In Nuer journeys, Nuer lives : Sudanese refugees in Minnesota by Jon D. Holtzman, it is about the Nuer, people who are a Nilotic ethnic group and originated near the Nile river. The book explains the migration of the Nuer to the United States through the case study- Nuer of Sudan. This is one of the most popular case studies in anthropology that shows the Nuer’s traditional life. The book binds together the Nuer with new developments coming from the immigration of many other Nuer that came to the U.S. in the 1990s as refugees, usually from civil war in southern Sudan. Sudan has many war conflicts and always constantly in war because of religion, political, and social differences. The Nuer are always in conflicts which lead to the loss of …show more content…
Nuer and American wedding’s result in the two extended families coming together and unite as one (Holtzman: 2008, 73). Nuer families are involved in the involvement of payment of bridewealth cattle, usually getting between 25 to 40 animals, from the family of the groom to the family of the bride (Holtzman: 2008, 73). The purpose of the bridewealth cattle was to connect her father from her groom’s father and to make children from the marriage. In America, traditionally, the bride and the groom often get gifts from all family members, but they would not get animals. They usually receive currency or household materials. Nuer weddings are not arranged like traditional Nuer marriages. Many of the times, the couple are usually friends or lovers before marriage (Holtzman: 2008, 74) which is similar to American culture. Nuer marriages result in an age gap. Nuer “girls” are usually between 15-17 years old, while the males are in their mid-twenties (Holtzman: 2008, 77). Nuer woman are not considered woman until they have children. This is similar and different than in America. Age gaps are starting become normal; however, American woman are considered women, or adults, at the age of …show more content…
Nuer men believe that women will not respect them if they do not get hit often and would lead to poor behavior (Holtzman: 2008, 89). Nuer men think it is their right to hit their wife if necessary. For example, failure to serve guests on time or not being able to perform the house tasks in a certain time frame (Holtzman: 2008, 90). Women participate in the violence by provoking the act. They often question the man’s ability and strength if they do not hit them, degrade them, and sometimes the women would also be violent (Holtzman: 2008, 90). Women usually do not wish to be beaten, but will strike against their husband. In America, domestic violence is an illegal act. Nuer women are should “dial 911” if they are experiencing any violence against their husband. Nuer men do not agree with the ability to call the police on them. They believe it is against their culture and should not use this as protection (Holtzman: 2008, 90-91). Nuer men feel that law enforcement are biased against women and domestic violence (Holtzman:2008, 91). In the Nuer culture, if violence arises then the women will often return home and Nuer men are supposed to go after her and guarantee a stop in the behavior (Holtzman: 2008, 92). If a women leaves the husband in Nuer culture, a man could have his bridewealth returned (Holtzman: 2008, 93-95). Many violent situations may lead to a divorce and would lead to the male having
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).
“Domestic violence, or intimate partner violence, is defined as a pattern of assaultive and coercive behaviors, including physical, sexual, and psychological attacks as well as economic coercion that adults or adolescents use against their intimate partners” (Peeks-Asa). When it comes to domestic violence many people don’t want to get involved, but if just one person took a stand maybe others would follow and potentially save a life, like the neighbors did in The Day It Happened by Rosario Morales. Domestic violence can happen to anyone at any time, there is no typical victim or perpetrator. The fact that there is no one specific group that domestic violence occurs in more than another, only makes it more difficult to get an accurate representation of just who is being affected by this crime. “Domestic violence and abuse does not discriminate” (Smith and Segal). Domestic violence can have specific victims such as a spouse or domestic partner, a child, or an elder. Domestic violence can affect men as well as women. Some types of domestic violence are physical, verbal or nonverbal, sexual, stalking or cyberstalking, economic or financial, and spiritual.
Domestic violence is a problem which affects women of all ages, and there is a high prevalence of young adult college women who are experiencing Intimate Partner Violence. Many of the domestic violence cases are reported, but many incidents are not known to anyone but the victim. It is a silent problem, but there are many women who seek help to overcome the indignities of being abused. Domestic violence can be examined on different levels of the Ecological Model (Bronfenbrenner 1979). The ecological theory involves four levels: (1) the societal level (macro system); (2) the community level (meso-system); (3) the relational level (micro system) (4) the individual level. The society level involves culture and social structure, and some examples would be the patriarch culture, social norms regarding acceptability of domestic violence and legal remedies. The community level involves the interrelationship between community and the social roles undertaken by individuals such as home, school, and work. The relational level includes interfamily interactions between spouse/partners and children that can include conflict, infidelity, and social isolation. The individual levels involves personal characteristics such as gender, (males are more associated with perpetration, female with victimization), gender role beliefs (traditional or non-traditional), alcohol use, employment or unemployment status of spouse/partners, and socio-economic status at the community, relational, and individual level (Klevins, 2007). Contributing factors to domestic violence at the individual level may include traditional gender role beliefs machismo and level of acculturations. The level of acculturation goes hand ...
