Domestic Violence Essay

Domestic abuse in the United States is a large-scale and complex social and health problem. The home is the most violent setting in America 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...

Introduction to Intimate Partner Violence Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a tremendously serious social and public health problem. Progression of intimate partner violence can lead to morbidity or mortality and affect various types of relationships. An intimate partner is one that is described by frequent contact, identifying as a couple, emotional bonding, and regular physical and/or sexual contact. A few examples of intimate partners includes dating partners, spouses, girlfriends or boyfriends, and sexual partners. Violence within these intimate relationships can be psychological, physical, or sexual and present in heterosexual relationships, homosexual relationships, and to disabled partners in relationships.

Domestic violence and abuse takes place within family-type intimate relationships and forms a pattern of intimidating and controlling behaviors, which overtime escalates (Dennis, T. 2014, p 1). It can also cause physical psychological or sexual harm to these relations as well (Gul & Faiz, 2013). Domestic Violence according to Fairtlough (2006) is “the misuse of power and the exercise of control by one individual over another, generally by men over women, with whom they have been in an intimate relationship. It assumes a wide range of abusive physical, sexual, and psychological behaviors.” Dennis argued that domestic violence has become a serious societal and public health issue and is a major risk factor for psychiatric disorders

Violence is a major social problem in today’s society around the world. (World Health Organization 2002). Domestic violence is a social problem because there are more than the victims who become affected when it occurs. For example, if there is child present in a relationship then they can become affected as well. It has been classified as the most common type of violence against women (World Health Organization, ...

Statistical evidence can be used to stress the seriousness of domestic violence and the importance of having women’s shelters dispersed throughout the nation. According to recent surveys, one in every three women will experience domestic violence at some time during her lifetime. Domestic violence is also the leading cause of injury to women, with the abuser usually being a member of her own family. Finally, up to ten million American children witness some type of domestic violence every year (Fantuzzo and Fusco, “Children’s Direct Exposure to Types of Domestic Violence Crime: A Population-based Investigation”). These statistics show that domestic violence is a reality and that the efforts of women’s shelters are not in vain.

Domestic violence shelters emerged out of the 1970s during second-wave feminism to provide a refuge for victims of intimate partner violence. With the provision of food and shelter for women and their children fleeing an abusive home, these shelters can be seen to be positive reform for women. There are many avenues for women’s psychological support, such as support groups and counselling, many of which are offered within these shelters. While these shelters and psychological support undoubtedly provide a crucial service for many women and their children, there are some aspects of them that cannot be seen as positive reform. Many shelters only help women with their immediate problems and do not attempt to stem the growing levels of intimate

Domestic violence is a worldwide issue in past and present society. Domestic violence, or battering, is a pattern of psychological, economic, and sexual coercion of one partner in a relationship by the other that is punctuated by physical assaults or credible threats of bodily harm. People in all social, ethnic, economic, or religious groups are affected by domestic violence; whether the couple is married, divorced, living together, or dating. The victims of domestic violence can also be young, old, straight, or gay. Domestic violence usually involves women as the victims and men as the perpetrators, but that does not suggest that others cannot be battered or perpetuate abuse, such as women on men, or same sex abuse. Domestic violence has become a common occasion in society today, and more and more couples are experiencing it. All relationships experience disagreements, but battering involves every aspect of a relationship. Domestic violence has ultimately been demonstrated to be socialized in society and questions why women are more likely to be victimized over men.

What is Domestic Violence Domestic violence is defined as a pattern of abusive behavior in any relationship that is used by someone to have control over the other person. “A model code on domestic and family violence limits its definition to acts of physical harm, including involuntary sexual acts, or the threat of physical harm” (Fantuzzo, 1999, p.23). Regardless of whether or a child has been directly physically abused, watching their parent being abused is an experience that a child will not understand and scare them. Children from violent homes can exhibit a variety of behaviors.

Every teen has some type of domestic violence in them. Are teens that were involved in domestic violence as children more likely to become violent adults? Is this True and to what point in time makes this more Believable? That, domestic violence being around kids growing up makes them violent.

I have often been asked why social problems like alcohol abuse, suicide, and domestic violence disproportionality affect First Nation Peoples. Regarding Intimate Partner Violence, I believe that Indigenous women are disproportionally affected because of their low economic status. Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) in North America is a problem that can affect anyone despite, race, religion, or socioeconomic status. The data available suggest that First Nations women are more likely to experience IPV in their lifetime, with 46% -91% of Native woman experiencing violence compared to the 7-51% of their non-native counterparts (Nason-Clark, 2004)