Final Draft Domestic Violence Research

Domestic Violence

Toya Jones

Devry University

Introduction

Domestic violence is a described as a pattern of threatening or assaultive conduct that an individual uses against another party in a relationship. The relationships are profiled as follows; the victim and the abuser live together, dating, had dated married or are divorced. Most of the violence is intentioned to cause one to cede control or direction to an abuser.

The victims of this kind of violence are people from all segments of the society. Most of the victims of this type of violence are women, though an increasing number of men are falling victim to this type of violence (Harne & Radford, 2008). Statistics on the number of people who suffer this type of violence are hard to come by since most of the violence occurs behind closed doors though experts speculate 1 in 5 women experience it in their lifetime.

According to Harne & Ranford (2008), experts report that the prevalence of domestic violence is on the increase with almost 80% of shelters for domestic violence victims seeking their services in the past 5 years. It was also reported that almost 70 % percent of the women in the shelters stayed longer and this was attributed to mostly economic factors and psychological issues.

Dynamics of Domestic Violence

While economic factors contribute to the domestic violence issue, the trigger for the economic aspect of the problem is a psychological factor that needs to be addressed in order to stem the cycle of domestic abuse. According to Sherman, Schmidt & Rogan (1992), the psychological factor involves an abuser developing a destructive thinking pattern makes them believe they have to be in control of a victim. The abuser could also develop an unhealthy relationship that makes the abuser believe that the victim is responsible for their good fortune or happiness. It is this two underlying psychological factors that create a fertile environment for the vice to be perpetrated.

Most of the victims of domestic violence are women and the abuse traverses all age sets and social spheres. Men account for around 14 % of the victims of domestic violence. The number of men coming out to report violence towards them is on the increase. Johnson & Ferraro (2000), report that this has been attributed to the increased social awareness programs that have broken the societal bounds that men were traditionally associated with before. This rise in the number of men suffering domestic violence has also been attributed to the same sex couples. Same sex couples contributed to 80% of the men who reported suffering from domestic violence. The increased awareness campaign and societal acceptance is the reason for this increase.

According to Tolman & Raphael (2000), societal expectation of men is also a factor that has contributed to the rise in domestic violence. The traditional patriarchal view of men that they are masculine, strong and powerful and that women are subservient to this view makes the risk of violence of such men higher towards women.

There are many agencies are responsible for tackling domestic violence. The police play a very important role in helping deal with the issue. The police have continually been working to improve their response and approaches to dealing with these issues. Gender based organizations have been involved in giving specialized training to police officers. This would help them to recognize the victims of the violence, their response to the violence and building partnerships with other agencies that deal with domestic violence (Tolman & Raphael, 2000). These organizations are also involved in creating awareness campaigns against the vice and setting up help programs for the victims and rehabilitation for the abusers. The organizations are also involved in the getting funding for the domestic shelters for the victims of the violence. They also work together with the health service providers on getting the best treatment to the victims (Johnson & Ferraro, 2000). The organizations are also on the forefront of getting doing research that would give a better understanding of domestic violence issues like its effect on the children of the victims. Comment by Jennifer: Up to this point, there have been no changes made, so please see your first draft for any comments on this section.

Statistics on Domestic Violence in the United States

According to Tollman and Raphael (2000), statistics on the prevalence of domestic violence in the United States state that twenty people get physically abused by their partner or spouse every sixty seconds. Experts also state that despite the rate of the domestic violence dropping throughout the country, more effort needs to be taken to tackle the mutating forms the vice tries to use to hide itself from scrutiny.

Domestic violence also accounts for up to 21% of all violent crime in the United States. The vice is more prevalent in dating or formerly dating couples than in married couples (Johnson & Ferraro, 2000). Younger people between the age of 18-25 years account for up to 40% of the perpetrators or victims of the vice

Johnson & Ferraro (2000), also indicate that men have a higher prevalence of being abused by non-spouse members of the family than women in the United States. One in four men will be victims of domestic violence in the United States compared to one in three women within the same data sample. Both sexes are however both likely to be victims of domestic abuse by former or current boyfriends and girlfriends. Female victims are however more likely to be victims of domestic violence than their male counterparts based on the survey.

Women who were of college going age were also revealed to be at the highest risk of being abused domestically from their partners.

