Chapter 14 - Family violence

Summary:

This chapter introduces us to most commonly observed problems in family settings. The first topic that is covered is intimate partner violence (IPV), a problem reported by 27 % of women and 16 % of men. IPV can be observed as physical abuse, sexual abuse, and emotional abuse, although CDC categorizes threats of abuse as a separate category. IPV usually starts with emotional abuse, later escalates to physical and sexual abuse.

Majority of IPV cases are inflicted towards women, but the number of male victims is not that little either. There are about 1200 reported deaths for women and 330 for men due to

Batterers come from all age groups and social strata but still there are some characteristics of abusive households. Women are more likely to be abused and men are more likely to commit familicide, and these men are called family annihilators. Age is another important factor because younger people are more likely to experience IPV. Among all racial and ethnic groups women experience more IPV than men but mixed-race and Native American women report the highest numbers whereas asian women report lowest. Last, lower socioeconomic level citizens report more IPV, however, higher strata are not immune to IPV. IPV. In addition, women report more depression and related conditions as a result.

Sexual abuse is estimated to happen in 25% of marriages, though it is hard to prove it. In addition, perpetrators may use threats to leave or cheat instead of physically harming the victim or the victim may believe its his/her duty to cooperate.

The cycle of abuse is well-characterized. It starts with a tension-building phase, proceeds to the battering incident, and continues into the honeymoon phase. Although there is a never ending cycle that becomes more intense over time many people wonder why abused women stay in these relationships. One reason is learned helplessness, which results in reduced self-value and low-esteem of the battered. Also, some women hope that one day their abuser will magically change. Some are bound to stay in the relationship to avoid homelessness of poverty. Some women are ashamed of the abuse or don't want to be known for what happened to them, whereas some others blame themselves for the abuse. And some others are just too scared for their lives and simply comply. With a combination of these factors, the women became prisoners in their own homes and leaving the abuser becomes harder.

There are also women perpetrators and reciprocal abuse. No matter what is the direction of abuse, it is debilitating and spills over to the children.

Child maltreatment comes in many forms. In addition to physical, sexual, and emotional abuse, children may also be neglected, which is the most common type of child maltreatment. It is estimated that millions of children are neglected or abused on a daily basis. Most of the children are maltreated by their parents and more than half by their mothers. Some of the abuses result in fatalities, especially prone are infants of young drop-out mothers. Sexual abuse towards children is perpetrated mostly by family members rather than strangers. The abuser is usually a male who is self-centered and sees people around him as property. Substance abuse, poverty, partner abuse, divorce, and stress. Whatever the reason, child abuse leaves deep scars in children emotionally.

In addition to IPV and child maltreatment, there is another common within-family problem known as sibling abuse. The habitual sibling conflicts can damage the relationship between sibling and affect their relationship for the rest of their lives. More sadly, there are also cases of sexual abuse. Parents need to discourage sibling rivalries to avoid teaching the message that it is okay to solve problems through violence. Similarly, parents need to try to listen to and understand claims of their kids to avoid siblings problems. In addition, to sibling problems there are also adolescent abuse in some households. Also, elderly abuse is a major problem. Most elderly is abused by the hands of their own children. Moreover, there is also violence between same-sex couples.

There are several theories trying to explain why family abuse happens. According to male dominance theory, aggression toward women and children occur in patriarchal settings. According to social learning theory, perpetrators learn abuse by observing others. According to resource theory, perpetrators have more resources thus more power. According to exchange theory, both the perpetrator and the victim have certain benefits from the relationship that outweighs the costs. Ecological systems theory studies the relationship between the abuse and the environmental factors.

In addition to family violence, there are other family problems. These are substance abuse, depression, suicide, and eating disorders. People to be educated about these conditions and family violence in order to decrease the prevalence of these problems in our society.

Interesting findings:

I thought the chapter was very-informative about many aspects of abuse and other family problems. It was interesting that native American and interracial women are more likely to be abused. Also, I was surprised that so many children are neglected and abused on a daily basis. And lastly, I found the theories of abuse very interesting.

Discussion:

As indicated in this chapter, some people believe that emotional abuse is less severe than the physical or sexual abuse. Do you agree or disagree? Similarly, some people claim that there is no such thing as a sexual abuse in a marriage and partners are supposed to compromise (even sexually), what do you think?

Eser