A justice-related issue that I see relevant to our society today is in relation to women who suffer from domestic violence/ battering. Batter Women Syndrome (BWS) has recently been reformed in the United States as the Batter Person Syndrome (BPS) to include men as potential victims of domestic violence/ batter. The term batter person syndrome has been recognized as a social issue and legal changes have taken place in the United States in order to protect individuals affected by domestic violence/ battering. My overall goal for this essay is to remind people of the historical origins behind this social issue, the advancements that have been made by our society in the legal system, and to suggest policy changes to improve the legal protection of domestic violence/battered women.
The Unites States recognized battered women as a social and legal problem in the 1970’s. Prior to the 1970’s the English common law stated that men could punish his wife with a stick no bigger than his thumb. (The invincible women correct citation). The creation of BWS arose from the essentialism people had in the 1960’s that judge women who killed their spouse as either “evil” or “mentally sick”. The creation of BWS was still a concern with in many women due to the term “syndrome” being associated to mental illness. The negative connotation to women who killed their spouse still lingered yet, no one questioned why women were taking drastic measures?.
The social changes that started to rise from the revelation of domestic violence was the outset of a second wave of feminist activist in the 1970’s that were willing to break the silence in the United States against domestic violence/ battering. Francine Hughes became an important figure to the campaign aga...
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...g collaborative we can come with examples like after a numerous complains of domestic violence reporting an investigation can take place to ensure the safety of its citizens. Another option can be when a substantial amounts of calls be made against domestic Violence/ battering all members of the family must get a record from a doctor stating if there are any signs of domestic violence or if there is not no sigh of domestic violence. These few scenarios do have drawn backs especially when taking into consideration that physical abuse tends to heal and evidence may go away quickly. The best way to address these issues at times is to create prevention and post-revitalization of individuals that suffer from battering.
Works Cited
http://www.ovw.usdoj.gov/overview.htm
http://www.thehotline.org/help/
http://www.courts.ca.gov/selfhelp-domesticviolence.htm
First I would like to address the definition of Battered Woman Syndrome. Battered Woman Syndrome (BWS) is a condition often used by the defense in cases like this one to relieve the defendant of some or
During this time, Marica could have been under the protection of the police through a witness program or a shelter for women who are abused. She could have also left to stay with her family.
Battered women constitute one of the most marginalized groupings in the social order. Their relationship incidents occasionally put these individuals into disagreement with the law, particularly when they murder their violent partners. The Battered woman syndrome (BWS) was created by clinical psychologist (1970’s) with an intention of depicting the series of occurrences that physically abused women frequently experience in their relationships.
Domestic violence, or battering, is the establishment of control and fear in a relationship through violence and other forms of abuse. The batterer uses acts of violence and a series of behaviors, including intimidation, threats, psychological abuse, a...
Domestic violence can be described as any form of abuse towards a victim, whether physical, emotional, sexual, verbal, psychological, or economical. The stakeholders in such violence are the abuser(s), the victim(s) and the bystander(s), all of whom are affected in some form or another by the abuse. For further clarity, domestic violence in this discussion refers to situations where the principle stakeholders, i.e. abuser and victim are in a relationship, for example partners, co-workers or friends. Domestic violence affects all stakeholders, not only the victim but the abuser and bystanders, and it can be easily prevented.
Domestic violence and abuse takes place within family-type intimate relationships and forms a pattern of intimidating and controlling behaviors, which overtime escalates (Dennis, T. 2014, p 1). It can also cause physical psychological or sexual harm to these relations as well (Gul & Faiz, 2013). Domestic Violence according to Fairtlough (2006) is “the misuse of power and the exercise of control by one individual over another, generally by men over women, with whom they have been in an intimate relationship. It assumes a wide range of abusive physical, sexual, and psychological behaviors.” Dennis argued that domestic violence has become a serious societal and public health issue and is a major risk factor for psychiatric disorders
It is hard to believe that women only 60 years ago were still viewed and inferior to males and had little to no rights to protect themselves. When men returned from World War II some men resulted to domestically violate as a way of punishing his wife for something she did and to affirm dominance that he previously lost. Assaults that were inflicted on to women during the 1950s were seen being a part of male aggression and something that is normal. Women who did report the crime were viewed as being the actually perpetrators and the assault was actually their fault because they were unable to defend themselves. Domestic abuse during the 1950s was not considered as a crime but as a family matter, and law enforcement would not get involved. Since women were unable to defend themselves from abuse and assaults during the 1950s, the excuse that it was the woman’s fault was an excuse that was popularly used.
Renzetti, C. (1999). The challenge to Feminism posed by Women’s use of violence in intimate relationships.