Johnson & Ferraro (2000), also reported during the surveys conducted on domestic violence also reveal that victims of domestic violence have a higher risk of getting a sexually transmitted infection. This is because the victims of the domestic violence tend to be more susceptible to risky sexual behavior. They were also reported to have a higher prevalence of drug abuse than people who had never experienced domestic violence. Women who were in relationships that were violent also were revealed to be four times more likely to be infected with HIV or AIDS than those who were not domestic violence victims.

Victims of domestic abuse were also revealed to be introduced to sexual encounters earlier than other who were not. And thus were more susceptible to engage in risky sexual behavior like sleeping with strangers or multiple sexual partners and this made them more them more prone to contract STIs.

Harne & Radford(2008), also stated the domestic violence victims of both sexes experienced significant health concerns that were a consequence of the domestic violence they suffered. Thus a significant number suffered from a number of ailments that could be attributed to post traumatic stress disorder. They also were at risk of getting a host of adverse health outcomes due to domestic violence. Comment by Jennifer: These are interesting statistics. Now think about how you can put them in context. What are we supposed to take away from these facts? How should we interpret? How do they tie back or relate to your claim/argument?

Prevalence of Adverse Health outcomes among the Victims of Domestic Violence

Weighted Percentage

Health Outcome Comment by Jennifer: If you chose to include this chart, be clear about what the information is telling us, and then follow it up with plenty of analysis and explanation.

History of Domestic Violence

No History of Domestic Violence

Asthma

24

14

Irritable Bowel Syndrome

13.6

7

Diabetes

14

11

High Blood Pressure

28

29

Frequent Headaches

29

15

Chronic Pain

28

16

Difficulty Sleeping

39

21

Activity Limitations

35

19

Poor Physical Health

7

2

Poor Mental Health

3

1

Experts report that Native Americans suffer more rape and assault form of domestic violence than any other racial group in the United States (Johnson & Ferraro, 2000). The victims in this racial group also reported that the perpetrator tend to be stranger than a partner. Most of this strangers were however acquaintances of the victims.

African Americans suffered the highest level of domestic violence by intimate partners than any other racial group. They experienced domestic violence from their intimate partners up to 36% higher than white females and up to 23% higher than women from other racial groups. The black males experienced domestic violence up to 62% higher than other racial groups and up to three times more than other racial groups (Harne & Radford, 2008). African American women aged between 18-24 years experienced more domestic violence than white women in the same age group. It is also reported that the African Women experienced sexual contact by the age of 17. Another consequence of the domestic violence issue among the social group was that women between 14- 34 suffered more murder by intimate partners than any other racial group in the United States. It was also reported that only 20% of the cases of domestic violence were reported to the authorities.

Hispanics reportedly experienced a similar level of victims between the ages of 18-24 like the African Americans. It was however spread throughout the age groups in this racial group. Statistics also show that they suffered 75% domestic violence from a family member or a friend (Johnson & Ferraro, 2000). This group also reported the most abuse in their lifetimes with 37% stating to have more occurrence of abuse in their lifetimes. 51% of Hispanics believed that domestic violence was not controlled by the perpetrators. And analysts state that more help is needed to assist this group tackle the problem. Harne & Radford (2008), also reported a majority of the Hispanics believe that one should not stay in an abusive relationship that perpetuates domestic violence. Comment by Jennifer: Again, these are interesting statistics, but how do they play into the development of your claim?

Toya,

You make some good points here. Now you need to work on organizing those points into a research paper format. The first thing you should do is start with a thesis statement that states the problem and solutions. That will help to provide a map for the rest of your paper. Then you would follow your thesis. Talk first about the first problem you list, then the second problem—a paragraph or two for each. Then go on to your solutions—a paragraph or two for each of those too. You need to make sure that you are moving away from just reporting data and instead make a claim about this topic that you argue and develop throughout the paper.

References

Sherman, L. W., Schmidt, J. D., & Rogan, D. P. (1992). Policing domestic violence: Experiments and dilemmas. New York: Free Press [u.a..

Harne, L., & Radford, J. (2008). Tackling domestic violence. Maidenhead: Open University Press.

Johnson, M. P., & Ferraro, K. J. (2000). Research on domestic violence in the 1990s: Making distinctions. Journal of Marriage and Family, 62(4), 948-963.

Tolman, R. M., & Raphael, J. (2000). A review of research on welfare and domestic violence. Journal of Social Issues, 56(4), 655-682.