Domestic_Violence

Laura Chawla AS Sociology The patterns of and reasons for domestic violence in society. Domestic violence is violent or physical abuse towards your spouse or co-habitual partner; most cases of domestic violence recorded are reported as violence from men towards women. Domestic violence can be physical, psychological, financial or sexual abuse and forms a pattern of coercive and controlling behaviour. There are many views on domestic violence from many types of people, some feel that domestic violence is acceptable and that there are times when there is reason for domestic violence, whereas others believe that it is the “controlling behaviour of a few disturbed or sick individuals”. However there are sociologists that have challenged this view such as Catriona Mirlees-Black who did a survey in 1999 that showed that there are around 6.6 million domestic assaults a year which shows it cannot just be the behaviour of a few sick individuals. Other supporting proof is the British Crime Survey Some people believe that the effects of domestic violence are psychological rather than social as continued abuse could lead to long lasting psychological effects such as depression. However sociologists have challenged this view by saying that domestic violence follows particular social patterns rather than occurring randomly. Domestic violence is mainly men against women, and sociologists believe that this occurs when a man’s power has been questioned. Dobash and Dobash found that when a man’s authority is being challenged, they believe that marriage legitimates violence on women. Most official statistics on domestic violence lack validity. Most cases of domestic violence are not reported. Some women may think that their partner being violent to them i a one off or it is their own fault. Stephanie Yearnshire found that most women generally suffer 35 assaults before reporting them to the police. Inequality can also lead to domestic violence, some men feel that they are much more important than women and that women should obey and not challenge them in any way. Overall domestic violence has many different patterns but the reasons are mainly male authority being questioned.