Intimate Partner Violence
Chalaaya Downing
African American Families
Chapter 5- Summary Paper (pgs 102-122)
Intimate Partner Violence
In chapter 5 in the book “African American Families” written by Angela Hattery and Earl Smith, the authors examined different ways in which intimate partner violence is shaped by other social problems, such as employment, incarceration and health. Hattery and Smith went as far as, interviewing different couples, and examining the similarities and differences between race and ethnicity. In this chapter, Hattery and Smith broke down the different factors and triggers that cause intimate partner violence to occur. The authors make it very clear that there is no specific description of batterer; meaning that, a batterer can be male or female and not just one particular race. According to Hattery and Smith, men who were victims of psychical child abuse are twice as likely to batterer in adulthood, and if intimate partner violence took place in a household, most likely the child will develop that bad habit and repeat what they see. Men feel that a part of their masculinity traits is to be the breadwinners, and the head of the household. Therefore, when they feel that their masculinity is being threatened, they react in a way such as being abusive to their significant other because it makes them feel “in control” and having “power.”
Financial success and sexual prowess determines man masculinity. Society views men that has a lot of money, can provide for his family successfully, and has a lot of sex partners as masculine. If a man lacks these particular factors, he would think his masculinity is being threatened. The ideal man is represented through television, where African American men are portrayed to be tough, strong and a “player” and athletes such as Wilt Chamberlain who is looked at as masculine all because he has money and more importantly, he slept with almost 20,000 different women. Therefore, the young men and women who watches television and
African American Families
Chapter 5- Summary Paper (pgs 102-122)
Intimate Partner Violence
In chapter 5 in the book “African American Families” written by Angela Hattery and Earl Smith, the authors examined different ways in which intimate partner violence is shaped by other social problems, such as employment, incarceration and health. Hattery and Smith went as far as, interviewing different couples, and examining the similarities and differences between race and ethnicity. In this chapter, Hattery and Smith broke down the different factors and triggers that cause intimate partner violence to occur. The authors make it very clear that there is no specific description of batterer; meaning that, a batterer can be male or female and not just one particular race. According to Hattery and Smith, men who were victims of psychical child abuse are twice as likely to batterer in adulthood, and if intimate partner violence took place in a household, most likely the child will develop that bad habit and repeat what they see. Men feel that a part of their masculinity traits is to be the breadwinners, and the head of the household. Therefore, when they feel that their masculinity is being threatened, they react in a way such as being abusive to their significant other because it makes them feel “in control” and having “power.”
Financial success and sexual prowess determines man masculinity. Society views men that has a lot of money, can provide for his family successfully, and has a lot of sex partners as masculine. If a man lacks these particular factors, he would think his masculinity is being threatened. The ideal man is represented through television, where African American men are portrayed to be tough, strong and a “player” and athletes such as Wilt Chamberlain who is looked at as masculine all because he has money and more importantly, he slept with almost 20,000 different women. Therefore, the young men and women who watches television and