The Dinka and the Nuer are two culturally similar ethnic groups that reside in Southern Sudan. Through time, they had changed not only culturally but also politically. Evan Pritchard introduces the Nuer and the Dinka to the western world as a simple cow herding society with a patrilineal structure, that centered around was defined by their kinship, extending networks and forming of political structures. The Dinka and the Nuer are an excellent example of Carl Schmitt’s dichotomy concept of friends and enemy, they represent how a culture can be altered based on what political nation state has the political power.
The head of the household has the authority to arrange marriage contracts for the members of his household (Barth-1961). Before the wedding, the groom’s family must pay a milk price which is written in contract by a non-tribal ritual specialist known as a mullah (Barth-1961). The milk price is the payment for the girl and the domesticated equipment she expected to bring along with her, along with the milk price the grooms expectations are to provide his girl with gifts at all calendrical events, the performing of various bride services and minor favors to his parents-in-laws (Barth-1961). After all transactions are cleared, the newly married couple will start their own
Domestic violence involves the systematic use of force, threats and intimidation by one partner upon another in order for the dominating partner to have control over the victim. In general, women who are abused physically are often isolated. Their partners tend to control their lives to a great extent as well as verbally degrade them. Even though the Latina women are particularly vulnerable to domestic violence because of their culture, it does not mean that this situation does not exist in other societies. Domestic violence happens in all races, religions and social statuses. It could appear in any family and in order to prevent it, everyone in the society must have knowledge of the problem, and try to contribute to stop it. There are many reasons why Latina women that have been abused by their husbands do not ask for help or call the police. The most common ones are the cultural background, the language barrier, and the fear they have of being alone. In the Latin culture there is the belief that when a woman gets married, she should obey he...
Stark (2006) would suggest that thirty years of research has failed to produce a consensus as to what constitutes a case of domestic violence considering that 90% of women who report the abuse have no physical injuries. Methods of coercive control do not meet the criminological viewpoint rather, control extends to financial, emotional, and psychological aspects of subjugating the partner thus no physical violence occurs. If only violent means are reported, then the reported number of victims would perhaps change thus creating a more gender symmetrical pattern. Until operational definitions are defined throughout the disciplines with consistency then there will continue to be discrepancies and opposing views. However, integrative theories of feminist views are being explored which investigate the intersection of not only male dominance as a form of oppression but the use of race, class, national origin, age, sexual orientation, and disability and their impact on intimate partner violence as stated by McPhail and colleagues
In such countries, arranged marriages happen very often and newly wed brides are very vulnerable to domestic violence. It is a common thought that the bride becomes the husband’s property after marriage and therefore, he is given the right to discipline her if circumstances are such. Koyal Dark, Mango Sweet, which is set in India, displays domestic violence between spouses. The sister of the protagonist, Mohini, states in a letter to Jeeta that, “Anoop lost his temper and slapped me hard across the face…With the right side of my face swollen and my eyes blood-shot from crying…Two weeks ago he punched me again…I hit the shelf of the kitchen, and we had to rush to the hospital…I’m afraid he’ll really hurt me.” (Sheth 213-215) In this quote Mohini vents to Jeeta about her abusive husband with whom she lives with in America. By being from a traditional Indian family, Mohini is forced into being married to a boy of her parent’s choice for the reason that he will be an honourable and respectful man who will keep their daughter happy because of his wealth. Often times in marriages such as these, it is not guaranteed that a wealthy man will be honourable and keep his wife happy. Unfortunately, Mohini is not alone when it comes to the amount of girls who are subjected to violent abuse as stated by Divya Nair that, “Reportedly, 133 (57.3%) participants have experienced
When all rites are paid, a feast is organized for close relatives. In most cultural traditions the boy has to meet the girl and her family to ask for her hand in marriage. After procession, bride and groom see each other in complete freedom.
