Partner Violence There Are Several

Partner Violence There are several characteristics of partner violence, and several different factors can lead to partner violence. Usually (but not always), women are the victims of partner violence, and women between the ages of 16 and 24 are the largest age group involved in partner violence. Only about half the violence is reported to police, and black women are more prone to report violence. Nearly half the abused women have children less than twelve years of age.

When the violence results in murder, three out of four of the victims are women, and about half of partner violence victims report a physical injury (Rennison and Welchans, 2000, p. 1). In addition, one or more of the partners may suffer from addiction of some kind, and one or both partners could have suffered abuse as a child. The abuser may also suffer from depression. There can be many other factors that help contribute to partner violence, as well. There can be stress from work or other external sources.

The family may be suffering from poverty or other financial problems. The family may be suffering from loss or other disruptions, or there may be life cycle changes in the family. One of the abusers could have mental or physical disabilities, or suffer from social isolation. There could also be rigid rules or conflicted rules in the family (Eyler and Cohen, 1999). All of these factors can lead to partner violence, although of course, they do not always lead to partner violence.

It is interesting to note that in cultures where partner violence is extremely low, there are certain characteristics that lead to this result, as well. These include strong support for victims, extreme sanctions against partner violence, flexible roles for men and women in society and the family, and a societal censure of violence, equality in decision-making inside and outside the home, and strong role models for women in society (Eyler and Cohen, 1999).

All of this could act as a model for our own society to attempt to control and eradicate partner violence. Perhaps the biggest unanswered question regarding partner violence is why so many abusers come from abusive families themselves. What is it in our society that perpetuates this kind of partner and family violence? Why, after suffering this abuse, would a person turn around and inflict the same abuse on their loved ones? It does not make sense, and it is frightening, as well.

In our society, we like to believe that we learn from our mistakes, but this does not seem to be the case with partner violence, and it is a scary statistic in the justice system. It is easier to understand how addiction and depression can cause partner violence, and why other stressors can lead to violence, as well, although that in no way condones this violence.

Another question is why is there not more support and treatment for these violent partners? For many, they never get treatment, and the violence continues, which seems to be society's way of turning their back on the problem. One of the reasons may be that so many women do not report the violence, and there are "anger management" programs for abusers.

However, it seems this is not enough to manage violence like this in our society, and the question remains, why isn't more being done to help combat this problem? On writer notes, "Much stronger associations were found for men between partner violence and such factors as depression, violence toward strangers, polydrug use, and the presence of antisocial personality characteristics" (Flett, 2002, p. 87).

If this is the case, then why aren't there more treatment options for men who suffer from these problems? It seems that better treatment options might help men overcome these problems, which could lead to less abusive behavior, as well. If a man has a history of abuse and addiction, it seems like incarceration is not the answer, but treatment and therapy might be. It seems the court systems do not look at it that way.

Certainly, it's important to get the abuser away from the victim, but it's also important to make sure it doesn't happen again. Another author notes, "Partner violence represents a serious public health problem in the United States. In a nationally representative survey, approximately 1.8 million women reported being severely assaulted by their male partners during the preceding year" (Thompson et al., 2000, p. 127). This complements the chapter discussion, and so many of the class discussions.

The class discussions open up new issues and make the readers think harder about some of the issues that surround partner violence, including the court's role in these issues. The chapter contradicts some of the class discussions, however, especially in the area of arrest. Many people support the arrest of both parties in mutual battering cases, but the court frowns on this practice. I'm not sure I agree with it either. The victim may just be fighting back in self-defense, and in that case, the victim should not be punished.

It is interesting that often, the court does not find fault with either party when both are arrested. That seems like a cop-out, because the court is supposed to be able to judge who is wrong and right, or guilty and innocent, and then impose the proper penalty. If they let both parties go in this case, it seems they are just giving "permission" for the abuse to continue, and that is not supposed to be the court's role.

In this case, the discussion really deviates from the text, and that is interesting to consider. I think the discussion on dating violence goes much farther into detail than.