Abusive Relationships is defined as the “systematic pattern of behaviors in a relationship that are used to gain and/or maintain power and control over another” (Huston, 2010). The forms of abuse range from emotional to financial and each has an everlasting effect on the victim. An abusive relationship also has a discrete effect on the mind of the victim; they experience many psychology difficulties pre and post the abuse. Yet despite all these catastrophic consequences to both the mind and body caused by the constant abuse, many of the victims tend to stay in the relationships. The victim’s deal with emotional challenges on a daily basis, they are wounded on both a mental and psychical level, and have to deal with the constant pressure from both society and peers. These issues are well hidden in our society and it barely makes the news headlines thus an individual is never able to figure out why one would choose to stay. Abuse can occur due to many reasons, either abuser is facing difficulties at work or they have a psychology problem controlling them to be over possessive. Yet it is not only the abusers because victims also develop problems that prevent them from breaking free of the relationship.
Abusive Relationships have long deep emotionally scarring effects and it can take ages to heal. It is the very thing that can essentially inhibit a victim from breaking free. Stockholm Syndrome, defined by Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, means “the victim’s emotional bonding with their abuser” (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network , 2009). This is a mental issue that is developed subconsciously and is an involuntary action. It is like a natural instinct that helps the victim survive the harsh and judging environment. Firs...
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...k of being murdered by their abusers as their aggressive nature may just increase if they try to fight back. In fact, I feel as though if the victims become passive then they are at an even greater risk as the abuser may feel they aren’t scared or the pain has no effect on them. In turn, this may cause them to become more violent and use new forms of torture in order to overpower them. Furthermore, I feel as the victim you are constantly being threatened. The abuser may threaten to harm your family and follow you for the rest of your life if you attempt to leave them. So in order to protect their loved ones, they choose to deal with the abuser by themselves. The wounds given by the abuser take a long time to heal and the scars that come with are a constant remainder of the pain. Yet the physical abuse is the very reason that a victim doesn't leave the relationship.
Almost as if they were to be trained as an animal. Second, socioeconomic status was a key factor in abusive relationships. Lower income women are proven to be more frequently victims of domestic violence than wealthier women. Situations where the male partner is underemployed or unemployed, he’s not seeking employment, or they are residing in a poor neighborhood all can have an impact of on abusive relationships. Third, some batterers were abused themselves. Here, batterers were abused during their upbringing whether it be physical, verbal, or sexually abused. They may have also witnessed domestic violence as a part of their childhood. From here, being abusive was embedded in their mind. They were confused about a healthy relationship. Using violence as a means of power and control was the way of life. Boys who witness domestic violence are more likely to batter as an adult. Fourth, race was another factor when being abusive. Black women seem to be more disrespectful towards men and talk out of line resulting in abuse. Black women also worry about the repercussions of reporting domestic violence. A lot of abusive relationships go
In this paper I will be telling you many different forms of domestic violence. I will include the physical abuse, sexual abuse, verbal abuse, spiritual abuse, economic abuse, social abuse, and emotional abuse. I will also describe the "cycle of violence", teen dating violence, and why women stay with an abusive partner.
In Queen’s “Being Emotionally Abuse: A Phenomenological Study of Adult Women’s Experience of Emotionally Abusive Intimate Partner Relationship”, focused on a total of 15 women, who have been emotionally abused from an intimate partner relationship and wanted the women to describe, “What is it like to live the life of a woman who is emotionally abused by her intimate partner?” When experiencing emotional abuse, it can be express as “not easily detected; it is non-transparent in there is no physical markers.” (Bornstein 2007, Campbell & Humphreys, 1984; Evans 1996; Gelles & Strauss, 19888; Kurst-Swanger & Petcosk, 2003, O’Leary 1999; Walker, 2000). The emotional abuse can be very hurtful towards the women at times because while in the cycle of the relationship, the woman cannot tell when something bad or good will happen. While this is happening, she begins to lose strength that she once had before and in away she is trapped inside her own mind. With physical harm, individuals outside the relationship can notice the bumps and bruises on the skin. Alma, a young mother of three pre-teen girls describes her personal experience with emotional abuse as, “I was very restricted. He wouldn’t allow me to contact my mom...my family, my friends. After I had my daughter, I wasn’t allowed to go to the doctor. I could only go to take my daughter...I didn’t know anything about our checking account..I didn’t have my own money.” When thinking about emotional abuse, understand that you cannot see the “bumps and bruises” but you can still see the effect it has on the partner by using their minds as their weapon rather focus upon the individual. According to Queen and others, after their research, they would define
An abused woman is always faced with a number of different choices from which she may consider, with regards to seeking help or ending the relationship with a variety of alternatives, the woman knows each decision involves a variety of risks. Time after time, the common question arises, “why doesn’t she just leave?” This question can be answered by analyzing the psychological effects domestic abuse has on women. Many women are unable to cope with the emotional and psychological stress of domestic abuse and resort to violence and extre...
Domestic Violence is a widely recognized issue here in the United States. Though many people are familiar with domestic violence, there are still many facts that people do not understand. Abuse is not just physical, it is mental, emotional, verbal, sexual and financial. Many victims of physical abuse are also fall victim to these abuse tactics as well. An abusive partner often uses verbal, mental, emotional, and financial abuse to break their partner so to speak. It is through this type of abuse the victim often feels as though they are not adequately meeting their partner’s needs.
