Domestic violence

1. Domestic violence • Dfn: Violence between family members or between men and women in intimate relationships • How common? My neighborhood • How many of you know someone who has been physically assaulted by someone in their family or someone who they have been dating? Sociology 1201

2. National Violence Against Women Survey (NIJ, CDC) N=8000 • % of women who reported having been physically assaulted by an intimate partner: 22% • Beat up: 9% • Choked, tried to drown: 6% • Kicked, bit: 6% • Hit with object: 5% • Threatened with gun: 4% • Stalked: 5% • Raped: 8% Sociology 1201

3. Related issues of prevalence • Are there abused men? In comparable survey, 8% of men reported physical assaults… in my view, intimidation the key. • Domestic violence does take place within gay and lesbian relationships, and is higher for men. • About ¼ of the kids in Unexpected Legacy had witnessed violence by fathers against mothers… these are mostly middle class, white families Sociology 1201

4. Institutional Features (selected from Gelles’ list) • Time at risk • Intensity of involvement: primary group • Right of influence • Age and sex differences • Ascribed roles • Privacy • Extensive knowledge of social biographies Sociology 1201

5. Conflict theory: sex • In most forms of violence, males predominate, and if we control for time spent with the children, this is also true for child abuse Anthropology: The more sex equality in a society, the less violence toward women. What about violence by Sociology 1201

6. Social structure: Social class • Gelles: “The risk of child abuse, wife abuse, and elder abuse is greatest among those how are poor, who are unemployed, and who hold low-prestige jobs.” • Stress and the resources to handle it successfully • Power in the home as a substitute for power in the workplace? Sociology 1201

7. Social structure: Age • Violence more common for those in the 15-35 age range (same as with street crimes) • These are also the prime years of family formation • For child abuse and elder abuse, an obvious connection with age. Sociology 1201

8. Social structure: Race/ethnicity • Minorities over-represented • G: “both the reality of greater risk of abuse and violence in these groups and the fact that abuse and violence in these groups are over-reported to official agencies. ” (I: opposite for whites) • This may be largely the result of more poverty and more persistent poverty Sociology 1201

9. Sociological theories: selected propositions from Gelles • Violent acts by violent persons may producted desired results (intimidation) • The more resources a person has, the less he or she will use force in an open manner. • Related to the first two propositions, the principle of costs and rewards helps to explain family violence. Sociology 1201

10. Why do victims stay? • Battered self-esteem and isolation • Intimidation/fear of more violence • Lack of resources • Role of police/prosecutors/family/community • Religious misinterpretations Sociology 1201

11. Feminist theory and battering • Gelles: “Feminist theory is becoming the dominant model for explaining violence toward women.” • Why might this be? • What does Gelles see as the main problem with this? Sociology 1201

12. How did battering emerge as a social problem? • Battered women’s movement, beginning in England in the early 1970s: Scream Softly… • In the U.S., early priority of NOW • First four shelters, including the one in Duluth, funded by legislature in 1977 • Duluth Domestic Abuse Intervention Project, beginning in early 1980 Sociology 1201

13. “The Duluth Model” • Cooperation among criminal justice, social welfare, and advocacy organizations • Arrest policy • 24 weeks of group counseling mandated for abusers as a condition of probation • Violence is recognized as a means of power and control Sociology 1201

14. Basic principles(selected) • The first priority of intervention should be to carry out policies and protocols which protect the victim from further harm and whenever possible, the burden of holding abusers accountable should rest with the community, not the victim. • The primary focus of intervention is on stopping the assailant's use of violence, not on fixing or ending the relationship. • In general, the court avoids prescribing a course of action for the victim, e.g., does not force a victim to testify by threatening jail, nor mandate treatment for the victim. • Policies and procedures should act as a general deterrent to battering in the community. • All interventions must account for the power imbalance between the assailant and the victim. Sociology 1201

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16. Duluth Domestic Abuse Intervention Project • Domestic Abuse Information Manual Sociology 1201

17. Violence against children • First publicized in the U.S. as the result of an article by pediatric radiologists in JAMA in 1962: “The Battered Child Syndrome” • Much more difficult to measure than battering of adults • 2001: 3 million reports of child abuse or neglect to state or local welfare agencies Sociology 1201

18. Control agencies • Laws requiring reporting of suspected abuse by teachers and medical personnel • Family court • Social welfare agencies • Minnesota Department of Human Services • Video: “Failure to Protect” Sociology 1201

19. Causes • Social organization of the family: intensity and isolation • Lack of knowledge about child dvlp • Adult caregivers who were themselves abused as children • Inequality • Power and control again • Cultural beliefs about punishment? Sociology 1201

20. Consequences • An estimated 30% of those who are abused become abusers, compared with 5% of the general population • Chesney-Lind, Wisconsin study: 79% of the girls in the juvenile justice system had been abused, physically or sexually Sociology 1201

21. Solutions • Parenting education • “Visiting nurse” programs (Elmira) • Parents Anonymous and the like • Removal of children by Child Protective Services • Legal changes to more quickly terminate parental rights • High quality childcare for mothers that are poor, young, single • Less poverty and racial injustice Sociology 1201