The Hammer M The Cycle Of Domestic Violence

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the definition of violence is the use of physical force so as to injure, abuse, damage, or destroy. When most people think of domestic abuse, they often focus on physical violence, but there is also emotional and sexual. The cycle of violence has four stages that continue to happen until someone or something breaks the cycle. The cycle can happen numerous times in an abusive relationship and each stage does not have a set amount of time it will last in a relationship. The first stage in the cycle of abuse is incident, which is when someone is abused. The first type of abuse, and the most common, is physical violence. According to Work and Family Researchers Network, under their page “Physical Violence”, it states that, “Physical violence is the intentional use of physical force with the potential for causing death, disabilities, injury or death.” Some examples of physical abuse include, but are not limited to, scratching; pushing; throwing; choking; burning; and the use of a weapon.

Abusers use fear, guilt, shame, and intimidation to wear a person down and keep the people close. In “The Hammer Man,” Manny is crazy and uses fear to scares the narrator into hiding from him in her house. Domestic violence and abuse do not discriminate, it happens among heterosexual and homosexual couples. It also occurs in all age ranges, ethnic backgrounds, and economic levels. Domestic violence often intensifies from verbal abuse and threats to physical abuse. Women are more commonly the victims, but men are also abused – more in the emotional and verbal