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Sociological theories of domestic violence
Sociological theories of domestic violence
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Introduction The phone calls usually come late at night, near the end of my shift. Barley audible, a voice packed with emotion asks, "Is there room in the shelter," she is in danger and needs help. "Have you called the police," I know before she can answer, she has not. They never want to call the police; there is usually a reason, fear, children, or time. "[A]s many as 50 percent of homeless women and children are fleeing domestic violence,"(UNITED STATES v. MORRISON 2000). This assignment offers me the opportunity to understand the laws protecting battered persons and children and gives me the ability to offer better, more sound advice. I suspected domestic violence was a wide spread problem, when I read the following statistics I was shocked. "Three out of four American women will be victims of violent crimes sometime during their life,"(UNITED STATES v. MORRISON 2000). As a young girl in the fifties the attitude of my community was, "what went on in someone else's home was no ones business." Many thought, that if the woman just kept her mouth shut, did the right thing, her man would not resort to such extremes of temper. "Violence is the leading cause of injuries to women ages 15 to 44 ...."(UNITED STATES v. MORRISON 2000). The violent actions making this law necessary are not new, but the change in attitude and laws for women's rights are and so the legislation has become honed to fit the need for protection within the modern family. As a young woman in the seventies, I had the privilege of watching Betty Friedan, established the National Organization for Women (NOW) and reading Gloria Steinem's articles, and watching the interviews that brought awareness to a nation, who at that time, was seeking wrongs to be r... ... middle of paper ... ...States court of appeals for the tenth circuit. (2009). Supreme Court Cases: The Twenty-first Century (2000 - Present), 1-4. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.2-23-2011.https://login.cyrano.ucmo.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=19084840&site=ehost-live United States v. Morrison, Certiorari to the United States court of appeals for the fourth circuit. 99-5 Argued: January 11, 2000 --- Decided: May 15, 2000 Retrieved from http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/search/display.html?terms=violence%20women&url=/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0529_0598_ZD.html United States v. Ward.U.S. Court of Appeals, Third Circuit. Fed Report. 1997 Nov 13;131:335-43. PMID: 11648635 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11648635 Violence Against Women Act of 1994, §40302, 108 Stat. 1941-1942.
Et Al. United States Court of Appeals Eleventh Circuit. N.d. Legal Information Institute. Cornell University, n.d. Web. 10 May 2014.
Hall, Kermit L, eds. The Oxford guide to United States Supreme Court decisions New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.
These documents touch on important topics that a lot of Americans have a hard time understanding. Both The Civil Rights movement and Feminist Movement connect to mainstream liberalism, share parallel goals or differences, progressed in the 1970s, and still have an influence on American’s views to this day. Equal rights among all, is still something America is struggling with after about 50 years. There is no denying though, that the movements during the 60’s and 70’s molded the lives of future generations in the way that American’s view each other as human beings.
Remy, Richard C., Gary E. Clayton, and John J. Patrick. "Supreme Court Cases." Civics Today. Columbus, Ohio: Glencoe, 2008. 796. Print.
Shaw, Susan M., and Janet Lee. Women's voices, feminist visions: classic and contemporary readings. 4th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010. Print.
Like child abuse, it affects every American by impacting those we love the most. Awareness for domestic violence victims has evolved since the beginning of our country. In earlier times, it was a private matter, and took place “behind closed doors”. They helped them past their sufferings and place them back into mainstream culture. (Karmen, 2015) Claims one movement that assisted with the process is the Feminist Movement. This widespread movement took place during the 1970’s, and represented the “beaten women”. It helped them stand up for themselves during their distraught times. Domestic tranquility ensures women their safety at home under their husbands’ protection. The Feminist’s Movement questioned domestic tranquility and urged women to stand up for themselves (Karmen, 2015). They discovered the “silent crisis” that lived inside so many women at the time. The crisis was that the men they married gave into the times of “behind closed doors” and “look the other way”. Those times would stand no more, due to the feminist’s movement and widespread awareness. Laws and legislation have changed since the rediscovery of the victims of domestic violence. One example is restraining orders. Restraining orders set up a level of protection for the women from the male offenders. Another example of legislation is The Violence Against Women Act. Promulgated in 1994 the act mandates that all states enforce protective orders issued in a
But when the “Women’s Movement,” is referred to, one would most likely think about the strides taken during the 1960’s for equal treatment of women. The sixties started off with a bang for women, as the Food and Drug Administration approved birth control pills, President John F. Kennedy established the President's Commission on the Status of Women and appointed Eleanor Roosevelt as chairwoman, and Betty Friedan published her famous and groundbreaking book, “The Feminine Mystique” (Imbornoni). The Women’s Movement of the 1960’s was a ground-breaking part of American history because along with African-Americans another minority group stood up for equality, women were finished with being complacent, and it changed women’s lives today.
