It is common knowledge that Ray Rice used his wife as a punching bag in the elevator of an Atlantic City casino. What is truely remarkable is that his fiancé became his wife after that vicious left hook to the face left her unconscious. Why do women stay with men who beat them unconscious? Domestic violence is a serious and complex plague of society that affects all, but women make up the largest number of victims in most case studies. In the United States alone, '1.5 million women are raped or physically assaulted by an intimate partner each year. More than 500,000 women victims require medical treatment, and 324,000 victims are pregnant at the time of assault' (Berlinger, 'Taking' 42). Numbers like these show how intense the situation of domestic violence truly is. 'Two women a week are killed by a current or former partner and domestic violence accounts for 22% of all recorded violent crimes' (Jamil 70). Domestic violence takes such a large number in percentages regarding violent crimes, yet often is dismissed by many with the idea that 'this won't happen to me'. Somehow, somewhere, domestic violence will touch everyone whether by someone they know or by televised publication. Though domestic violence affects men as well, the female subject is more often the victim. Domestic violence has a continuous cycle that has been influenced since birth and can be stopped with intervention but each victim's reason for staying will vary. Researchers are still trying to understand domestic violence, what causes it and how far back psychologically does it go. A Scottish psychoanalyst, W. Ronald D. Fairbairn, conducted studies such as these. These studies had a grand influence on British object relations and he founded the ?Object Relations Theory? and the ?Dynamic Structure of the mind? (Stringer). Similarly to Sigmund Freud?s ?id?, Fairbairn has levels of the internal unified ego that will split as a self defense mechanism in relation to the emotional pain a child is feeling (Celani 62). This unconscious strategy is necessary. The internal unified ego is composed of the self-esteem of humans and is divided into three parts ... ... middle of paper ... ...Berlinger, June. ?Domestic Violence.? Nursing Aug. 2001: 58-63. Berlinger, June. ?Taking an Intimate Look at Domestic Violence.? Nursing Oct. 2004: 42-46. Berlinger, June. ?Why Don?t You Just Leave Him?? Nursing Apr. 1998: 34-40. Busch, Noel Bridget. ?Comparisons of Moral Reasoning Levels Between Battered and Non-battered Women.? Journal of Social Work Education 40 (2004): 57-71. Celani, David P. ?Applying Fairbairn?s Object Relations Theory to the Dynamics of the Battered Woman.? American Journal of Psychotherapy 53 (1999):60-73. Hadley, Susan M. ?Linking the Orthopedic Patient with Community Family Violence Resources.? Orthopedic Nursing 21 (2002): 19-24. Jamil, Tanvir. ?Domestic Violence.? Pulse 4 Oct. 2004: 70. Marvin, Douglas R. ?The Dynamics of Domestic Abuse.? FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin 66 (1997): 13-18. Oeltjen, Holly. ?Stop the Beating.? Women in Business 44 (1992): 20-23. Starsoneck, Leslie, and Sharon Friedman. ?Taking Exception to Asymmetrical Role-Taking: Comparing Battered and Non-battered Women.? Social Work 42 (1997): 113-115. Stringer, Kathie. Kathie?s Mental Health Review page. 22 Nov. 2004 http://www.toddlertime.com/fairburn.htm
“And they lived happily ever after...” Little girls all over the world desire their love story to follow the path of these six promising words; but unfortunately for many young dreamers, this fairy tale finale becomes just the opposite of what they crave. These little girls grow up to become young women, and one out of every four will experience some sort of domestic violence in her lifetime. Domestic violence is “the willful intimidation, physical assault, battery, sexual assault, and other abusive behavior perpetrated by one intimate partner against the other.” While there are occurrences of domestic abuse against men, women account for eighty-five percent of all domestic violence cases (NCADV). Domestic violence against women is a much too common problem in the world today, but by raising awareness and teaching people to identify domestic brutality, the ability to eliminate the issue becomes a more realistic possibility.
The research is divided into four parts to better illustrate each individual topic and to provide for a more clear understanding of the material. The first analysis describes Battered Women's Syndrome and gives background information on its origin. The second part of the research affords case examples of battered women's trials, the defenses used, and the resulting verdicts. The third segment produces data on newly developed defenses and how they would help women justify or excuse their actions. The final portion of the research presents some of the different views held by supporters and critics of BWS. The conclusion of the research is based only on the data that was collected and provides some personal explanations for the problems facing battered women today.
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.
Pence, E., & Paymar, M. (1993). Domestic violence information manual. The Duluth Domestic Abuse Intervention Project: The Manual. Retrieved March 25, 2014, from http://www.eurowrc.org/05.education/education_en/12.edu_en.htm
Regardless of what many people consider, domestic violence and abuse is not suitable to the abuser’s failure of bei...
Domestic violence consists of verbal, financial, emotional, sexual, and physical abuse within the household, generally involving partners and families. This occurrence of violence is acted to gain and maintain control over somebody. Abusers have the tendency to enforce fear, guilt, shame and intimidation to brainwash and maintain power. The...
A major percent of domestic violence is occurred from husbands/boy friends abuse their significant other, whether it’s physically or verbally. Males commit over 2.27 million violent crimes against women who they are intimate with. There is an estimated $3 to $5 billion spent each year just in medical facilities caused by domestic violence. Women experience an approximated 572,050 violent victimizations by someone they have had a very close relationship to. For several generations, wives have been beaten but not nearly as much as the increasingly amount of beaten wives now. There are shelter’s where women can go for protection from their significant others, but there are neither enough nor enough women to be courageous and step up and stop being frightened. During 1990 there were only 1,500 shelters for domestic violence shelters in America, yet there are 3,800 animal shelters. Of course, this number has gone up quite a bit, but still not enough.
Smith, Meldina, and Jeanne Segal. "Domestic Violence and Abuse." : Signs of Abuse and Abusive Relationships. N.p., Feb. 2014. Web. 12 Mar. 2014.
Stop Domestic Violence, An Action Plan for Saving Lives, Lou Brown, Francios Dubac, and Merritt McKeon, J.D., St. Martin’s Griffin, New York,1997
Stover, C. (2005). Domestic violence research: What have we learned and where do we go from here? Journal of Interpersonal Violence, (20)4, 287-315. doi:10.1177/0886260504267755
been applied not just to women showing the battered syndrome, but to many situations and
Thesis: In my paper, I will be examining the different types, possible causes, and effects of Intimate Partner Violence, and what treatments or programs are available to combat this growing problem in America. Regardless of differing approaches to fight it, statistics show that women all across the world suffer from the effects of domestic violence at a similar rate independent of class, race, or religion.
...n US domestic violence emergency shelters: what do young adolescent residents and their mothers say?." Child care in practice 14(4):393-415. Retrieved from Ebsco on Oct 1, 2013
Lemmey, D., McFarlane, J., Willson, P., Malecha, A. (2001). Intimate partner violence: mother’s perspectives of effects on their children. The American Journal of Maternal/Child Nursing, 26(2), 98-103.
Twining, A. (1991). Feminist Therapy and Battered Women. Retrieved from National Online Resource Center on Violence Against Women: http://www.vawnet.org/Assoc_Files_VAWnet/FeministTherapy.pdf