Domestic violence is an issue that affects people of any race, age, gender, and sexual orientations. It is now becoming more known that this is indeed a crime that happens more often than we’d like to think. This violence of male-on-female, female-on-male, and same sex relationships is important to understand, mainly because there are long term effects on a victim’s mental health, emotional health, and even physical health. This not only affects the victim, but the batterer as well. And when it comes to Domestic Violence, there is a debate as to whether or not substance abuse plays a role in reinforcing the chance that someone will be a batterer. First we will look at what domestic violence is, with in-depth details, and facts on domestic …show more content…
The behavior may seem bizarre, or even unpredictable. When you’re with someone who is abusive, you may think to yourself how this person who was so nice and affectionate one day, could lay their hand on you and hit you. “This pattern of behavior is called the Cycle of Abuse. There are three distinct phases to the Cycle.” (Cory) The first phase is called the Honeymoon Phase, which is considered to be an intense stage full of emotions, love, and longing for one another. This stage could last for a few weeks, or a few months, or even a few years. However long it takes for the relationship to …show more content…
“This phase of the cycle will vary in length. Some abusive men may be sullen, silent, unpredictable, or moody for a period of minutes, hours, weeks, or months, leading to unbearable tension in the relationship.” (Cory) As the cycle continues, the behavior of your partner may escalate, and the victim, or soon to be victim, may feel like they are walking on eggshells. The last stage of the cycle is called the explosion. “The first few incidents of the explosion phase may not feel like a ‘big deal’ to you because it seems like a misunderstanding, disagreement, or argument.” (Cory) After an explosion phase, the abusive partner usually turns back to the Honeymoon phase, and could shower their partner with gifts, love, and affection. The negative behavior stops, and then the abuser may apologize profusely. If the apologies are accepted, then the cycle begins
Domestic Violence is a widely recognized issue here in the United States. Though many people are familiar with domestic violence, there are still many facts that people do not understand. Abuse is not just physical, it is mental, emotional, verbal, sexual and financial. Many victims of physical abuse are also fall victim to these abuse tactics as well. An abusive partner often uses verbal, mental, emotional, and financial abuse to break their partner so to speak. It is through this type of abuse the victim often feels as though they are not adequately meeting their partner’s needs.
... own childhood; no matter it are security and nurturing or abandonment and neglect, guidance and respect, or abuse and disdain. Not only the man becomes psychologically or physically abusive, but he is also aggressive towards his partner whenever he feels that his experience of rejection and consecutive disruption cannot be soothed by the defence that he mounted. Those people with a history of neglect or abuse, they usually not able to have confident in their partners whereby they perceive their partners as enemies instead of allies. These abusive relationships are often repeatable becoming more intense as if the man is riding on a rollercoaster ride. The rejection-abusive cycle is considered complete when the man felt he is not appreciated as his unrealistic expectation on relationships is not fulfilled - closeness and intimacy, in other words, further rejection.
Domestic violence has been plaguing our society for years. There are many abusive relationships, and the only question to ask is: why? The main answer is control. The controlling characteristic that males attribute to their masculinity is the cause to these abusive relationships. When males don’t have control they feel their masculinity is threatened and they need to do something about it. This doesn’t occur in just their relationships, but rather every facet of life. Men are constantly in a struggle for power and control whether it is at work, home, during sports, or in a relationship, this remains true. So the only way for them to get this power is for them to be “men”; tough, strong, masculine, ones that demand and take power. Where is this thirst for control coming from? Is it the natural structure of a man or is it a social construct? The answer is that it’s the social construction of a patriarchy that results in this thirst for control due to fear. The fear is being emasculated, whether it is by gayness, or femininity. Men use the fear created from domestic violence to gain control, but yet women do have some control in a relationship it is this vague boundary of how much control that leads to domestic violence.
Historically, legal and social traditions in the United States have permitted and supported the abuse of women and children by the male head of household. This historical phenomenon helps explain why women are the primary victims of domestic violence. In this country, civil rights and legal responsibilities were first granted to free, property-owning men. Wives, children, and slaves were considered "chattel" or personal property of male citizens who were held responsible for their public behavior.