Gloria Steinem, a renowned feminist activist and co-founder of the women’s rights publication Ms. Magazine, gives a commencement speech at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York, on May 31, 1970. Steinem’s speech “Living The Revolution” is delivered to the graduating class of Vassar College, founded in 1865 as a liberal arts college for women and then became coeducational a year before the speech was delivered in 1969. The intent of this speech is to inform the listeners and to shed light on the fact that women are not treated equally to their white male counterparts, though society has been convinced otherwise and to argue that it is crucial for all minorities, and even white males, to be relieved of their “stereotypical” duties in order for balance to exist. Steinem executes her speech’s purpose by dividing it up into four parts to explain the four different “myths” put against women while using a few rhetorical strategies and logical, ethical, and emotional appeals.
To ensure that women would have the same opportunities as men in jobs, education, and political participation, the National Organization for women was formed in 1966 (Foner 944). The sixties also marked the beginning of a public campaign to repeal state laws that banned abortion or left the decision to terminate a pregnancy to physicians instead of the woman (Foner 945). Although the sixties were a decade in which the United States became a more open, more tolerant, and a freer country, in some ways it became less of a thing. During the sixties, America intervened in other nations and efforts were made to stop the progress of the civil rights movement. Because of America’s foreign policy and Americans fighting against the civil rights movement, it is clear that the sixties in America were not purely a decade of openness, tolerance, and freedom in the United States.
Statistical evidence can be used to stress the seriousness of domestic violence and the importance of having women’s shelters dispersed throughout the nation. According to recent surveys, one in every three women will experience domestic violence at some time during her lifetime. Domestic violence is also the leading cause of injury to women, with the abuser usually being a member of her own family. Finally, up to ten million American children witness some type of domestic violence every year (Fantuzzo and Fusco, “Children’s Direct Exposure to Types of Domestic Violence Crime: A Population-based Investigation”). These statistics show that domestic violence is a reality and that the efforts of women’s shelters are not in vain.
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.
The focus of The Women’s Liberation Movement was idealized off The Civil Rights Movement; it was founded on the elimination of discriminary practices and sexist attitudes (Freeman, 1995). Although by the 1960s women were responsible for one-third of the work force, despite the propaganda surrounding the movement women were still urged to “go back home.” However the movement continued to burn on, and was redeveloping a new attitude by the 1970s. The movement was headed by a new generation that was younger and more educated in politics and social actions. These young women not only challenged the gender role expectations, but drove the feminist agenda that pursued to free women from oppression and male authority and redistribute power and social good among the sexes (Baumgardner and Richards, 2000).
“Domestic violence is a violent confrontation between family or household members involving physical harm, sexual assault, or fear of physical harm” (Stewart & Croudep, 1998-2012). In most places, domestic violence is looked at as one of the higher priorities when trying to stop crime. Domestic violence cases are thought to be influenced by the use of alcohol, drugs, stress or anger, but in reality, they are just learned behaviors by the batterer. These habits can be stopped as long as one seeks help (Stewart & Croudep, 1998-2012). For instance, a child is brought up in a household that is constantly involved in criminal acts.
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. First of all, the most important tool we have available against this type of crime are the authorities, which include the police department, hospital, and social workers. If they manage to work together as a team to make the whole process of protecting a victim more efficient, it will encourage victims to actually phone for help.
Domestic violence is a pattern of behavior in any relationship to maintain power and control over an intimate partner. Is domestic violence abuse? Abuse is physical, sexual, emotional, economic or psychological actions or threats of actions. Such as frightening, intimidation, terrorizing, manipulate, hurt, humiliate, blame, injuring or wounding someone. Domestic Violence affects millions of humans in the U.S. regardless of age, economic status, race, religion or education. Members of immigrant and populations are especially vulnerable. The law can help provide protection against this. There are some long term effects to domestic violence that have not begun to be fully documented. Weaken women who suffered from physical and mental problems as a result of domestic violence. Battering is the single major cause of injury to women, more significant that auto accidents, rapes, or muggings. The emotional and psychological abuses Force in to the minds of women by batterers are more costly to treat in the short-run than the physical injuries. Many physical injuries done to women seem to cause medical Conditions as the women grow older. Arthritis, hypertension and heart disease have been identified in battered women then directly caused or aggravated by domestic violence suffered early in their adult lives. From the one they feared most, their abuser the one who has to have control at all points in life doesn’t care about their spouse feelings or pe...