Summary:
The chances of being assaulted or killed by a family member are greater than being assaulted or killed by a stranger. Intimate partner violence (IPV) is violence that occurs between two people in a close relationship; intimate is used to refer to current and former spouses, couples who live together, and current or former boyfriends or girlfriends. 27% of women said that they have been victims of IPV, while 16% of men said they have been.
- physical abuse: occurs when a person hurts or tries to hurt a partner using physical force.
- sexual abuse: is forcing a partner to take part in a sex act when she of he doesn’t consent
- emotional abuse: threatening a partner or his or her loved ones or possessions are harming a partner’s sense of self-worth.
Reasons for abusive and violent households can be defined on both the macro and micro levels. Macro level factors include unemployment and poverty. Micro level factors would include drug abuse. For both men and women abusers tend to be young, poor, unemployed, cohabitating, or separated. Other factors that contribute to IPV are:
- gender: women are more likely tan men to experience IPV in their lifetime. Men are more likely to use a deadly weapon. [familycide: murdering one’s spouse, ex-spouse, children, or other relatives before attempting or committing suicide]
- age: younger people are more like to be the victim of and perpetrator of IPV
- race and ethnicity: across all racial background, women are more likely than men to be the victim of IP. Multiracial and American Indian women have the highest abuse rates.
- social class: domestic violence cuts across all social classes, but it most common in low-income families
Marital rape is an abusive at in which a man forces his wife to have unwanted sexual intercourse. Many instances of marital rape go unreported, but it is estimated that 25% of women have been raped by their spouses. Some times physical force is used, but more time than not husbands are able to coerce their wives into sexual intercourse.
When domestic violence happens, it normally happens in a cycle. Batter-woman syndrome is a condition that describes a woman who has experienced many years of physical abuse and feels incapable of leaving her partner. The cycle is as follows:
- the tension-building phase: when “minor battering incident occur, the women tries to reduce her partner’s anger by catering to him or staying out of his ways
- the acute battering incident: this is the when the “gentle and rational” spouse changes unpredictably and becomes unreasonable and brutal
- the calm (the honey-moon phase): this is when the spouse become “gentle and rational” again, begging for the woman’s forgiveness and promising that it will never happen again
After years of being abused, why do these women still stay in their abusive relationships? Some reason include:
- Negative self-concept and low self-esteem
- Belief that the abuser will change
- Economic hardship and homelessness
- Need for child support
- Shame or guilt
- Blaming themselves
- Fear
- The home becomes a prison
Men are not the only perpetrators in IPV, but intimate terrorism, it is mostly the male how uses multiple and escalating control to dominate his partner. When both the woman and the man are the perpetrators it is called situational couple violence; they are not seeking control, and the violence stems from a conflict the couple has.
Spouses are not the only victims of abuse in the family, child maltreatment is a range of behaviors that place a child at serious risk or result in serious harm (80% of people who abuse a child are parent, and more than half are mothers). These behaviors include:
- physical abuse: maltreatment that causes bodily injury to a child
- sexual abuse: maltreatment that involves the child in sexual activity to provide sexual gratification or financial benefit to the perpetrator (90% of all the offense are perpetrated by family members, or someone the child knows)
- neglect: failure by a parent or other caregiver to provide a child with life’s basic necessities
- emotional abuse: psychological maltreatment that conveys to children that they are inferior, worthless, unloved, or unwanted
| Reasons For Child Abuse |
| Substance Abuse |
| Stress |
| Poverty |
| Partner Abuse |
| Divorce |
| Combination of Factors |
Think about how many times you have, or have heard someone call their sibling a name. Abuse and violence can also be within the sibling relationship. There can be physical and sexual abuse between siblings, and there can also be emotional abuse, which includes:
-name calling and ridicule
-degradation
-intimidation
-torturing or killing a pet
-destroying personal possessions
Just like child are vulnerable to abuse, so are the elderly. The elderly are often abused by their own children (53%) and their spouses (19%) Elder mistreatment includes:
-physical abuse
-neglect
-financial exploitation
-psychological abuse
-deprivations of basic necessities
-isolation from friends and family
-not getting medications
| Reasons For Elder Abuse |
| Living Arrangements |
| Social Isolations |
| Alcohol Abuse |
| Impairment of the Caregiver or the Care Recipient |
| Dependency of the Older Person on Caregiver |
| Medical Costs and Financial Stress |
| Personality |
| Explaining Family Abuse And Violence | |
| Patriarchy or Male Dominance Theory | Maintains that men’s authority creates and condones domestic violence |
| Social Learning Theory | We learn by observing the behavior of others |
| Resource Theory | Men usually command greater financial, educational, and social resources than women do, so they have more power |
| Exchange Theory | 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 larger systems such as the economy, education, state agencies, and the community. |
| Using Several Theories | Researcher rarely rely on just one theory so they will use a combination of them |
There are other family health issues. They include:
-abuse of illegal drugs
-abuse of alcohol
-depression
-suicide
-overweight and obesity
-binge eating
-anorexia nervosa and bulimia
New Things:
I found it interesting that males take their own lives at nearly four times the rate of female and represent 79% of all U.S. suicides.
Discussion:
Does the class have an theories as to why males commit suicide more than women?
The definition of marital rape is an abusive at in which a man forces his wife to have unwanted sexual intercourse. Why is it that this definition only includes women as the victims? Isn’t it possible that a woman could force her husband into unwanted sexual intercourse?
My theory on why men commit suicide more than women is that women are more prone to think of other people when making their decisions. They think about how their loved ones and friends will react to hearing that they have committed suicide and they don't want to put them through that pain, so they do not kill themselves.
ReplyDeleteI have heard that males just tend to be more successful in committing suicide because of the methods that they use. Males are more likely to attempt suicide using more violent methods, such as using a gun or hanging oneself. Women may be more likely to use non-violent methods like overdosing on painkillers. The former method is more likely to cause instant fatality, not giving much time for a change of heart. On the other hand, womens' methods for suicide, such as pill swallowing, often leave a window for deciding that they don't want to die.
ReplyDelete-Ali Mosser
I feel that the definition of rape might only include a man forcing a woman because it is the most common form of rape. You might actually even be able to tie this to double standards that exist in our world. For instance, when a man is a womanizer, it is thought perfectly acceptable, whereas if a woman has sexual relations with many guys, she is viewed as a whore. Perhaps this concept can be applied to rape. Most men want sex all of the time and think about it fairly often, so it could be possible that if this holds true for a man, that since the man on some level wanted sex, it cannot be considered rape. Although I disagree with this idea personally, I do feel that it is simply how society views a man's sexual past compared to how society views a female's sexual past. It is completely possible for a woman to force a man into having sex, which I would consider it to be rape then. With this in mind, I feel that society might not want to look at this as rape because of the physical characteristics that are generally associated with each gender. For instance, men are supposed to be stronger than women; for a woman to force a man to have sex, she would need to be physically built to an equal or greater strength than the men. Yes, I realize that there is more than just the physical nature that can ensue rape, such as the verbal nature, but I feel that society does not view it as a major factor that tends to come into play during rape.
ReplyDelete