The Culture Of Domestic Violence

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.

In the historical approach to Domestic Violence research establishes that in the Western Culture the term Battering was used. Other terms often used was castigation, discipline or chastisement. Women and children were seen a man’s property and using violence was considered a tool to keep them in control. These Western beliefs were used as civil and religious means. In 1800 BC the Code of Hammurabi ruled that man’s wife was his servant and that he could inflict punishment on any member of his household.

Domestic violence against women and it’s association with different cultures, ethnicities, and religions has proven to be difficult to evaluate. There is a correlation between domestic violence and different cultures, ethnicities, or religion of which women are of lower status or importance than men. However, it appears that domestic abuse may not be racial or ethnic in origin. A number of environmental factors contributed to the prevalence of domestic violence including age, acculturation, socio-economic status, and education levels. Cohabitation and unemployment also appear to increase the risk of abuse (Van Broeck, 2001). This results suggest that ethnicity and religion may not actually be the key facets contributing to patterns of domestic violence. Instead, they are merely an indicator that abuse is taking place.

Power and Control: Domestic Violence in America Film Critique Power and Control: Domestic Violence in America is a documentary that guides the reader through the story of a woman named Kim and her personal experience with domestic violence. In the beginning of the documentary Kim discusses why she was leaving her husband, Josh, and that he had been hitting on not only her but also her daughters more frequently and she was concerned for their safety. Kim found a shelter that took in her and her daughters and provided assistance to her and her little family.

“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

Over 12 million men and women are abused by their partners yearly, and of that only about 3 in 10 women and 1 in 10 men report their abusers and seek help. The issue of domestic abuse is one that is tabooed throughout the nation, much like the topic of sex and mental illness. However, unlike those topics, the society in which we live in normalizes, and even pokes fun at the dilemma of domestic abuse. Although some will argue that the fact that there are shelters, anti-abuse campaigns, and improvements for victims in the justice system prove the society’s understanding and action for the victims, the society that we live in normalizes the issue because of the situations in television and music, the lack of media coverage, and the leeway that athletes have when charged with domestic assault.

Knowledge of domestic violence is becoming prevalent in the United States and around the world. Family violence, teen dating violence and intimate partner violence are being talked about openly more; they are also becoming known as abuse and not something that is just “ok” or “just how a person is”. Beliefs and laws are changing toward nonviolence as discussed in this report.

Domestic violence is a pattern of behavior that involves violence and/or abuse to another individual in one’s family. Domestic violence is commonly associated with the mistreatment against women, but there are also other forms of domestic violence. It is human nature to react a certain way based upon pre-existing notions, past experiences, or previous traumatic events towards a specific thing. People find it hard to look past certain actions and patterns of behavior because they are emotionally destroyed. Many individuals use self-justification to justify why they choose domestic violence to get a point across to another individual. Not only is the abuser wrong but the victim tends to hide themselves in cognitive dissonance with multiple reasons. Cognitive dissonance in women explains that people find ways to conform the discrepancy between their thoughts and their actions in order to stay with their partner in fear.

Each situation within society has its own guidelines to follow and is determined based on a particular group. There are many social norms surrounding acceptable behaviors within society. This paper will examine societal norms in relation to behavior from a domestic violence view and explore the batterer’s and victim’s perspective.

In the United States today, 85% of domestic violence victims are women, and only 15% are men. Domestic violence can be anything that involves physical harm, sexual assault, or fear of physical harm. (“What is Domestic Violence?”) Domestic violence dramatically affects more women than men. Roughly about “38,028,000 women have experienced physical intimate partner violence in their lifetimes” (Huffington post). Domestic violence is an extensive complication in American society. In the United States alone there are multiple states with a high ranking rate when it comes to domestic violence. Ranked #1-10 with females being murdered by males, in 2011, with South Carolina as #1. Domestic violence is caused by many different situations and complications

When we look throughout the world we usually see crime such as murder, stealing, harassment and more, but we really don’t talk about domestic violence issues. In the United States, domestic violence is one of the biggest problems. When looking at the National Coalition against Domestic Violence.com (NCADV), it was shown that every 9 seconds a woman in the United States is being domestically violated. Also, I find out that women from the age of 18-24 years old are the ones who are being involved in the acts of violence. We may look and say that it might be the case because they are young and desperate but that is not the case. The United States is not the only country or place in the world that is dealing with domestic violence.

To this day, domestic violence is seen to be a part of culture in many countries. Some people view domestic violence as unjust and cruel, yet many see it as a form of power and control over another. Domestic violence plays a key role in different societies around the world as it is becoming a social norm.

The topic covered in chapter one that interest me the most was the sociological perspective, this is a view that focuses on social patterns rather than individual behavior. This term focuses on identifying and resolving public issues. For instance, a psychologist can individually help a battered wife to leave her abusive husband, but sociologists focus on the bigger issue, which is domestic violence. They may address the causes of domestic violence, why women choose to stay in those types of relationships and marriage, addressing the public issues can help raise awareness to prevent the abuse altogether.

Theorising Violence The ongoing feminist paradigm notion believes violence is a male supported enterprise which denotes power over a woman who cannot defend herself against violent behaviour (Dutton and Nicholls, 2005). This notion believes women to be violent but mostly do so while defending themselves against violent behaviour of their partners or family member (ibid). Feminist theorists including Crenshaw, Jeffreys, Pence and Paymar, emphasise that domestic and non-domestic violence denotes a high intersectionality of power and gender inequality. Crenshaw (1991) termed violence against women as a routinely shaped concept that destabilises their lives and was just recently recognised to be a social injustice by men.

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