Domestic Violence Essay Research Paper Domestic ViolenceIntroductionDomestic

Domestic Violence Essay, Research Paper

Domestic Violence

Introduction

Domestic Violence Against Women is a global issue reaching across

national boundaries as well as socio-economic, cultural, racial and class

distinctions. It is a problem without frontiers. Not only is the problem

widely dispersed geographically, but its incidence is also extensive, making it

a typical and accepted behavior. Only recently, within the past twenty-five

years, has the issue been “brought into the open as a field of concern and

study” (Violence Against Women in the Family, page 38).

Domestic violence is not an isolated, individual event but rather a

pattern of repeated behaviors that the abuser uses to gain power and control

over the victim. Unlike stranger-to-stranger violence, in domestic violence

situations the same perpetrator repeatedly assaults the same victim. These

assaults are often in the form of physical injury, but may also be in the form

of sexual assault. However the abuse is not only physical and sexual, but also

psychological. Psychological abuse means intense and repetitive humiliation,

creating isolation, and controlling the actions of the victim through

intimidation or manipulation. Domestic violence tends to become more frequent

and severe over time. Oftentimes the abuser is physically violent sporadically,

but uses other controlling tactics on a daily basis. All tactics have profound

effects on the victim.

Perpetrators of domestic violence can be found in all age, racial,

ethnic, cultural, socio-economic, linguistic, educational, occupational and

religious groups. Domestic violence is found in all types of intimate

relationships whether the individuals are of the same or opposite sex, are

married or dating, or are in a current or past intimate relationship. There are

two essential elements in every domestic violence situation: the victim and

abuser have been intimately involved at some point in time, and the abuser

consciously chooses to use violence and other abusive tactics to gain control

over the victim. In some instances, the abuser may be female while the victim is

male; domestic violence also occurs in gay and lesbian relationships. However,

95% of reported assaults on spouses or ex-spouses are committed by men against

women (MTCAWA e-mail interview)

“It is a terrible and recognizable fact that for many people, home is

the least safe place” (Battered Dreams, 9). Domestic violence is real violence,

often resulting in permanent injuries or death. Battering is a widespread

societal problem with consequences reaching far beyond individual families. It

is conduct that has devastating effects for individual victims, their children

and their communities. In addition to these immediate effects, there is growing

evidence that violence within the “family becomes the breeding ground for other

social problems such as substance abuse, juvenile delinquency, and violent

crimes of all types” (MTCAWA e-mail interview). Domestic violence against

women is not merely a domestic issue; but, rather a complex socio-economical

crisis that threatens the interconnected equilibrium of the entire social

structure.

Causes & Effects

“Within the family there is a historical tradition condoning violence”

(Violence Against Women: The Missing Agenda, 29).

Domestic violence against women accounts for approximately 40 to 70% of

all violent crime in North America. However, the figures don’t tell the entire

story; less than 10% of such instances are actually reported to police (The

Living Family, 204).

The causes of domestic violence against women are numerous. Many claim

stress is the substantial cause of domestic conflict resulting in violence.

Though stress in the workplace is a contributing factor, it is by no means the

substantial one. Many people suffer from stress disorders, but most don’t

resort to violence as a means of release. It is apparent that the substantial

causes have more to do with the conditioning of males culturally, and within

the family of orientation than anything else.

Historically, women have been treated more as belongings than human

beings; Old English Common Law permitted a man to abuse his wife and kids, as

long as he didn’t use a stick thicker than the width of his thumb–”Rule of

Thumb” (The Living Family, 201). Culturally, men have been conditioned to

repress their feelings of emotion–always acting like the tough guy, the

linebacker, the cowboy. But, when confronted with an emotionally difficult

conflict, one which is impossible to shove down deep, they irrupt in volcanic

proportions, often taking out years of repressed rage on those closest to them,

in particular their own family.

However, what seems to be the most significant cause of the male tactic

of violent conflict resolution is violence within

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