Domestic violence
Dfn: Violence between family members or
between men and women in intimate
relationships
 How common? My neighborhood
(statistics next)
 How many of you know someone who has
been physically assaulted by someone in
their family or someone who they have
been dating?
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Sociology 1201
National Violence Against Women
Survey (NIJ, CDC) N=8000
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% of women who
reported having been
physically assaulted by
an intimate partner: 22%
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Beat up: 9%
Choked, tried to drown: 6%
Kicked, bit: 6%
Hit with object: 5%
Threatened with gun: 4%
Stalked: 5%
Raped: 8%
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Related issues
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Are there abused men? In comparable survey,
8% of men reported physical assaults… in my
view, intimidation the key.
Domestic violence does take place within gay
and lesbian relationships, and is higher for men.
Sociology 1201
Institutional Features (explain)
Source: Richard Gelles, Intimate Violence: The
Causes and Consequences of Abuse in the
American Family.
 Time at risk
 Intensity of involvement: primary group
 Right of influence
 Age and sex differences
 Ascribed roles
 Privacy
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Conflict theory/feminist theory: sex
In most forms of violence, males
predominate, and if we control for time
spent with the children, this is also true for
child abuse.
 Anthropology: The more sex equality in a
society, the less violence toward women.
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Social structure: Social class
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Gelles (Through a Sociological Lens: Social
Structure and Family Violence): “The risk of child
abuse, wife abuse, and elder abuse is greatest
among those who are poor, who are
unemployed, and who hold low-prestige jobs.”
Stress and the lack of resources to handle it
successfully
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Social structure: Age
Violence more common for those in the
15-35 age range (same as with street
crimes)
 These are also the prime years of family
formation
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Sociological theories: selected
propositions from Gelles
Violent acts by violent persons may
produce desired results (intimidation)
 The more resources a person has, the
less he or she will need to use force in an
open manner to get his/her way
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Sociology 1201
Why do victims stay?
Battered self-esteem and isolation
 Intimidation/fear of more violence
(beatings and even killings as a result of
trying to leave)
 Lack of resources
 Role of
police/prosecutors/family/community
 Religious misinterpretations
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Feminist theory and battering
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Gelles: “Feminist theory is becoming the
dominant model for explaining violence
toward women.”
 Cross
cultural research
 Contains both an explanation and a solution
 Many feminist scholars are sociologists
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“Feminist theory offers a single-variable
analysis, albeit a powerful one, in a multivariable world.”
Sociology 1201
How did battering emerge as a
social problem?
Battered women’s movement, beginning in
England in the early 1970s: Scream
Softly…
 Spread to the U.S., early priority of NOW
 First four shelters, including the one in
Duluth, funded by legislature in 1977
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Duluth Domestic Abuse
Intervention Project,
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After a particularly brutal domestic
homicide in Duluth in 1980, founders set
out to reform police, court and human
services response to domestic violence.
Activists from battered women’s
movement around the country invited to
Dulth to help build guidelines for
counselors to use in court-mandated
groups. “The Duluth Model”
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Video: “Power and Control”
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Groups:
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“The Duluth Model”
Cooperation among criminal justice, social
welfare, and advocacy organizations
 Arrest policy
 24 weeks of group counseling mandated
for abusers as a condition of probation
 Violence is recognized as a means of
power and control
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Basic principles(selected)
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The first priority of intervention should be to carry out
policies and protocols which protect the victim from
further harm and whenever possible, the burden of
holding abusers accountable should rest with the
community, not the victim.
The primary focus of intervention is on stopping the
assailant's use of violence, not on fixing or ending the
relationship.
In general, the court avoids prescribing a course of
action for the victim, e.g., does not force a victim to
testify by threatening jail, nor mandate treatment for the
victim.
Policies and procedures should act as a general
deterrent to battering in the community.
All interventions must account for the power imbalance
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between the assailant and
the victim.
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Women’s Violence
Women’s violence toward their male
partners that is neither in self defense nor
in response to being battered is rare but
can still be dangerous. During its first ten
years, the Domestic Abuse Intervention
Project worked with just under 100
women who physically assaulted their
partners (3.5% of all offenders in that time
period). In seven cases, the men were
being pursued and terrorized by their
partners and had been unable to leave
the situation.
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Abusers are capable of transformation
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Not all alike: some show no apparent remorse; others
are truly appalled at their behavior.
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Must be held personally responsible by the community.
Must establish an environment that is nonjudgmental, nonviolent,
and respectful of women and children.
Must be willing to work through a long process in which he
becomes accountable.
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ASSUMPTIONS OF THE CURRICULUM
Violence and its threat are used to control
other people.
 A continuing force in the relationship
 Not cyclical but ongoing
 Intention to gain control over partner’s
actions, thoughts, and feelings
 Learn these tactics in family of origin and in
the culture
 “Out of control” with a purpose
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Equality Wheel
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How could the program be evaluated?
Would love to be able to access reliable
data on changes in the rate of domestic
violence in Duluth over the years the
program has operated, including rate of
partner killings.
 Compare rates of time in comparable
cities with and without the Duluth Model
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Sociology 1201
Violence against children
First publicized in the U.S. as the result of
an article by pediatric radiologists in JAMA
in 1962: “The Battered Child Syndrome”
 Much more difficult to measure than
battering of adults
 2009: 720,000 substantiated reports of
child neglect or abuse (Child Maltreatment
2009, U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services)
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Control agencies
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Laws requiring reporting of suspected abuse by
teachers and medical personnel
Family court
Social welfare agencies
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Minnesota Department of Human Services
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Causes
Social organization of the family: intensity
and isolation
 Lack of knowledge about child
development
 Adult caregivers who were themselves
abused as children
 Inequality
 Power and control again
 Cultural beliefs about punishment?
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Consequences of child abuse
An estimated 30% of those who are
abused become abusers, compared with
5% of the general population
 Chesney-Lind, Wisconsin study: 79% of
the girls in the juvenile justice system had
been abused, physically or sexually
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Solutions
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Parenting education
“Visiting nurse” programs (Elmira)
Parents Anonymous and the like
Removal of children by Child Protective Services
Legal changes to more quickly terminate
parental rights
High quality childcare for mothers that are poor,
young, single
Less poverty and racial injustice
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Popenoe: the Future of
Marriage in America
The National Marriage Project, Rutgers
University (http://marriage.rutgers.edu/)
 “Marriage is now based almost enirely on
close friendship and romantic love, mostly
stripped of the economic dependencies,
legal and religious restrictions, and
extended family pressures that held
marriages together for most of human
history.”
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Sociology 1201
Marriage gap
People who have completed college
(around 25% of the population) have
higher marriage rates and lower divorce
rates.
 16.5% of college educated women divorce
within ten years of marriage.
 46% of high school dropout women
divorce in that same time frame
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But there’s also a fertility gap.
24% of college women 40-44 are childless
 Only 15% of women 40-44 who didn’t
finish high school are childless.
 Therefore more of our kids are growing up
in circumstances in which marriages are
less likely or more fragile.
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Sociology 1201
The past decade
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“There can be no doubt that the institution
of marriage has continued to weaken.”
Popenoe
--Fewer American adults are married
---More are divorced or remaining single.
---More children are born out of wedlock (40%+)
---More live with stepfamilies, with cohabiting
but unmarried adults, or with a single parent.
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The future
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The future will soon lie in the hands of
your generation. Good luck!
Sociology 1201