MFT: Psychology of Violence- Domestic Violence, Abuse and Legal Mandates Violence has been described as any form of aggression that could result in either psychological or physical injury. From the early beginning of the current century, violence has increasingly become a pressing issue for behavioural experts. Despite the increased focus on violence in the last two decades, most of the studies tend to investigate effects on victims or risk factors with only a handful looking into the underlying causes of violence and the psychology behind it. Moreover, spousal battering or domestic violence as it is more commonly known, has received lesser attention despite the increase in such kind of violence. This study aims to investigate the main theories that explain the root causes of violence, distinguish cultural, gender and psychological dimensions of violence and also highlight the treatment and violence prevention methods. Lastly, this paper aims to look into the ethical and legal aspects of violence, and the mandatory reporting statutes across the country through a critical analysis of data from various sources (Cavanaugh, Gelles 2015).

Domestic Violence, Abuse and Legal Mandates

For many years now, researchers have attempted to demonstrate the negative effects of exposure to child abuse and other forms of domestic violence. The body of research has grown tremendously in the last few decades with regards to the effects of violence on both adults and children. It is now up to policymakers to tackle the issue of domestic violence in modern societies. It is up to them to look for the best ways of dealing with exposure to childhood abuse or the negative effects of domestic violence. In the last 20 years, many legislations and policies regarding individual and organizational mandates on reporting on domestic violence have been proposed in many states and countries. Most of these policies and legislations have queried whether or not reporting domestic abuse or violence is moral or right. Nonetheless, these policies and legislations are of critical importance in maintaining the rule of law with regards to domestic violence (Welthorn, 2001).

Reporting of Child and Elder Abuse

Even though modern societies face many challenges in trying to reduce or stop child abuse, elder abuse or other forms of domestic violence, several questions have emerged on whether it is moral/right to report elder/child abuse to law enforcement. This is one of the most pressing issues in terms of enacting legislations to curb domestic violence. However, this issue did not prove to be an obstacle as the majority of states were able to come up with Domestic Violence Fatality Review Teams so as to evaluate physical abuse, sexual abuse and other forms of domestic violence and to report them to law enforcement authorities. This was a brave move by many state lawmakers and the country as a whole. It is the kind of legislation or initiative that should be adopted by all states. Such mandates are important in curbing the effects of elder abuse, child abuse and domestic violence (Durborow, Lizda, O'Flaherty, Marjavi, 2010).

It is, however, critical that all individuals mandated to report the abuses should submit their reports in the set period of time. One of the states that enacted the adult and child abuse reporting statutes is that of California. The statutes may, however, recommend different procedures for reporting adult abuse cases or child abuse cases. Even though, there are variations that all reports are supposed to be submitted within 2 days. A report submitted after the stipulated time is usually not accepted (HSAF, 2015). Still, in California, no one who reports suspected domestic violence can bear criminal responsibility for doing so. The confidentiality clause in the state's anti-DV (domestic violence law) says so. This statute has over the years both praise and criticism. This is because it is known that under the law anyone above the age of eighteen can get married without getting the permission of their guardians, parents or any other individual. This is thought to give married individuals the power or control of their private lives. However, with regards to the anti-domestic violence statute, this power or privilege is revoked, making it a must to report any suspected case of abuse. It is my opinion that this is the right way of doing this in the modern society and it is also the correct way of curbing DV (HSAF, 2015).

Child Custody

It is a legal principle that a child's biological parents should make the decisions about how to raise...

It is also the law of nature for parents to nurture their children. Decisions that parents have to make regarding raising their children include: where the child will go to school, the child's healthcare plan, where he or she will live and what kind of religious upbringing the child will have. Biological parents are allowed to make these decisions as long as they are properly listed in the child's birth certificate. However, the juvenile court and the family court have the jurisdiction to determine custody in cases whereby a parent has been judged to be unfit to bring up the child. There are many situations that can result in a parent being deemed unfit, including being suspected of child abuse or spousal violence (Dallam, 2006).
In the last few years, standards in child custody hearings have ended up being combined with many non-legal remedies in numerous family courts worldwide. Such practices are against fundamental human rights and end up corrupting judicial processes. One such practice is therapeutic jurisprudence, whereby, advocates can end-up taking the sides of the bad guys and fighting for them to take custody of children, even in cases of abuse resulting in the good guys losing their children. It is my opinion that such practices end up corrupting the laws and practices of family courts. Giving custody to a violent parent after he or she has been found guilty is a violation of fundamental human rights with the proposers of such practices arguing that, that is the law. It is crucial for commonsense to prevail in such cases (Marie, 2010).

Forms of child abuse

Child abuse is one of the biggest societal issues currently. MFTs ought to be properly trained and equipped to handle cases of child abuse. There are 4 major types of child abuse: neglect, sexual abuse, emotional abuse and physical abuse. Physical abuse is one of the most frequently reported forms of child abuse. Physical abuse has been described as intentional aggressive acts on a child, resulting in sore muscles, fractures, burns, wounds, head and internal injuries or bruises. Head and internal injuries are the most serious forms of injuries because they could easily end up in the child dying. However, all forms of child abuse are violent and should not be entertained, regardless of the degree of severity. It is often men who impart violence on a child. It is also easy to see signs of physical abuse on the victim (Mazarin, 2015). Sexual abuse is one of the other common forms of child abuse, whereby, the perpetrator touches a child in a sexual way or commits a sexual act with a child. Many of the criminals who commit acts of sexual violence are usually close relatives, and in some cases, it takes a long time to realise that the child was sexually abused (Mazarin, 2015).

Five Theories on Prohibition against Incest

Incest can be described as a sexual act between individuals who are members of an immediate family. For thousands of years incest has been a strange fantasy to man. Narratives from hundreds of years ago show that man has been fascinated by incest long before. However, incest is regarded as a sin in many societies today. There are five theories that attempt to explain the prohibition of incest. The first is instinctive, in that there is a natural feeling of disgust towards close relatives having sexual unions. This theory has however been dismissed by academics as baseless and amoral. The second theory that has received the support of many scholars is that incest should be prohibited due to the effects of inbreeding that might lead to unwanted effects in offspring. Many observers have however argued that this theory is self-contradictory. The third and most popular theory is Oedipus complex, a theory which states that a son is attracted to the mother and similarly a daughter to her father. Many individuals do believe in this theory, the theory is however completely indecent and unacceptable. The fourth theory proposed is the Christmas Fairy Tale theory that was proposed by Sigmund Freud. This theory is the one that laid a foundation for the Oedipus Complex. The fifth and final theory is the psychoanalytic theory which opines that there is a genetic link that makes individuals to despise incest (White, 2009)

Alcoholism and Child Neglect

It is a no-brainer that child neglect is often caused by substance abuse or alcoholism by the parent. Alcoholism is a major societal problem that ought to be fought against. Studies have indicated that women who had been abused in their childhood are more likely to end up as alcoholics,…