Many times, the victim is by themselves, with fellow victims, or with their own children produced through this horrible event. Victims can easily feel isolated and naturally, like all humans, look for someone to love and bond with, this person could be their abuser, this is called Stockholm Syndrome. Stockholm Syndrome is a group of psychological problems that are shown in people held captive. It comes from a famous bank robbery in Stockholm, Sweden in 1973. The bank robber took three women and one man captive for over 130 hours. When the victims were eventually released, they seemed to have an emotional bond with their abuser, and came to see the police as their enemies rather than the bank robber (Stockholm Syndrome). These people were only held for 5 days, (compared to decades that some sex trafficking victims are held), and they already formed a bond with the abuser. It is not uncommon for sex trafficking victims to become emotionally connected to their abuser. Their abuser is the one giving them the things they need to survive, telling them any news or information, and providing drugs and alcohol. Victims can view these actions as kindness from their abuser, causing them to want to connect with them more. When the victim knows that they could be raped every night, but instead their abuser only does it once a
Evolutionary psychologists explain that the stockholm syndrome can be linked back to our hunter-gatherer ancestors. They stated that women in those societies often faced the problem of being captured by another tribe. These women often had their children killed and they were put in several situations where their lives were at risk. By developing a bond to that tribe, they would ensure their survival. Because of the frequency of these abductions, capture-bonding developed into one of the adaptive traits in the human population. Evolutionary psychologists also believe that abductions and wars played a role in this.
The victims are blinded from the danger they are in because it is all they know in a relationship or feel it is their fault. Another reason victims do not leave their abusive spouse is fear (Rafenstein 6). The Article “How to Plan Escaping From An Abuser” says:
Psychological abuse is a heterogeneous construct that includes a number of different abusive partner behaviors. Psychological abuse occurs repeatedly over an extended period of
Domestic violence is much more common than one may think. In fact, “a woman is beaten by her husband or partner every fifteen seconds in the United States” (Domestic Violence). This statistic doesn’t take into account how many women are verbally abused or women who are abused worldwide. It’s overwhelming to think how many women experience domestic violence each and everyday. More than likely, you have encountered a woman who is represented by this statistic. By the time physical abuse starts, a woman has already suffered from psychological abuse in a relationship. Women lose their self-esteem and dignity and often times feel alone. The immediate effects of abuse are heart-breaking when put into perspective. “‘I was very frightened of him, I had a great fear of him in my mind, it was like a beast had come, not a husband. I would shake if he came into the room. I would go to one side of the room and stay there and shake”’ (Fawcett, Featherstone, Hearn, and Toft 12). Many times, women are too afraid to report abuse to the police in fear of losing their husbands or making matters worse. Women sometimes are afraid of what...
Carver , Joseph M. "Love and Stockholm Syndrome: The Mystery of Loving an Abuser." 03 Feb 2009. n. pag. Web. 14 Feb 2011. .
Domestic violence is a devastating social problem that impacts every sector of our population. Domestic violence is a pattern of abusive behavior in any relationship that is used by one partner to gain or maintain power and control over another intimate partner(USDOJ,2012). Domestic violence can be physical, economic, emotional, sexual, or psychological. Physical domestic violence is an attempt to impose physical injury such as grabbing, slapping, hitting, biting, etc. Physical violence can also be withholding necessary resources to sustain health such as medication, food, sleep, or forcing alcohol or other drug use. Economic abuse is an attempt to make the victim financially dependent. Such as sustaining control over financial resources including the victims earned income, forbidding employment, on the job harassment, or withholding information about family expenses. Emotional abuse can be the attempt to undermine the victims self worth. This could be belittling the victim, name calling, insults, criticism, manipulating, etc. Sexual abuse is any sexual contact without consent. For example, marital rape, attacks on sexual parts of the body, forced sex, forced prostitution. Sexual abuse can also be an attempt to undermine the victims sexuality by treating them in a derogatory manner, criticizing sexual performance, or withholding sex. Psychological abuse is the attempt to implant fear. This could involve intimidation, threats of physical harm, harassment, mind games, and stalking. Psychological abuse can also be an attempt to isolate victim from friends and family member. Abusers can go so far as withholding access to a telephone, transportation, constant check ups, forced imprisonment, and undermining personal relationships. Dome...
Abuse has become so common that some people do not realize they are being abused. It is important that this topic is studied because there are many gaps of knowledge to what all an abusive relationship can entail. The goal is to help someone somewhere get out of an abusive relationship before its too late. Whether its emotional or physical abuse, neither is healthy for a person to maintain in. So seeking relationship advice from outside sources, such as popular press articles may be a usual for tool for people who are looking for insight as long as they know to check up on the research involved in the article. This paper will compare and contrast the findings from the article I have chosen to the scholarly research that has been conducted on abusive relationships.
Falling in love with someone is supposed to be one of life’s greatest gifts. People fall in love, get married and have children. Sometimes life is not that simple for some people. Sometimes during this great time in their life, their partner becomes physically, mentally, and sexually abusive. So one would ask, why not leave and get out of the relationship? It is not that simple for the victim. Fear of their partner’s actions, concerns about their children, and their deep attachment to their partner are factors that cause people to stay in abusive relationships.
It is not always easy to determine in the early stages of a relationship if one person will become abusive. Abusers may often seem wonderful and perfect initially, but gradually become more aggressive and controlling as the relationship continues. Violence and control always intensifies over time with an abuser, despite the apologies (ncadv.org). I Choose Life attempts to give a voice to the victims and survivors of domestic violence. Along with, offering an understanding to domestic violence, we construct educational seminars and programs that will help to drive that change. Domestic violence is the sole responsibility of the abuser.