McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved Chapter Twelve l Domestic Violence

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved 12-2 Domestic Violence in Historical Perspective l Domestic violence = violent acts between family members or between women and men in intimate or dating relationships

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved 12-3 Early History l Government should enforce moral behavior (Puritans) l Moral behavior excluded wife beating or other violent acts by husbands l Intervention supported when seen as shoring up of families l Not supported when seen as undermining men’s authority over families

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved 12-4 l First law against wife beating enacted in 1641 in Massachusetts l Enforcement of this unclear - actual number charged was small Early History

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved 12-5 l The Political Model of Domestic Violence l Power and authority of men over women l Social structure supported men’s control over women through law and social custom l “Rule of Thumb” – man could beat his wife with stick no thicker than his thumb l Deeply rooted in laws and customs l End only with political action by women’s groups and their allies The Twentieth Century

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved 12-6 The Twentieth Century l Medical Model l Domestic violence seen as illness and source of injury l Both victim and abuser in need of help l First 20 years of 20th century saw establishment of domestic relations courts l No real movement until 1962 l “Battered Children’s Syndrome” l By 1967 all states enacted reporting suspected cases of child abuse

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved 12-7 l No attention to wife beating until mid 1970s l Political pressure by Feminist movement l Rape became an issue l Formation of services for rape victims l Feminist movement’s fundamental goal was to remove social supports of male violence The Twentieth Century

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved 12-8 l By end of 1970s almost every state had enacted laws to protect women from violence l In 1980, Congress proposed legislation to provide support for victims of domestic violence l Modest funding through compromise l Reagan closed down newly founded Federal Office of Domestic Violence l Debate over how the government should help continues today The Twentieth Century

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved 12-9 What Do We Know? l Cannot tell if it has increased or decreased because there is no historical tracking device l Some surveys gathered information about violence between adults in intimate partnerships

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved What is Domestic Violence? l Definition difficult - no consensus between public or academic researchers l Medical model  injury in physical abuse; sexual penetration in sexual abuse l Broken bones, cuts, and bruises l Political perspective l Broader definition  minor injuries or threat of serious injury l Includes attempts at coercion through threats or slapping l Including all levels of violence in definition works toward ending men’s domination over women through use or threat of physical force

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved Intimate Partner Violence l Amount of violence that has occurred over time may not have changed, but the attention we have paid to it has

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved Intimate Partner Violence l Estimates are that 20% to 25% of the women in the United States have been physically abused by an male intimate at least once l 1996 survey showed that 22% of women reported an act of violence had occurred at least once by an intimate partner l Women reported higher rates of intimate partner violence l National Crime Victimization survey of 1999 supports this finding l Report also substantiated that rape occurs between intimate partners

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McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved 12-14

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved Intimate Partner Violence l Marital status l Married women have 57% less risk of experiencing violence than cohabitating women l Social Class l Higher rates of domestic violence among low- income couples l Goode suggested that men with more money and education have other ways to control behavior of wives than force

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved Intimate Partner Violence l Sexual Assault l More severely violent marriages more likely to include sexual assault, “marital rape” l Sexual assault combined with physical force or threat of it

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved Child Abuse l Child abuse = serious physical harm (trauma, sexual abuse with injury, or willful malnutrition) of a child by an adult, with intent to injure

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved Prevalence l Neglect (54%) l Physical (23%) l Sexual (12%) l Medical Neglect (6%) l Emotional (6%)

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved 12-19

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved Child Abuse l More likely in: l Low-income families l 9 times more likely to be involved in physical or educational neglect l 3-5 times more likely to be involved in physical or sexual abuse l Single-parent families l Families where father did not have a full-time job

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved Child Abuse l Sexual Abuse and its Consequences l Social surveys report higher prevalence than state child protection officials’ reports l 17% of women and 12% of men said they were touched sexually before puberty

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved Child Abuse l Rising Abuse or Reports? l 2.8 million cases reported in 1998 l Slightly over 1 million reports in 1980 l 150,000 reports in 1963 l Laws mandating reporting and broadened reporting systems may have increased number of cases reported l May have been an increase in the past decade l Well-being of children in low income families has deteriorated

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved Child Abuse l Poverty or Abuse? l Which causes most of the resultant problems? l Child protective workers may overreact to maltreatment, when the real problem is poverty (Besharov) l Cycle of abuse = 30% of those abused become abusers as adults l Only 5% of general population abuses

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved Elder Abuse l Elder Abuse = Physical abuse of an elderly person by a nonelderly person l Study reported that 2% of elderly reported abuse l Three-fifths of cases were spousal abuse l Not as common as abuse against spouses or children

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved Sexual Aggression and Violence in Dating l Before 1970s, less premarital sex l Incidence of acquaintance rate probably lower l Women blamed for dates’ sexual advances, less reporting

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved Sexual Aggression and Violence in Dating l 22% of women in 1992 Univ. of Chicago survey said they had been forced to have sex at least once in their lives l Estimated 4% of all women in US have experienced forced sex by an acquaintance l Sexual Coercion

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved 12-27

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved Sexual Aggression and Violence in Dating l Men as perpetrators l Less likely to consider forced intercourse as a rape l Men perceived women’s refusal as less clear than the women perceived it

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved Physical Assault l Also common among dating couples l 30% reported minor aggression in past year l 1% reported severe aggression in past year l Cohabiting couples most likely to be violent (35%) l Married couples (20%) l Dating couples (15%)

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved l Social Learning Perspective l Frustration Aggression Perspective l Social Exchange Perspective Explanations

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved l Individuals learn behavior they will later exhibit by observing what others do and seeing the consequence these actions Social Learning

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved Frustration-Aggression Perspective l Aggressive behavior occurs when a person is blocked from achieving a goal

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved l People calculate whether to engage in a particular behavior by considering the rewards and costs of that behavior and the rewards of alternatives to it Social Exchange Perspective

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved l Protecting the victim vs. preserving the family Domestic Violence and Public Policy

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved The Policy Debate l Liberals favor equality between men and women l More likely to be in favor of intervention and support services l Conservatives favor support of male- headed two-parent families with males dominating the structure l Unlikely to be in favor of either intervention or support services

McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved Social Programs l Cultural emphasis on self-fulfillment and independence supports women leaving violent marriage l Women have more earning power and therefore more authority in marriages l Deteriorating earnings of young men reduce attractiveness of staying with someone who might abuse l Difficult to design programs to address spousal abuse