Introduction
US Department of justice (2013), define domestic violence as a sequence and pattern of abusive behavior present in a relationship. Domestic violence can appear in forms of physical, psychological, emotional, economic, or even sexual actions. Vocalized threats are also considered as domestic violence. The behaviors that produce damaging effects on the victim are acknowledged as violent. Which includes threatening, controlling, degrading, isolating, terrifying, terrorizing, forcing, fragmenting, bullying, blaming, hurting, harming, or wounding someone in a relationship (Siemieniuk, Krentz, Gish, Gill, 2010).The motive behind abusive position is attributed to the perpetrator’s need for power and control over one’s partner.
Any person of any age or gender can be a victim of domestic violence. The occurrence of domestic violence brings a damaging effect on the victim as well as the perpetrator. An important observation is that domestic violence has a tendency to be passed down over generations, and it is imperative for developing strategies for preventing and controlling its occurrence (Danieli, 1998). The intention of this paper is to review the concepts and factors associated with Domestic Violence in the context of the case (Anne and her family).
An important contribution by Walker, L E (1979) is the proposal of a generic pattern in domestic violence. A common pattern is identified among abuse events. The cycle usually follows a predictable order, and will repeat until the conflicts between the parties are stopped. The usual outcomes of the domestic violence are separation, death of the victim or changes in relationship pattern due to external intervention. Whatever be the outcome as the violence continues the proposed cycle occurs many times in an abusive relationship. Walker also reports that the abusive cycle can take anywhere from few hours to a year or more. As the conflict progresses the length of the cycle usually reduces due to the disappearance of “reconciliation" and "calm" stages. Later only the cycle of tension and incidence takes place, with violence becoming intense and the cycles happening faster.
Figure 1. Cycle of Abuse (Lenore E walker (1979)
The incidents in the case study confirm the existence of a predictable cycle as proposed by Walker (1979).
Psychological factors that influences domestic violence
Domestic violence and emotional abuse are maladaptive behaviors by a person in a relationship to manipulate the other. The other person may have a relationship with the abuser by marriage, dating, living together or separated, and their sexual orientation may be heterosexual, gay, or lesbian. Various psychological factors are found to be contributing to abusive behaviors. Psychological factors that affect violence in relationships include low self-esteem, depression, personality makeup, alcoholism, anger and hostility, and the desire for power and control in the relationship (Emery & Laumann-Billings 1998). Alcohol abuse may be a factor in John being unable to manage or control his anger. Stress and coping also may be a contributing factor in John's use of violence against Anne. Anger is often a manifestation of stress and an inability to cope. Anne’s fear and shame may prevent her from disclosing and/or seeking help for abuse, which means that she will continue to be at risk of abuse.
Personality factor
Gondolf, E. W. (1988) classified the batterers into three: sociopathic, antisocial, and typical abusers. Psychopathy or sociopath is a personality disorder with endured antisocial behavior, lack of empathy and regret, and extreme bold behavior. While antisocial personality is characterized by a persistent pattern of indifference to the rights of others and lack of conscience. Further, Gondolf’s (1988) findings suggest that the batterer characteristics need to be differentiated treatment in legal, social and therapeutic contexts. Following the case study of John, the evidence of personality disorder is not found in the descriptions of the events. There is variability in the violence by John, and there is a correlation to the situation and the violence displayed. The frequency and severity of the violence increased after John lost job and was sitting idly at home.The pattern of Johns behavior suggests that the situational factors contributed to violence and not by the personality type suggested by Gondolf (1988).
Self Esteem factor
In the John’s case, another factor that affected his abusive behavior could be his low self-esteem. He recently suffered a back injury that prevented him from doing his job. Lack of employment for a prolonged period, resulted in the onset of feeling of frustration and inadequacy, which brought down his self-esteem. Low self-esteem is one of the factors that cause abuse to one’s wife (Johnson & Ferraro 2000). According to Johnson and Ferraro, men who have low self-esteem seek love desperately. These types of offenders tacitly seek answers to the question, whether they are lovable. The feeling of inadequacy prompts the abusers to be overcautious and manipulative in gaining an affection from their victims. Abusers with low self-esteem, obsessively analyse their partners’ behavior, their voice, and the words they use and use that analysis to start a cycle of abuse.
