Chapter 14

Summary:

The chapter, Family Abuse, Violence, and other health issues, begins with the discussion on intimate partner abuse and violence. Intimate partner violence (IPV) occurs between two people in a close relationship and can refer to a current and former spouse. Other terms that are used interchangeably include intimate partner violence and domestic violence. Some of the types of intimate partner violence include physical abuse, which occurs when a person hurts or tries to hurt a partner with the use of physical force; sexual abuse, which is forcing a partner to take part in a sex act when she or he doesn’t consent; and emotional abuse, which is the threatening of a partner or his or her loved ones or possessions or harming a partner’s sense of self-worth. This section of the chapter also discusses the prevalence and severity of intimate partner violence. It states that IPV is a leading cause of death for women ages 15 to 44, especially pregnant women. IPV also results in an estimated 1,200 deaths and 2 million injuries among women compared to 330 deaths and nearly 600,000 injuries among men. Some of the characteristics of abusive and violent households are the next topic of discussion in this section. Gender is a common factor and women, specifically are more likely than men to experience IPV over a lifetime. This also states that men are likely to commit familycide, which is the murdering of one’s spouse, ex-spouse, children, or other relatives before attempting suicide. Along with gender age was also a topic brought up stating that males and females ages 20-24 had the highest incidence of IPV and those age of 65 and over had the lowest. Race and ethnicity was also discussed along with social class. IPV is most common in low-income families. The next topic that this section of the chapter covers is marital rape. Marital rape, also sometimes referred to as spousal rape or wife rape, is an abusive act in which a man forces his wife to have unwanted sexual intercourse. There are an estimated 25 percent of women across the nation that have been raped by their spouses. The following section of this chapter is the cycle of domestic violence. In this section the battered-woman syndrome is heavily discussed. This is a condition that describes a woman who has experienced many years of physical abuse and feels incapable of leaving her partner. There are three main stages in this cycle, the first being the tension-building phase. When this occurs, the battered woman tries to reduce her partner’s anger by catering to him or staying out of his way. Phase two of this is the acute battering incident. Here, these women often deny their injuries and refuse to seek medical treatment. The final phase of this cycle is the calm (the “honeymoon phase”). During this, the victim has been hospitalized because of her physical injuries and the man brings her get well gifts allowing the cycle to start from the beginning. Considering the negatives to the abuse that many women experience, the next section discusses the reasons why these women stay. These include negative self-concept and low self-esteem, the belief that the abuser will change, economic hardship and homelessness, the need for child support, shame or guilt, blaming themselves, fear that the man will follow through with his threats, and the home becoming a prison and trap. Following the discussion of why men abuse women, is the discussion of women who abuse men. Within this section is the discussion how battered men feel less afraid to leave and feel less trapped in a situation then the majority of women.

Chapter 14 then continues to discuss child maltreatment. Child maltreatment includes a broad range of behaviors that place a child at serious risk or result in serious harm, including physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, and emotional abuse. This can also be used synonymously with child abuse. Physical abuse in this case refers to any bodily injury to a child, including beating with the hands or an object, scalding, and other sever physical punishments. Sexual abuse is anything that involves the child in sexual activity to provide sexual gratification or financial benefit to the perpetrator. Neglect is any failure by a parent or other caregiver to provide a child with the basic necessities. This also includes medical neglect, which occurs when the caregiver doesn’t give the appropriate health care that will ensure the child’s healthy development. Two other types of neglect discussed are stimulation neglect, which is the lack of cuddling and talking to their babies, and language neglect, which occurs when the child is discouraged in the development of his/her communication skills. Emotional abuse is also sometimes referred to as psychological maltreatment, which conveys to children that they are inferior, worthless, unloved, or unwanted. Some of the characteristics of child maltreatment and the prevalence of it is also discussed in this section of the chapter. The most common form of abuse is neglect, but a child is often a victim to more than one type. Girls are slightly more likely than boys to be neglected, but it is only 52 percent compared to 48 percent, respectively. As for the perpetrators of these acts, the majority are mothers. Homicide is also the leading cause of death among infants, and about 70 percent of child deaths are caused by one or both of the child’s parents. This part of the chapter also discusses sexual abuse and incest, and why adults abuse their children. The most common reasons for why adults abuse children are substance abuse, stress, poverty, partner abuse, divorce, and simply a combination of factors. Concluding this part of the chapter is a discussion on how abuse affects children. Children from violent families tend to be more aggressive and have an increased likelihood of being arrested as a juvenile.

