Domestic Violence And Abuse In Australia Term paper
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Domestic violence is a significant social
issue that has a major impact upon the health of women in society. Discuss
this statement and identify the factors that may contribute to domestic
violence.
Domestic violence is known by many names
including spouse abuse, domestic abuse, domestic assault, battering, partner
abuse, marital strife, marital dispute, wife beating, marital discord,
woman abuse, dysfunctional relationship, intimate fighting, male beating
and so on. McCue (1995) maintains that it is commonly accepted by legal
professionals as "the emotional, physical, psychological, or sexual abuse
perpetrated against a person by that person's spouse, former spouse, partner,
former partner or by the other parent of a minor child" (although several
other forms of domestic violence have become increasingly apparent in today's
society). Whatever name is used to refer to it, however, domestic violence
is a very grave and difficult problem faced by Australian society.
Although domestic violence can include
the abuse of parents, children, siblings and other relatives, it predominantly
involves violence against sexual partners with women being the most common
victims and men being the 'aggressors' (Family Violence Professional Education
Taskforce 1991). It is inadequate to view domestic violence as an aspect
of the normal interpersonal conflict which takes place in most families.
According to McCue (1995), many families experience conflict, but not all
male members of families inevitably resort to violence. It is not the fact
of family disputes or marital conflict that generate or characterize violence
in the home. Violence occurs when one person assumes the right to dominate
over the other and decides to use violence or abuse as a means of ensuring
that domination (Family Violence Professional Education Taskforce 1991).
Although all forms of domestic violence
are pressing issues of equal importance, this essay is more specifically
directed at spouse abuse and aims to delve deeper into the issue of domestic
violence by examining its causes with respect to the socioeconomic status
of the particular family and its effects upon women in Australian society.
The FACS (Family and Community Services)
booklet (1995), defines domestic violence as follows:
'when a woman suffers persistent physical,
verbal, economic or social abuse from her partner with the result that
she suffers a sustained emotional and, or psychological effect.'
Domestic violence is the most common form
of assault in Australia today. However, it remains a hidden problem because
it occurs within the privacy of the home and those involved are usually
reluctant to speak out (Healey 1993). Actually, it extends far beyond merely
physical abuse and incorporates a range of behaviours aimed by the male
to his partner. These behaviours include assault, psychological or emotional
abuse, sexual abuse, verbal abuse, spiritual abuse, social abuse and economic
abuse. The belief that the perpetrators of domestic violence are typically
stupid, mentally ill, aggressive males with criminal records and a generally
vicious and barbaric nature is surprisingly incorrect. According to McCue
(1995), many of the men who present most violently in the household portray
themselves quite differently to the rest of society. They are generally
not lawbreakers, but rather appear to be charming, often handsome law-abiding
citizens outside of their own homes who maintain an image as friendly and
devoted family men. In fact, it is likely that many such aggressors aren't
even aware
of the major impact their actions have upon their partners.
Violence occurs in families of all kinds and from all cultures and socio-economic
profiles (McCue 1995). As stated previously, the majority of violence in
the typical Australian household is perpetrated by men against women. In
Australia, all available data on family violence indicates that men are
overwhelmingly the perpetrators of violence in the home. According to the
Family Violence Professional Education Taskforce (1991), data obtained
by police in Victoria since the proclamation of the Crimes (Family Violence)
Act 1987 revealed that between the 1st of June and the 30th of November
1989, in 88% of reported cases where physical violence was used against
a person in a family violence incident, the perpetrator was male.
The reasons for men being abusive towards
their wives are many and varied. However, whilst the experience of family
violence may differ according to factors such as socioeconomic group, class,
culture, race and the age and health of the victim, the Family Violence
Professional Education Taskforce (1991) maintains that it has not been
demonstrated that these factors play any casual role in the origins of
family violence. Instead, the most consistent impression to be gained is
that violence in the home is best understood in the context of unequal
power relationships between men and women. An example of this lies in data
obtained by the Family Violence Professional Education Taskforce (1991)
which indicates that there is a high correlation between traditional views
of women's economic subordination to men and approval of husbands' violence
against their wives. According to the FACS booklet (1995), men from many
different cultures often enter a relationship with a traditional perspective
on the roles of husbands and wives, considering their wives as some sort
of possession and therefore believing they have the right to control them.
Subsequently, many of these men feel that violence is an acceptable means
of enforcing this control. It is important however to consider the fact
that such ideas about the role of women may be antiquated in our western
culture but may be considered acceptable in others. Thus arises the major
issue concerning whether or not it is morally acceptable to impose the
ideas and beliefs of western society onto another culture.
The booklet from the Dept. of Family Services
(1995) states that:
'...research shows that men who grew up
in violent families are six times more likely to beat their wives than
men who did not.'
Thus, it is obvious that the ideas and
practices which are within the family network reflect upon the customs
and concepts that a male will bring into his own family.
According to O'Donnell and Craney (1982),
domestic violence can also arise in response to various social structural
factors. This fact explains the apparent concentration of domestic violence
occurrences within families of lower socioeconomic status since these families
are more likely to suffer stressful conditions such as poor health, unemployment,
unsatisfactory housing and lifestyles along with many others. However,
in complete contrast to such...
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