Examine the patterns of, and reasons for domestic violence in society
A definition of domestic violence is 'physical, psychological, sexual or financial violence that takes place within an intimate or family type relationship and forms a pattern of coercive and controlling behaviour. It may involve partners, ex-partners, household members or other relations' (Women's Aid Federation). a view held by many is that domestic violence is caused by a few "disturbed" individuals.
However, according to sociologists this can not be the case as it is far too widespread with studies showing that it accounts for 1/6 of all violent crimes (British Crime Survey 2007). These results may be an inaccurate representation of the rates of domestic violence as many women may victims may not have come forward to tell their story for privacy reasons or due to fear of peoples reactions or they may be embarrassed. Stephanie Yearnshire (1997) found that on average a woman suffers 35 assaults before making a report. It is a crime that is the least likely to be reported. This means that most likely these results should be higher but because of the intimate issues domestic violence triggers, many victims will not come forth. It is a controversial issue.
It follows sociological patterns too, for example although males can and do get abused the majority of people who are victims of domestic violence are women. Coleman (2007) found that women were more likely than men to have experiences 'intimate violence' across all 4 types of abuse- partner, family, sexual assault and stalking. Mirrlees-Black found that 99% of all incidents against women are committed by men; more disturbingly she found that one in four women have been abused by a partner at some point in their life; and one in eight women repeatedly so. Dobash and Dobash (1979) found that based on police and court records and interviews with women in women’s refugees in Scotland, that violence can be triggered by what a man may hear as a challenge to authority, such as being asked why they were late for a
However, according to sociologists this can not be the case as it is far too widespread with studies showing that it accounts for 1/6 of all violent crimes (British Crime Survey 2007). These results may be an inaccurate representation of the rates of domestic violence as many women may victims may not have come forward to tell their story for privacy reasons or due to fear of peoples reactions or they may be embarrassed. Stephanie Yearnshire (1997) found that on average a woman suffers 35 assaults before making a report. It is a crime that is the least likely to be reported. This means that most likely these results should be higher but because of the intimate issues domestic violence triggers, many victims will not come forth. It is a controversial issue.
It follows sociological patterns too, for example although males can and do get abused the majority of people who are victims of domestic violence are women. Coleman (2007) found that women were more likely than men to have experiences 'intimate violence' across all 4 types of abuse- partner, family, sexual assault and stalking. Mirrlees-Black found that 99% of all incidents against women are committed by men; more disturbingly she found that one in four women have been abused by a partner at some point in their life; and one in eight women repeatedly so. Dobash and Dobash (1979) found that based on police and court records and interviews with women in women’s refugees in Scotland, that violence can be triggered by what a man may hear as a challenge to authority, such as being asked why they were late for a