Intimate partner violence is still a common issue that affects women from all walks of life. It is an issue that is too often ignored until the violence has become deadly. In the book “Women: Images and Realities a Multicultural Anthology,” chapter seven entitled “Violence Against Women” includes pieces that cover the issue of intimate partner violence. In Michele McKeon’s piece “Understanding Intimate Partner Violence” she states that “In 1994 the Violence Against Women Act was passed, revolutionizing programs, services, and funding for individuals affected by intimate partner violence and their families” (McKeon 497). Yet the revolutionized programs, which McKeon speaks of, haven’t changed the fact that the violence continues and in my opinion, it is not enough to just deal with the aftermath of the violence, the prevention of intimate partner violence is something that society needs to address. In addition, McKeon also states “The Center for Disease Control and Prevention found that 1,181 women were murdered by their intimate partners in 2005; two million women experience injurie...
DISCUSS THE EXTENT OF PROTECTION FOR WOMEN AGAINST MALE VIOLENCE BY THE STATE. For this essay I am going to look at Domestic Violence against women and what the State is doing to protect them. Domestic Violence is now a well-known global occurrence affecting not only women but also their children too. Violence against woman has been around since the dawn of time. We have all seen cartoon pictures of the caveman dragging his mate behind him by her hair. It was just something that men did. Woman had no protection against men especially if they were married to their attacker. For the first 75 years of the 20th century women were seen as meek and subservient to their men and were also owned by those men. Men had a social right to keep their women under control. Things began to change from the late 1960’s early 1970’s. As feminism became more popular the feelings that men owned their women began to subside. But this change in society did not so much to change the occurrence and violence of violence in the home. So what exactly is domestic violence? “ Domestic Violence is usually defined as physical, emotional, sexual and other abuse by someone (usually but not always a man) of a person (usually not always a woman) with whom they have or have had some form of intimate relationship such as marriage, in order to maintain power and control over that person. It may include threats to kill or harm the woman and/or her children or other family members” (Barron 1992) Lists of typical injuries sustained by victims include: § Bruising § Bleeding § Hair loss § Knife wounds § Scratches to body and face § Concussion § Broken/loss of teeth This list could go and on. Injuries do not have to include physical but also mental. The cause of domestic violence against women can never fully be documented. There is the Liberal approach that violence against women is a rare occurrence and that it is only a small number of men who will abuse. They blame social backgrounds that form a cycle of abuse. If the father used violence against the mother then the child will see it as normal. They also feel that to push a man as far as to commit an assault sexual frustration should also be taken into consideration. But the criticisms against this approach include the notion that not all men who come from a broken home go out and commit rape and systematic abuse. They see that the women have to...
Two courses that were critical in my intellectual development were the Sociology of Social Movements and the Dynamics of Domestic Violence. In the Sociology of Social Movements, I designed a research project, “Women, War, and Resistance”. In this piece I examined crucial issues surrounding wars on a global level, such as rape as a weapon of war, sexual trafficking, and various grassroots war-resistance groups formed by women on a local level. In addition, after taking the course on Dynamics of Domestic Violence, I had the opportunity of doing field work at a domestic violence shelter. For this independent study, I met with a professor of the women’s studies department on a weekly basis to discuss my experiences and to receive assistance in my research project: “The Effects of Domestic Violence on Adolescents.”
Dowd states in his article, “The Battered Woman Defense” It’s History and Future, that essential to the existence of domestic violence is the denial of the equality of women in cultures that perceived this denial as both acceptable and lawful.”(1) In Roman times a husband was permitted to use reasonable physical force, including blackening her eyes or breaking her nose, in disciplining his wife. (Dowd) Today, many men still continue to use this type of physical force to control their woman even though equality should exist between the two. Many women are in abusive situations and at times feel they are trapped in their own body. A man raping his wife has only been considered illegal for roughly the last fifteen years and that’s only in a few states. Other states require evidence or other types of pro...
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.
As professional athletes remind us on a weekly basis, domestic violence is a social problem which continues to plague the nation. Through stricter law enforcement, improved hospital reporting techniques, and nationwide education and counseling, this problem can be reduced. Domestic violence has many different names such as, family violence, battering, wife beating, and domestic abuse. All these terms refer to the same thing, abuse by marital, common law, or a dating partner in an intimate relationship. Domestic violence is not limited to physical beating. It is any behavior that is intended to overpower and control another human being through the use of humiliation, fear, and physical or verbal assault. Domestic violence is a very important issue in today’s society because it has such a profound negative affect on the abused, mentally and physically. Verbal abuse can be just as damaging as physical abuse. Verbal abuse is words that attack or injure an individual’s self-image, which eventually shatters one’s self-esteem. In this paper, I will discuss the many kinds of abuses against women, the reasons why women stay in these relationships, and possible solutions to diminish or reduce the problems of domestic violence.
Domestic violence is skyrocketing in our society. In the U.S., as many as 1.5 million women and 850,000 men were physically assaulted by their intimate partner last year, and numerous children abused by their parents. These sad criminal acts will continue to grow in our society, unless our community takes action to stop these crimes.