Domestic Violence

Essay by EssaySwap ContributorUniversity, Bachelor's February 2008

download word file, 3 pages 5.0

Domestic Violence Today?s society exhibits many different types of criminal behavior, domestic violence is one of them. In fact, it is an all too common type of criminal behavior that has been occurring for many years. Domestic violence is defined as, ?Serious or repeated injury caused by a person who has family ties or a sexual relationship with the victim.? Perpetrators use or threaten the use of physical or sexual assault to dominate, hurt, degrade and gain control over the victim. Society is one of the main reasons why domestic violence occurs in so many households.

Many factors can lead to domestic violence. There are certain social factors that lead to domestic violence, one of them is male dominance. Through out history society has been male dominant. For a long time the male has been portrayed as the person in control over the family and over virtually everything else.

Under this type of belief women become a man?s ?property.? Because of this mindset some men believe that they can do whatever they want to their partner. In some cases abuse occurs because the perpetrator feels a need to control someone or be in power. In order to feel in control, the abuser might physically abuse, sexually abuse, and or abuse children or threat to hurt them. Research has shown that there is typically a pattern that violence follows, in other words, it happens in stages. ?The first stage is tension building: criticism, yelling, using angry gestures, coercion, threats. The second stage is violence: physical and sexual attacks and threats. The third stage is seduction: apologies, blaming, promises to change and gifts.? What makes it hard to end the relationship is the love that the person has for the abuser no matter how much they suffer. Also, the hope that...