Walker (1999) observed some common strategies adopted by abusers when their partners do not comply or act according to their expectations. They would put more effort to please their partner, become angry if they feel unloved, and they indicate that the treatment from the partner does not match their worth. As a matter of fact, domestic offenders make problems for themselves as a consequence of their neediness, insecurity, unreasonable expectations, irrational self-image construction, and inability to solve one’s own issues (Walker 1999).
Alcoholism and Domestic Violence
Domestic violence is accepted as a learned behavior that is deliberate rather than the effect of stress, pathology, alcoholism or a conflicting relationship. Though the violence is intentional, perpetrators do not take responsibility for their behavior, but blame other people or entity as the cause of their violence. Influence of alcohol is one such way of external attribution. The research shows that alcohol is not the cause for domestic violence (Gilchrist et al. 2003). Domestic violence stems from deep rooted causes than just being an effect of alcohol.
Though alcohol is not the cause of domestic violence, it reinforces the abuse in many ways. For example, Gurney (1989) points out that the alcohol promotes increased sense of domination and power over others. According to Bandura’s (1978) social learning theory, in most communities, men grow up believing they are superior to women. Thus, an abuser who drinks alcohol is likely to apply control and power on their victim. Here, John, who lost his status as the head of the family, drank to regain control over his wife and exerted power to satisfy his abnormal mental condition.
Fear factor
Fear of being alone, guilt about the failed relationship, hope of improvement in the partner, etc. are some of the psychological reasons that make the victim stay with the abuser and withstand the violence. It can be inferred from the case that such kind of thoughts is running in the mind of Anne. She is also afraid that John might kill her if he finds her planning to leave. Another fear Anne has expressed was, in her absence John might harm her pets too. Anne’s perception of helplessness may be explained by Seligman’s (1975) learned helplessness theory, where a victim thinks they cannot escape abuse because of their dependency and commitment to the perpetrator.
Sociological factors that influences domestic violence
There are a number of studies that presents the link between domestic violence, and social and economic factor. Though there are no sound theories to explain domestic violence in relation to socio-economic factors there excellent individual studies that give insights into the subject. Some of the factors are referred in this paper. Reference to issues of gender, class and poverty may also be relevant here.
Gender factor
One of the sociological factors that are frequently debated is gender. The related concept is gender symmetry which frequently raised the most acrimonious debate (Archer, 2000). Most studies acknowledge gender symmetry i.e. equal percentage of men and women commit violence at least once in their relationship. Johnson (1999) found that in 31% of the nuptial relationships, the husbands show more violence than their wives. Among married women, only 8% of the wives were violent than the men. The probability factor also points that John is more inclined to be violent with other confirming factors such as low self-esteem, depression, personality, etc. Another way to look at the case from the gender perspective is that John's sense of masculinity is threatened by his current circumstances – unemployment, etc. - and he might be using violence to proclaim his masculine identity.
According to feminist theories, male perpetrators usually believe in gender roles and male dominance (Ferret 1990). A male who has lost employment or is unable to work feels that he lost dominance over his spouse, and may want to force this dominance by using physical aggression (Ferret 1990). In the case, Anne attributed John’s aggression to his inability to work and expected that he would be kinder when he regains his job. On the contrary, John may have felt that he lost control over his spouse and it has to be established whether he has a job or not. Domination over the other person is established by force if legitimate ways are blocked. Like many women, Anne's gender socialisation (women as nurturers and integral to family functioning) may make her feel that she needs to keep the family together at all costs, making her more likely to accept the violence against her.
