Sign Up Now
Get instant access to over 1 million+ study documents
OR
Already registered? click here to login
By creating your account, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and student honor code.
Domestic Violence is a silent epidemic, which impacts the health and welfare of more American families than almost any other disease. Despite this, relatively little attention is focused on the issue of domestic violence. For example, though far more women and children are victimized each year by domestic violence, which survivors have described as domestic terrorism, national leaders pay little attention to domestic violence. While the federal government's Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) has provided resources to help end domestic violence, representatives still pay little attention to the problem. Even in a major election year, domestic violence has gotten little press, even though one of the presidential candidates repeatedly voted against VAWA.
In addition, the press pays little attention to domestic violence. While attractive victims like Laci Peterson get tremendous press, the reality is that women and children are murdered by their loved ones every single day, after years of torture and abuse, and most of them are never even mentioned by the mainstream press. Communities are silent as well; people are still reluctant to intervene in domestic violence situations, assuming that adult victims have the ability to leave abusive scenarios and that parents should have the right to parent their children without intervention. In addition, neighbors and other potential interveners oftentimes fear the possible consequences of intervening in a violent situation. Finally, American society refuses to publicly condemn domestic violence; Michael Vick received more negative press for dog fighting than did Warren Moon, an even more famous football player, for his domestic violence behavior. With this permissive atmosphere, it is no wonder that women and children still suffer from domestic violence in fear and silence.
Question One: What individual changes can you make to create a society that is more condemning of domestic violence?
Question Two: Can you think of four reasons that a domestic violence victim would be reluctant to leave his or her abuser?
Domestic Violence Is Domestic Violence a Learned Behavior? Unfortunately, domestic violence is a learned behavior. There are many forms of domestic violence and/or abuse: Physical, Sexual, Ritualistic, Verbal, Emotional, Religious, Silent, Elder, Economic, Using Children, Threats, Intimidation, Sibling, Cultural, Isolation, Personal, Institutional, and Witness Abuse, etc.… However, they all have the same common denominator: the perpetrator's desire to gain and maintain POWER and CONTROL in the relationship (Laws 2011). Domestic violence or
Domestic Violence Why do abused women tend to stay with their abusers? What are the realities for those abused women -- and how do the realities impact the treatment of battered women? This paper delves into those questions and issues. Choice and Empowerment for Battered Women who Stay An article in the peer-reviewed journal Social Work points out that while there have been plenty of articles and a great deal of information in
Domestic Violence Against Men Domestic violence, domestic abuse, dating abuse, intimate partner violence (IPV) or battering refers to a behavioral pattern in which one partner abuses another in an intimate relationship such as marriage, dating, cohabitation or within a family setup. Domestic violence takes different forms, the most common being physical assault i.e. hitting, shoving, kicking, biting, slapping, shoving objects and general physical violence. It can also take the form of
Among the negative effects of living in a violent relationship include increased depression, anxiety and posttraumatic stress (Bogat, et. al, 2004). There is some evidence that suggests that social support may influence a woman's reactions to domestic violence, and may in fact influence whether or not a woman decides to stay or leave a relationship (Bogat, et. al, 2004). When support exists it is related to a positive outcome more
. Even when the child in a home where DV occurs is not physically harmed, most of the time, these children know about the violence. As a result, they may experience emotional and behavior problems (The Domestic Violence…, N.d.). A victim of DV needs to be reminded: She is not alone. She is not at fault. Help is available. In The physician's guide to domestic violence, P.R. Salber and E. Taliaferro (N.d.). about stress
Womens Studies My perspective on domestic violence has certainly been influenced by some of the information I have learned while taking this course. I was fortunate enough to grow up in surroundings in which I was never exposed to this phenomenon. As such, I was relatively ignorant about the many realities regarding what has been and continues to be one of the most prevalent social issues affecting women in this country.