.

The cause of domestic violence is not too difficult to understand. The reason why people beat their intimate partner is because, one partner feels like they need to be superior against the other. They feel insecure and powerless, so they turn into violent behavior. Big life changed like becoming really ill or women getting pregnant can increase the chance to be in a domestic violence situation. Another reason may be going into debt, being unemployed, or losing something significant to one partner. (Joyful Heart Foundation). When a victim tries to leave, it could make their situation worse. By failing to leave the victim might feel more abandoned and hopeless. If we don’t change our ways, the situation will get worse. Statistics from domestic abuse have increased in mostly every end each year. If we don’t stop it, it will just increase and increase until somebody decides to change it. In the 1990’s there would be thousands or hundred thousands of victims. Now, each minute about 20-24 people are victims of physical violence. Which account for 12 million cases in a stretch of a year in the United States only. Now the question is how are we going to solve this.

Domestic violence is a devastating social problem. “Domestic violence is about one person getting and keeping power and control over another person in an intimate relationship. It is a pattern of behavior in which one intimate partner uses physical violence, coercion, threats, intimidation, isolation and emotional, sexual or economic abuse to control and change the behavior of the other partner (Despres,2009). Domestic violence is not just hitting or fighting or an occasional mean argument. It is a chronic abuse of power and a need for control. In every state there are laws that prohibit domestic violence but they vary from state to state. Domestic abuse is widespread and

Domestic abuse in the United States is a large-scale and complex social and health problem. The home is the most violent setting in America today (Lay, 1994). Sadly enough, the majority of people who are murdered are not likely killed by a stranger during a hold-up or similar crime but are killed by someone they know. Not surprisingly, the Center for Disease Control and prevention has identified interpersonal violence as a major public health problem (Velson-Friedrich, 1994). Current estimates suggest that three to four million women are the victims of physical abuse by their intimate partners (Harris & Cook, 1994). According to the FBI, some form of domestic violence occurs in half of the homes in the United States at least once a

The two theories I feel that best describes the issues that lead to domestic violence would be the social exchange and social learning theory. The reason being they both explain why an individual would continue to stay in an abusive relationship, either they feel trapped, or they mistake the negative outcomes as a positive solution. These theories are related in a sense; if the recipient of abuse continues to accept defeat without standing up for themselves, they will continuously be treated in that manner which gives the other party the reassurance that the abuse is not affecting their spouse in a negative way that would indicate they will leave. The relationships in these stages are based on a person’s ideology that they need a trophy spouse, someone that complements their lifestyle and not their heart. References

Domestic violence is skyrocketing in our society. In the U.S., as many as 1.5 million women and 850,000 men were physically assaulted by their intimate partner last year, and numerous children abused by their parents. These sad criminal acts will continue to grow in our society, unless our community takes action to stop these crimes.

Domestic Violence is a critical issue negatively impacting women in the world today. There has to be something done to prevent this type of abuse from happening. The results of my research revealed that there are many victims that do not know the type of help that is available and there needs to be major improvement in the way domestic violence cases are handled. Based on my findings, awareness and prevention programs should be implemented in every state in order prevent this type of abuse from happening over and over. Also, each program must be monitored to ensure they are following the proper guidelines in order to better serve the victims and their families.