The next section in this chapter is hidden victims: siblings and adolescents. Sibling abuse involves both physical and emotional abuse. These include things such as name calling and ridicule, degradation, intimidation, torturing or killing a pet, and destroying personal possessions. Also in this section was a statistic about 10 percent of all murders in a family as begin siblicides, which is a killing of a brother or a sister. As a total, these account for 2 percent of all murders across the nation. Sexual abuse also occurs between siblings and is rarely an isolated incident. Adolescent abuse is also discussed. This part of the chapter discusses how during their teen years, parents become more aggressive and verbally and physically abusive to their children. This can lead to some teenagers striking back physically and verbally, and others running away from home, using drugs and alcohol, and becoming involved in prostitution or pornography.

Switching from generations, Chapter 14 continues with discussing elder abuse and neglect. Here, the term sandwich generation is used and describes those in their late 40s to early 60s. These people are the ones who care for not only their own children, but their aging parents too. This section begins by defining elder abuse, or otherwise known as elder mistreatment. Elder abuse ranges from physical abuse, negligence, financial exploitation, psychological abuse, deprivation of basic necessities, isolations from friends and family, to even not administering the needed medicines. The most common victims are people age 65 or older. About 77 percent of the elder abuse victims are white, but are also high in African Americans, Latinos, American Indians, and Asian Americans. The most common of abusers are adult children. Some of the factors that play into the abuse include living arrangements, social isolation, alcohol abuse, impairment of the caregiver or the care recipient, dependency of the older person on the caregiver, medical costs and financial stress, and personality.

Chapter 14 then continues to discuss violence among same-sex couples and racial ethnic groups, and eventually explains family abuse and violence. This part of the chapter includes many theories. The first theory discussed is the patriarchy or male dominance theory. This maintains that the men’s authority creates and condones domestic violence. It maintains that as long as cultural values encourage men to be controlling and dominant, that abusive behavior will continue. The social Learning theory was also discussed. According to this theory we learn that by observing the behavior of others, we learn what is acceptable in society. Resource theory is the next theory discussed in this chapter. In this, men usually command greater financial, educational, and social resources than women do, so they automatically have more power. The next theory discussed is the exchange theory, which occurs when both assailants and victims tolerate or engage in violent behavior because they believe that the benefits outweigh the costs. Ecological systems theory explains domestic violence by analyzing the relationships between individuals and the larger systems such as the economy, education, state agencies, and the community.

The next section discussed in this chapter was about other family health issues. Substance abuse, the overindulgence in and dependence on a drug or other chemical that are detrimental to an individual’s physical and mental health or to the welfare of others, is the first to be discussed. Under this topic is illegal drugs and alcohol. The two types of alcohol consumption, which this part of the chapter focused on, were binge drinking and heavy drinking. Here, binge drinking was defined as having five or more drinks on the same occasion at least 1 day in the past 30 days, and heavy drinking was defined as binge drinking on at least 5 days in the past 30 days. Other issues of health that were discussed were depression and suicide. Depression is the mental disorder characterized by pervasive sadness and other negative emotions that interfere with the ability to work, study, sleep, eat, and enjoy experiences that were formerly pleasurable. Depression may also lead to suicide, which is when one takes his/her own life. Eating disorders were also discussed. Overweight and obesity, binge eating, and anorexia nervosa and bulimia were the primary focuses. Binge eating is the consumption of an unusually large amount of food and feeling that the eating is out of control. This is actually the most common eating disorder in the United States and affects about 4 percent of women and 2 percent of men. Anorexia, however, is a dangerous eating disorder that is characterized by a fear of obesity, the conviction that one is fat, significant weight loss, and refusal to maintain weight within normal age and height limits. Bulimia is a cyclical pattern of eating binges followed by self-induced vomiting, fasting, excessive exercise, or the use of diuretics or laxatives. Most of these eating disorders happen before the age of 20.

As the chapter draws to a conclusion, it discusses the combating family abuse and violence. Here, this simply talks about ways to raise awareness about these things, ways to stop it and prevent it from occurring and ways to intervene in such situations.

What was interesting/what did I learn:

I found it interesting that the first two months of an infant’s life are usually the most deadly. I understand that as a first time mother learning how to be parent and dealing with the changing lifestyle is challenging, but I never would have thought a child’s death to be an intended death. Also within this section it was interesting to find out that people are convinced that the percentage of child deaths as a result from abuse and neglect are not reported. Although this is interesting, it does seem to make sense. If a mother reports the child’s death as her fault she is the one who pays the consequences, whereas if a child dies because of a “freak accident,” no one is to be blamed and no one can experience any repercussions.

Question:

Do you think if you were to experience marital rape in your relationship that you would report it? Based on the definition it can be very broad and if you experienced it and were not harmed in any physical or emotional manner would you feel the need to notify authorities, which probably would not do anything about it?