domestic violence

what do Dobash and Dobash find is the set off for abuse?

the wife asking something which challenges the husband’s authority e.g. why he was late home → marriage legitimises violence by conferring power and authority on the husbands and dependency on wives

what is the gap between men and women getting domestically abused by the Crime Survey for England and Wales

2013 ; 7.3% of women vs 5% of men

what does Dar find about the difficulty with domestic abuse

difficult to count all the separate domestic violence instances because it may be continuous, or victim does not even know it is occuring

on average, how many assaults does a woman go through before reporting to police

35

why are police reluctant to involve in family life?

seen as a private sphere not to be involved in, assumed woman can just leave the relationship however this is limited, some women are financially dependent on their husband

what do radical feminists believe about family and marriage?

key institution in patriarchal society and main source of oppression, husbands dominate women through domestic violence or the threat of it

why do radical feminists believe domestic violence is inevitable

it serves to preserve power that all men have over women

what is the link between dv and and male dominated state institutions

reluctance of police and courts to interfere or take dv cases seriously

name 2 criticisms of the radical feminist viewpoint

• fail to explain female violence towards male partners and children ( crime survey for England and Wales 2013 ; 18% of men have experienced domestic violence since 16yrs old

• doesn’t mention which women are more likely to be at risk e.g. low income, illness or disability

what are the 2 materialist sociologists

Wilkinson + pickett

what do Wilkinson and Pickett see as the reason for dv

stress on family members of social inequality

explain the process of how social inequality leads to abuse

those living in low income households/ overcrowded accommodation → higher levels of stress → reduces chances of maintaining health, caring relationships

give 2 evaluations of the materialist explanation

• doesn’t explain why women are more in risk than men

• fails to explain why not all male workers commit acts of violence to their partners