Domestic Violence Flashcards
General evaluation critical point of Functionalists and New Right
-argue that the rosy picture of nuclear family life transmitted by F and the NR obscures the contradictions that permeate family life in reality
A common view of DV
that it is the behaviour of a few sick or disturbed individuals
and that its causes are psychological rather than social
HOWEVER SOCIOLOGISTS HAVE CHALLENGED THIS VIEW
Criticism of the ‘common view’ of DV
and statistics
-DV is far too widespread to simply be the work of a few disturbed individuals
-accord to BRITISH CRIME SOCIETY (2007)
-DV accounts for almost a 1/6 of ALL VIOLENT CRIME
-Mirrlees-Black’s =survey of 16000 people estimates there are about 6.6million domestic assaults a year
-about half involving physical injury
Marxists and radical feminists view of DV
-have drawn attention to problem of DV
-usually defined as the power of men to control women by physical force
Who criticises Marxists and radical feminists view of DV?
Davidson
-men are also the victims of female DV
Official statistics report
violence by men against their female partners accounts for a 1/3 of all reported violence
Stanko’s survey in 2000 found that 1 incident of DV is reported by women to the police EVERY minute in the Uk
Explanations for domestic violence
Dobash & Dobash
Wilkinson
Dobash & Dobash
1992
argue that in patriarchal societies their is still a cultural support for the view that men have a ‘right’ to ‘discipline’ their wives or partners
furthermore, there has been little institutionalised support offered by society to the battered wife
What did Dobash & Dobash find?
1992
that one of the major factors precipitating assaults was the husband’s perception that his wife was not performing her domestic duties to his satisfaction
-insofar as our society still accepts a domestic division of labour which allocates the majority of domestic duties to women
-leaving them vulnerable to this sort of criticism and possible subsequent assault
What did Dobash & Dobash’s study show?
that many women are economically dependent on men
-since many women are in poor paid employment
-as such many women who leave abusive husbands are forced to return for economic reason and because of the stigmas surrounding the breakup of marriage
Dobash and Dobash’s findings interpretation
by radical feminists
-to suggest that widespread DV is an inevitable feature of patriarchal society and serves to preserve the power that all men have over women
Dobash and Dobash evaluation
Elliot
-rejects the Radical femijnist claim
-that alkl men benefit form DV
-Not all men are aggressive and most are opposed to DV
Radical feminists
-fail to explain female violence, including child abuse by women and violence against male partners
Radical feminists supporting D&D critical evaluation
e.g
It would be difficult to explain the actions of Vanessa George who systematically sexually-abused children in the nursery she worked by claiming that society is patriarchal
Wilkinson
-sees DV as the result of stress on family members caused by social inequality
-he argues that families on low incomes or living in overcrowded housing are likely to experience higher levels of stress.
-this reduces their chances of maintaining stable and caring rs and increases the risk of conflict and violence
Findings of studies by Wilkinson and Mirrlees-Black show
show that not all people are equally in danger of suffering domestic violence: those with less power, status, wealth or income are often at greatest risk
