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Domestic violence

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? .

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Domestic violence

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  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. Special characteristics of families as a locus of violence • Privacy • Power differentials • Patriarchy • Parents vs. children • Strength • Issues of definition: what constitutes violence? the role of intimidation Sociology 1201

  3. 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

  4. Related issues of prevalence • Are there abused men? In comparable survey, 8% of men reported physical assaults. • 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 Sociology 1201

  5. 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

  6. 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

  7. “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

  8. 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

  9. Sociology 1201

  10. 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

  11. 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” • Duluth News Tribune, Sept 19, 2005: “Reforming the System” Sociology 1201

  12. 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

  13. 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

  14. 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

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