Domestic Abuse

Domestic Abuse

Tanisha Durham

Intro to Sociology

Professor Kim Hilby

Paper #1

Domestic violence is a problem that continues to grow daily. Many people that are abused are usually done so by a spouse, partner, friend or a family member. There are many forms of domestic violence. It is not just considered being physically abusive towards someone but it details others ways of abuse. Such as stalking, intimidation, withholding their own personal belongings, name-calling or even causing sexual assault on those who've have repeatedly said no. Statistics have shown that not all victims are women. 5% of the cases reported are men victims. Though this still leaves women as being abused 95% of the time it shows that this problem is not just one-sided.

Some will define domestic violence as a husband or wife battering the other one. In all reality domestic abuse is displaying any type of verbal or physical harm from one person in an involved relationship to the other partner. This form of abuse is often to hinder the other from accomplishing what the other person may deem as unnecessary. It's just another mechanism to have power over the other person from living their life. Many women who are in this situation tend to think of it as the man caring about them and not trying to be too controlling. They think that to have someone care that much about them, as to where they have to know their every move, thought, friend, and family members is a sign of compassion and love and not abuse.

Domestic violence is not only costly to the person going through it (medically) but it's also costly to the nation. Employers lose annually three to five billion dollars due to absent employees of domestic abusive relationships. How does this affect the economy? For those that work in factories quotas are not being made. If quotas are not made there becomes a shortage of the supplies. Shortage in supplies will result in raising the prices of the product. Inflation is not good in an economy where the employment rate continues to rise and fall. Many people can barely afford to buy the necessities now on their paychecks. Causing uproar on prices is a matter of not paying a bill to eat or starving for many.

Out of every minute 6.6 women are beaten here in the United States. That's 396 women every hour. By the end of the day 9504 women have been battered. These are only the figures that are reported. Just imagine how many more women are out there that we don't know about. Out of the 9504 women that are beaten everyday 90% of them have reported that their children were present at the time. Seeing this form of abuse at home not only scars the child but they are more likely to become or initiate abusive relationships themselves when they become older.

I honestly feel that one of the main reasons as to one this is a continual problem is because of the lack of education on it. Children spend the majority of their time in two main places; Home and school. If there were adequate talks and information given out to warn them about signs of abuse with regular talks on how to handle these situations, then maybe so many children wouldn't up end in abusive relationships. I also believe that if this is a habit that's learned at home then it's the abuse parents' obligation to let that child know "This is not a way to be treated." Also the victim should try and become distant from that particular person or situation for the safety and benefit of the child.

There are a few instances too when women or men who weren't shown a lot of affection growing up tend to seek out someone who wants them to devote all their time to them. It's like every time that person hits them or calls them a name they regress back into being that little scared boy or girl who wanted someone to pay attention to them. So when the partner apologizes they take it as them showing that they care about them. They don't see the screaming and hitting as abuse. It's a form of an expressive love that they lacked growing up.

Society can help in the change process by not turning the other cheek when they see this type of abuse going on in public. If you don't want to say something to them directly as not to embarrass them contact someone who can help them. I feel that if you're in a mall and you see a girlfriend or boyfriend knowingly hitting or putting down their partner contact mall security. At least if that victim is afraid to speak up they know that the public will. Perhaps this little act of kindness will be enough for them to have the courage to walk away.

Society can also help in this change process by continuing to help fight along with the legislation for there to be harsher punishment for those who commit domestic abuse. If the offender knows that this behavior is not accepted in society and there will be harsher consequences, maybe some cases that turn deadly will never reach that point. The State and Congress can not fight this issue alone. It's a public problem that even though we don't like talking about needs to be addressed. Sure to some it may look like showing a sign a weakness if