Domestic Violence In America Essay
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Domestic Violence in America
Domestic abuse in the United States is a large-scale and complex social and health problem. The family is perhaps the most violent group, with the home being the most violent American institution or setting 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 year (Dickstein, 1988). In reality one out of every six marriages the wife is physically abused. Every fifteen seconds a women is battered in the United States. Daily, four American women lose their lives to their husbands or boyfriends, equaling more than one-third of all female homicide victims (WAC, 1994). These numbers report that too much violence is directed toward women.
Historically, domestic violence has been a downplayed and, oftentimes, culturally condoned, American tradition. In the colonial period, laws derived from English common-law permitted a man to beat his wife when she acted in a manner that he believed to be inappropriate. For example, the so-called “Rule of Thumb” law, which permitted a husband to beat his wife with a stick that could be no larger than the circumference of his thumb, was in effect until the end of the nineteenth century (Dickstein, 1988).
The issue of domestic violence, especially wife abuse, first gained national attention in 1974 with the publishing of Scream Quietly or the Neighbors Will Hear by Erin Pizzey, the founder of Chiswick’s Women’s Aid, a shelter in England for battered women. Pizzey’s work helped to stimulate feminist concern and outrage over wife beating, verbal abuse, financial restrictions and social isolation of women by their husbands (Utech, 1994). Shortly thereafter, the women’s liberation movement, through the National Organization for Women (NOW), advocated for the end of violence against women and sought improved social services for battered wives. NOW also was actively engaged in promoting shelter homes and lobbying congressional leaders for legislation that would result in better treatment and protection of women’s health and well-being (Utech, 1994).
The medical profession was greatly affected by the advocacy of the women’s liberation movement and has, in recent years, attempted to combat this social ill both by itself and in coordination with the legal and social service professions. For example, beginning in 1992, the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Health Care Organizations, required that all accredited hospitals implement policies and procedures for identifying, treating and referring victims of abuse (Mason, 1993). This included in-service training programs for staff members of their emergency departments and ambulatory care facilities (Mason, 1993). In 1994, 83 organizations, including the American Nurses’ Association and the American Bar Association, met to identify gaps and barriers between the health care delivery and criminal justice systems in dealing with family violence cases. Among their recommendations were the following: a mechanism for community professional coordination in assessment to maximize family safety; the creation of community-based family violence coordination councils; and the need to establish, in every community, a comprehensive, culturally sensitive, and accessible intervention system for family violence that links health, justice, mental health, social service, and educational systems (Stanley, 1994). In addition, the American Medical Association (AMA) published guidelines for Health care professionals to use in identifying domestic violence victims.
Violent families are easy to describe but difficult to explain. Research on family abuse has, on a consistent basis, found that the phenomenon is associated with intergenerational transmission, low socioeconomic status, social and structural stress, social isolation, and personality problems or psychopathology (Yegidis, 1992).
Traditional theories on the causes of domestic abuse focus on such factors as people’s individual characteristics and life experiences, including the presence of problems such as social and structural stress, social alienation, unemployment, poverty, substance abuse, past child abuse, personality disorders, psychopathology, and depression (Yegidis, 1992). However, theories centered on these variables fail to explain why the majority of the population that does not experience domestic abuse, whether as a victim or a perpetrator, are not affected by these variables. Additionally, research has demonstrated the elimination of personal problems, such as the ones listed above, does not contribute to ending domestic abuse in a relationship. Nevertheless, for the purpose of framing particular studies of domestic abuse, these theoretical approaches are still important. Due to each theory’s weakness, it is important for researchers to adopt a theoretically holistic approach. The fact that each case of domestic abuse is somewhat different form another calls for using a variety of theoretical orientations to better examine the nature and extent of this pressing problem. While domestic abuse can be studied through “mental lenses” that are psychological or sociological in nature, it is important also to examine this issue from a medical/public health perspective.
While many theories have been proposed to explain the causes of family abuse, one of the most useful has been the social learning theory. Bandura (1977) proposed that learning be composed of both a modeling component and “reciprocal influence”. The latter suggests that we can shape our futures by influencing our environments. In explaining how social learning theory explains family abuse, O’Leary (1988) analyzed the effects of modeling on behavior, the role of stress, the use of alcohol, the presence of relationship dissatisfaction, and aggression as a personality style (cited of Yegidis, 1992).
Modeling involves the observation by the child of physical aggression by the parents or the direct experience of having been physically abused. In a study of wife abuse and marital rape, it was found that viewing parental violence was equally important in creating a future pattern of abuse as the direct experience of child abuse itself. Modeling, therefore, increases the likelihood that one will use violence in order to handle interpersonal difficulties (Yegidis, 1992).
Extensive literature exists on the relationship between stress, frustration, and aggression. Stress alone does not cause violence, but it may be a stimulus that serves to arouse some individuals. Overall, abusers generally tend to possess an aggressive personality style. Consequently, people possessing this trait are more likely to get angry than others and may actually get angrier more often than others. Research suggests that there may be two important aspects to the relationship between family abuse and alcohol. Very often, the abusive behavior of the perpetrator is permitted and excused by the victim because the perpetrator was under the influence of alcohol. On the other hand, alcohol use by victims leads to a numbing effect as well as feelings of powerlessness.
Domestic abuse typically follows a “cycle of violence” pattern. There are three phases in the cycle of violence: tension-building, acute battering and the honeymoon phase. During the tension-building phase, the batterer becomes increasingly moody, hostile and critical of his partner. Minor battering incidents may occur. During the acute battering phase, the batterer is likely to assault the victim. Major assault of the victim, physically and psychologically, usually distinguishes the acute battering incident from the minor battering incidents that may occur during the tension-building phase. Shortly after the acute battering phase is the honeymoon phase. The batterer may apologize, beg forgiveness, or promise that the violent behavior will never happen again.
An estimated three to four million women annually in the United States are the victims of physical abuse by their intimate partners (Harris & Cook, 1994). According to the Uniform Crime Report (UCR) of the FBI, a husband or boyfriend murders 30 percent of women killed in the United States. In addition, violence is the second leading cause of injuries to women ages 15 through 44 years of age (Velsor-Friedrich, 1994).
Most aggressors will often attribute their abusive behavior to external causes, while victims attribute the abuse to internal factors within themselves or situational factors about the abuser (e.g. “It’s only because he has been drinking”). The frequent occurrence of victim self-blame is reinforced by social attitudes which are responsible for often blaming the woman for inciting the abuse or not leaving her abuser (Harris & Cook, 1994).
There are numerous answers to the commonly asked question of why a woman would stay in an abusive relationship. For many women, no other sources of financial support or housing exist. The responsibility of childcare further complicates the problem. The most serious reason for concern is the fear of retribution by the abuser. Batterers frequently threaten to kill the woman or other family members if they tell anyone that they are being beaten. Despite the abuse, a woman may still love her partner and, consequently, will lie to protect him. Many victims possess low self-esteem caused by repeated abuse, both physical and emotional, and believe that they don’t deserve help. Finally, the pure fact of being embarrassed or ashamed may be sufficient reason for the victim to stay.
The term domestic violence against men causes many...
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