“Domestic violence is an emotional, physical, psychological, or sexual abuse perpetrated against a person by a person's spouse, former spouse, partner, former partner or by the other parent of a minor child” (McCue 2). While it is these things, the violence is also considered a pattern of demeanor used to establish power and control over another person with whom an intimate relationship is or has been shared through fear and intimidation (“Domestic Violence Sourcebook” 9). It has many names, including spouse abuse, domestic abuse, domestic assault, battering, partner abuse, marital strife, marital dispute, wife-beating, marital discord, woman abuse, dysfunctional relationship, intimate fighting, mate beating, and so on (2). Donna Shalala, Secretary of Health and Human Accommodations, believes that domestic violence is “terrorism in the home” (2). This type of abuse involves threats, harm, injury, harassment, control, terrorism, or damage to living beings/property (2). It isn't only in relationships with spouses, it also occurs within family, elderly, and children (9).
Psychological abuse is a heterogeneous construct that includes a number of different abusive partner behaviors. Psychological abuse occurs repeatedly over an extended period of
Domestic violence or intimate partner violence, is a pattern of threatening or controlling behavior that involves violence or other abuse. Domestic violence can be between a heterosexual or homosexual couple. Children who see or hear domestic violence from parents experience negative outcomes because it affects children negatively both mentally and physically. Domestic violence is already bad enough, but when children are exposed, it affects their growth. It traumatizes them and puts them in danger. I think that educating people over the signs of domestic violence is important. Domestic Violence is a very big problem. 5 million children witness some type of domestic violence. 40 million adult Americans grew up with some type of domestic violence
Domestic violence is not just a problem in some households; it is also a problem in the celebrity world. Celebrities have been having problems of their own with abuse. Domestic violence is increasing due to celebrities and athletes. It is clear that women are presented as half-human and objectified in certain cases (Delvecchio 1). By using females to advertise products in the media it sends the wrong message that women are just sex symbols (Delvecchio 1). This means that not only are celebrities influencing domestic violence, the media is influencing the abuse of women in their own way.
“Every 9 seconds in the US a woman is assaulted or beaten” (American Bar). Just think about how many women have been beaten or coerced into non-pleasurable acts in just one day, when every nine seconds in the United States, some women is being abused. Now, globally, think about how many more people are being domestically abused and even killed.
Domestic violence is not just fighting, hitting or an occasional argument. It’s a chronic abuse of power. The abuser of domestic violence, controls and tortures the victim of threats, intimidation, and physical violence. Domestic violence is one of the leading causes of violence in America. The abusers are not only men, women can be abusers as well. Women make up the vast majority of domestic violence. According to the American Bar Association (ABA), 90-95% of domestic violence victims are females and 70% of intimidating homicides are females. Domestic violence is a serious crime and everyone needs to be aware of its effects. This essay presents and explains the evidence supporting the major risk factors for intimate partner homicides.
The popular press article I chose is titled How to Spot an Abuser Before It’s too late by Laura Riley. Laura Riley gives nines warning signs towards if a person is in a relationship with an abusive person. In her years of research she has found that most abusers do not use words to deal with problems. They tend to lash out by hitting someone or something. She explains this as infantile behavior. Another sign she gives is if a person is very possessive. This is how abusers obtain control of their partner by pushing them away from friends and family and normal everyday activities. Another sign is jealousy. Abusers tend to be very insecure so they get overly jealous when their partner talks to the opposite sex. She also has analyzed that if your partner reiterates that you’re the only one for them. The abuser has you on a very high pedestal, so once you disappoint them it gives them all the more reason for them to lash out on you. Another sign is if th...
What starts as a loving relationship can soon develop into an abusive one. Although the symptoms may seem small it’s important to be aware of them.
“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.
A woman may also believe that she deserved the abuse. The "honeymoon" stage in the cycle of abuse gives the woman hope that he will change.
There’s just so many ways the abuse can start, for one it can be physically abusing the partner by striking, lashing out, and or smacking, and there may be sexual abuse, or even emotional or verbal abuse. There’s no telling which could be first. How would someone know if there’s some sort of abuse going on? Well there are many signs that a person is in an abusive relationship. The abuser wants as much control over the victim as possible; the abuser usually needs to be attached to the victim and the victim cannot or may not do anything without the abuser.