Domestic Violence and its effect in society

 

Domestic violence is an issue that has an effect on all individuals in society because men, women, and children are affected. It occurs on all manner of relationships individuals might be in and this might be sexual or familial. While this may be the case, in most instances, it is women who are victims, and this is especially the case in highly patriarchal societies or communities, where women tend to be disenfranchised (Childress, Gioia, & Campbell, 2017). Moreover, it also takes place in the most unexpected of places, such as in the West; although most cases that take place end up being unreported. Thus, the development of an understanding of domestic violence is critical towards the development of clear initiatives aimed at reducing occurrences and promoting healthy relationships between individuals. This paper seeks to make an analysis of domestic violence, its occurrence, and the causes.

Domestic violence is defined as an individual using a diverse means to achieve control over another. These means can include physical, sexual, psychological, or emotional abuse, and in most instances, women and children tend to be the most abused. Women are especially victims because they are looked upon as the weaker sex and have had the patriarchal order imposed on them (Childress et al., 2017). The depiction of women in video games, magazines, and other media in a negative way has helped degrade their position in society further. Because of this situation, it has become common for women to become the biggest victims of domestic violence, although in recent years, there has also been an increase of men who have reported being abused. This comes in the backdrop of domestic violence increasingly being seen as a problem that affects many relationships, with both men and women falling victim to it.

Domestic violence is caused by a diversity of issues and these tend to be based on a feeling of lack of control over everyday matters. One of the most significant causes of domestic violence is stress, which affects a considerable number of individuals because of the pressures of daily life (Anderberg, Rainer, Wadsworth, & Wilson, 2016). For example, a breadwinner in a family might end up becoming stressed because of their inability to provide effectively for their dependents. A result is that they might end up taking their stress or guilt on their spouses or children in the form of hitting or yelling (Katz, 2015). These cases tend to be the most common when it comes to domestic violence, and it has the effect of having a negative impact on both the perpetrators and their victims. Since it occurs among individuals with close or intimate relationships, it becomes difficult for both parties to recover effectively enough to resume the relationship they had before the violence begun.

Another cause of domestic violence is the abuse of alcohol or drugs, which has the effect of interfering with the judgment of the users. A consequence is that these individuals end up in a situation where they get into their homes under the influence (Anderberg et al., 2016). These circumstances are extremely pertinent when it comes to the analysis of domestic violence because many things can happen. For example, the individual who abuses alcohol or drugs can turn violent and take such actions as hitting or sexually abusing either their spouses or children. The individual does not realize what he is doing because he is under the influence and once the effect of the abused substance gets finished, he ends up having feelings of remorse and shame. The continued abuse of substances can end up creating a situation where violent episodes continue to occur at the domestic level.

There are also instances where the abuser makes use of domestic violence as a means of maintaining control over their victims. This can be a child or any other member of their family and it involves the use of violence in order to create a sense of fear in their victims (Callaghan, Alexander, Sixsmith, & Fellin, 2015). The use of violence is often in addition to using other means of control including guilt and shame to force their victims to accept their wishes (Perrin, 2017). Under these circumstances, domestic violence becomes a cycle that involves what the perpetrator is feeling at different times. There are occasions where the violence is either continuous, or ends up taking place after long periods of time. The perpetrator may end up having feelings of guilt or blaming their actions on other aspects such as drunkenness but over time, the violence becomes a cycle.

In conclusion, domestic violence is a serious problem that needs to be tackled efficiently in order to bring it to an end. There needs to be the development of initiatives aimed at making sure that problems are identified and solved early enough before they escalate to violent situations. The discussion above has shown that domestic violence has a negative effect on both victims and perpetrators. This is because they both end up becoming a part of violent cycle that involved physical and psychological harm that makes it difficult for both of them to have healthy relationships.