We always hear the term of domestic violence, but we really know what domestic violence is? Is domestic violence just means a husband hits his wife? Of course not. First of all, the domestic violence not just happen to women, but also can happen to men. Secondly, physical abuse just a type of the domestic violence. We seems familiar with the term of domestic violence and far away from it, but actually, we are not. As the Huffingtone Post shown that the number of women who will experience partner violence worldwide is 1 in 3, which means that 18 of us sitting in this classroom, 6 of us may face domestic violence in the future. How horrible it is! Today, I want to tell you more about the domestic violence from three aspects that what domestic
Patriarchal Terrorism is general need to control a relationship. It is violence exclusively initiated by men as a way of gaining and maintaining absolute control over their female partner. (Shehan, 2003) The second form of couple violence, is common couple violence, is less a product of patriarchy. (Johnson, 1995) Patriarchal terrorism does exist today. Differences do not exist in intimate violence based on social class, education level, race / ethnicity or sexual orientation. Intimate violence is violence that occurs between two people in a relationship. It includes four types of behaviors: physical abuse, sexual abuse, threats, and emotional abuse. The longer the abuse goes on the longer it will affect the victim. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2006) Partner violence occurs in all countries, social, economic, religious and cultural boundaries. (Shehan, 2003) I have observed couples with good communication and poor communication and intimacy. Dr. Gottman and his colleagues created recommendations, tactics, and strategies for couples with poor communication, intimacy and conflict problems.
Psychological, emotional, mental, physical, economic, and sexual abuse are only but a few of the effects of intimate partner violence. When a perpetrator decides to inflict violence onto their partner, they are acting out of power and control. They will take every piece of confidence their partner has taken years to build up in order to intimidate them. Intimate partner violence is an epidemic. It is a social problems that affects individuals in all parts of the world regardless of their creed, color, background, ethnicity, sexual orientation, economic status, or religion. According to “1 in 4 women and 1 in 7 men have been victims of severe physical violence by an intimate partner in their lifetime.” CITE Statistically, men have been the
The bride’s father then, communicates his family’s interest in the marriage between the children to the groom’s family. The groom’s family would have to pay for everything. Including the wedding expenses and the house and the items in the house etc.
The patriarchal society has formed a system in which the men are generally stated as the head of the household, and “[s]omeone who already believes that violence is power, and that men have to be powerful, could very easily become more violent in response.” (Doyle) According to Dr. Susan Hanks, Director of the Family and Violence Institute in Alameda, California, “men batter because of internal psychological struggles. Usually, men who batter are seeking a sense of power and control over their partners or their own lives, or because they are tremendously dependent on the woman and are threatened by any moves on her part towards independence.” Abusive partners may perceive a loss of status and power and use violence or coercion to regain control. In one study, for example, researchers found that “women who received income from their male partners [have] a lower likelihood of being abused by these men. As the women 's income relative to that of their male partners increased, so did their likelihood of being abused” (Raj, 1999). Therefore, in exploring the relationship between employment and DV, the women 's employment status relative to the employment status of their male intimate partners plays a large role. Research indicates that men who experience unemployment are at greater risk of domestic violence perpetration. For example, Benson and Fox report that “among couples [where] the male partner was consistently employed, the DV rate was 4.7%; it increased to 7.5% for couples where the male partner experienced one period of unemployment, and rose to 12.3% for couples where the male partner experienced two or more periods of unemployment.” Thus, the research on employment and DV indicates that cultural norms of masculinity that prescribe male dominance in intimate relationships and families may affect the employment to DV
“Domestic violence is a violent confrontation between family or household members involving physical harm, sexual assault, or fear of physical harm” (Stewart & Croudep, 1998-2012). In most places domestic violence is looked on as one of the higher priorities when trying to stop crime. Domestic Violence cases are thought to be influenced by the use of alcohol, drugs, stress or anger but in reality, they are just learned behaviors by the batterer. These habits can be stopped as long as one seeks help (Stewart & Croudep, 1998-2012). For instance, a child is brought up in a household that is constantly involved in criminal acts. As this child grows up, the criminal lifestyle will be synonymous with his/her behavior. With that being said, it is also a given fact that if a household and its members are surrounded with violence, the relationships between one another will be strained. Eventually this will end up in a divorce or even worse, death, depending on how far the violence goes. If there is violence in a family, then the ones who are affected by it may feel like they deserve it because of what the batterer is accusing them of doing. Battering occurs among people of all races, ages, socio-economic classes, religious affiliations, occupations, and educational backgrounds (Stewart & Croudep, 1998-2012). Domestic violence can affect families in more aspects than one; the husband-wife relationship, the children, and also the financial stability.