Employment factor and Financial Stress
The likelihood of domestic violence increases, when both the partners are employed (Finkelhor et al. 2005). This conclusion of the research perfectly matches with the situation of John’s family. Anne quit her job as a hairdresser to take care of John, who needs to stay at home due to his back injury. Annes stay at home increased the duration of being together, contributing to their frustration levels. In the case, when John came home, he became upset, if he did not find Anne there. But if he had been working, he would not have noted her absence. According to Bowlus and Seitz(2006), unemployment stress increases the tendency to become violent.
Financial stress due to lower income can be another possible economic factor that can influence John’s violent behaviors. The case study has mentioned that John is the sole breadwinner of not only for his family, but also for his mother-in-law. The situation is extremely grim that it can have tremendous negative influence on the family, psychologically, socially and emotionally. Even normal people have a chance to lose temper. Armor (2009) illustrates that when families move in together, the stress increases exponentially. Moreover, caring for elderly relatives drains the spouse’s resources and strains them both financially and emotionally. Such situations can automatically lead to flash points of violence (National Institute of Justice, 2010).
Application of Eco-biological model on the Domestic Violence incidents
Violence may have an impact at the microsystem level in Anne. She may lose trust in the relationship with her partner and experience fear and distress. At the Mesosystem level, Anne’s distress and fear may have an impact on her relationship with her children. She may neglect, or assault her children as a coping-mechanism or to vent off displaced anger. Anne’s condition may affect her dependent mother Greta also psychologically and socially. The children’s school performance will be very much affected if they witness the violence. At the macrosystem level, Anne and her family members may experience family breakdowns and separation. In the case of separation and single parenting, it may be extremely difficult financially and socially; the child custody and access arrangements can be difficult, particularly if violence is ongoing.
Psychological, Health, Social and Behavioral Consequences of Domestic Violence
As the paper reaches its conclusion, a vast research literature depicting psychological, social, health and behavioral effects of domestic violence are found in the knowledge repositories. In this paper three entities that are affected by violence is discussed i.e. the victims, children and intergenerational dynamics of violence.
Johnson & Leone’s (2000) work confirms that domestic violence against women has negative effects as injuries, and longer-term physical and psychological debilities. Lowered self-esteem, post- traumatic stress disorder, and depression are the negative psychological effects. There is also a bulk of literature describing the effects of domestic violence on children. Behavioral effects include aggression and delinquency among children and psychological effects include anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem. Teenage females who have witnessed violence of their parents suffer longer-term damaging effects. Such females develop lower self-esteem, experience depression, and display social incompetence (Henning, Lautenberg, Coffey, Bennett, & Jankowski, 1997).
As discussed earlier, violence in the family recur. Those who have witnessed violence carry as risk of displaying future domestic violence (Kantor & Jasinski, 1998). Straus, Gelles, and Steinmetz (1988) reported that the male children of violent parents are likely to be wife abusers and they have 1,000 percent greater chance to become violent than the male children of nonviolent parents.
Severe effects on health are expected on a victim who had experience of domestic violence. Women who were victims of physical assault not only have bodily injuries, they may have enduring health problems such as gastrointestinal disorders, chronic pain, eating problems, sleep disorders and psychosomatic symptoms. Health care professionals all over the world are freqyently warning that any domestic violence can have a detrimental effect on physical and emotional makeup of the vicyim (Shane, B and M. Ellsberg, 2002). Domestic violence contributes to mental health conditions too. Disorders such as stress, anxiety, and depression are the common mental ailments stated by battered victims. Unplanned pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases and immunological problems are found more in women who have or are experiencing abuse. Shane et al. 2002 have observed that there are three times more gynecological problems among women exposed to domestic violence than non-abused women.
Conclusion
In the last two decades, there is significant increase in the literature on domestic violence. The case study has helped to explore domestic violence from various angles, and the review of various studies strongly indicate that to break the vicious cycle of future violence, children must never be allowed to witness violence, the abusers should be counseled to improve their self esteem and the victims need to be empowered with external support. And finally, the stakeholders such as legislators, judges, police, counselors, social workers, etc. need to chart their programs based on the research information available, so that a reasonable level of effectiveness in tackling the domestic violence can be achieved.
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