The Intersection of Poverty and Domestic Abuse
The claim is often made that domestic violence affects individuals in all social classes. The claim is often made that domestic violence affects individuals in all social classes. This assertion has been critical in raising awareness about domestic violence by reminding the public that wealth does not protect against victimization. At the same time, the data about domestic abuse come from samples to which researchers have greatest access, such as individuals who use social services, and these individuals are more likely to have low incomes or be living in poverty. As the recession that began in December 2007 worsened throughout 2008 and into 2009, many families saw their financial status plummet.
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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 has been plaguing our society for years. There are many abusive relationships, and the only question to ask is: why? The main answer is control. The controlling characteristic that males attribute to their masculinity is the cause of these abusive relationships. When males don’t have control, they feel their masculinity is threatened and they need to do something about it.
In the study involving 2,143 married couples living together completed in 1975 and the study involving 6,002 couples completed in 1985 these studies showed that females had a slightly higher rate of assaulting their spouse than men did (Straus & Gelles, 1986, 1990). The overall rates in the 1985 National Family Violence Survey was 124 per 1,000 women assaulted their male partners compared to 122 per 1000 men who assaulted their female partners (Dutton, 1988; Stets & Straus, 1990). These studies show that women have the same if not hig...
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
"As soon as we moved into this house, you think you can have your way. You are my wife and I tell you what you can do and what you can't do." This kind of statement is typical of what a battered woman knows to be the only truth in her household. Domestic violence is greatly on the rise and is one of the leading causes of homelessness among women in today's society.
Domestic violence covers a large array of abuses. Some of the different types of abuse include Physical, Emotional, Verbal, Sexual and Economical. Women suffering abuse usually suffer from all the different types. Often one type of abuse will bleed or lead to another and most abuse cases never start out with something physical. Most of the time one form of abuse is being used to enforce another.
The researcher Michael T Johnson in 1995 investigated data from the National Family Violence Survey. Johnson reported that “…young married Hispanic women were more likely to experience domestic violence” (). The racial and ethnic groups revealed differences in rates and the forms of abuse. Researchers reported than African American and Hispanic women with low household income and educational status experienced greatest rates of family and domestic violence. According to Women of Color Network (2006) “African American women reported 29.1% intimated partner violence (sexually, physically, and mentally); on the other hand, Hispanic females reported 21.2%” (p. 1-4). The domestic violence rates among African American and Hispanic women have beben related to the sociocultural beliefs of the acceptance of marital abuse; especially, if women have low educational levels and are financially
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.
Domestic violence is a pattern of abusive behavior in a relationship that is used by one partner to achieve and maintain power and also to gain control over another partner. It can be emotional physical or even sexual. Domestic violence can happen anywhere and to anyone but certain factors increase the risk, these include the mother’s age, poverty, unemployment, and alcohol and drug abuse . A study done in Canada found that women who lived with heavy drinkers were five times more likely to be assaulted by their partners than those who lived with non-drinkers. “Rodgers, K. ‘Wife assault: the findings of a national survey” Children who live in a home where domestic violence takes place will face many challenges that could last through out their whole lives. Studies have shown that a third of all children who see their mothers being hurt develop emotional problems and boys who see their fathers beating their mothers are ten times more likely to be abusers in their future relationships. “Clarkprosecutor.org domestic violence in families” Children also living in these home are more likely to experience aggression and antiso...
Straus, M. A., & Yllo, K. (1990). Patriarchy and violence against wives: The impact of structural and normative factors. Physical violence in American families: Risk factors and adaptations to violence in, 8(145), 383-399.
The Duluth model, developed in 1981, became the first multi-disciplinary, community wide program designed to fully explain domestic violence. Its primary aim is to reduce interpersonal violence against women and it is now the most widely used model worldwide. The Model uses the “Power and Control Wheel” to help men understand there abusive behaviour and to convince men to use nonviolent behaviour outlined in the “Equality” wheel. It holds abusive men fully accountable for their violence and provides safety for victims of violence. However, many men who have perpetrated feel no sense of power and control in their lives (Dutton & Starzomski, 1994). The Duluth model deems interpersonal violence as a wilful exertion of male dominance over women to conform to the norms of society. In this view, the model does not assume that dom...
Domestic abuse, also known as domestic violence, can occur between two people in an intimate relationship. The abuser is not always the man; it can also be the woman. Domestic abuse can happen between a woman and a man, a man and a man, or a woman and a woman. Domestic abuse shows no preference. If one partner feels abusive, it does not matter their sexual orientation, eventually the actions they are feeling will come out towards their partner.
“One woman is beaten by her husband or partner every 15 seconds in the United States” (Stewart & Croudep, 1998-2012). Domestic violence can interfere with the husband-wife relationship because one spouse is always in constant fear of the other. This violence could vary from physical abuse to ps...
Domestic violence can happen to anyone, but Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is the most common violence to be committed in society (Ursa& Koehn, 2015).Intimate Partner Violence (IPV)is violence perpetrated by one intimate partner against the other partner (Halket, Gormley, Mello, Rosenthal, &Mirkin, 2014). IPV does not include elder or child abuse. Although women are likely to be victims of domestic violence, research shows that men are victims of domestic violence as well.(Halket, Gormley, Mello, Rosenthal, &Mirkin, 2014).For example, when violence is related to the family conflict there is a 4:1 ratio between females and males (Halket, Gormley, Mello, Rosenthal, &Mirkin, 2014). However, statistics reveals that more than 90% of violence is committed by a male
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...
2.4.7 Women in silence Vulnerable victims of domestic violence; especially women, keep the silence mostly due to fear, shame, reality, lack of resources, dependency, and lack of support. Shipway (2004:87-88) state that the cause of silence can be due to the fact the woman might fear that her partner will discover she has disclosed to someone about what happened to her and he might end up punishing her for not maintaining the silence. She also added that after long periods of abuse, women frequently develop low self-esteem, which can be due to her being persuaded that her behaviour, her lack of skills as a wife and a mother, her lack of sexual appeal, and she looks to have contributed to the violent outburst and that the violence is in part,