The concept of domestic violence: causes, forms, effects. Typology of domestic violence

The concept of domestic violence: causes, forms, effects

Other forms of violence

• verbal abuse
• environment abuse
• social abuse (isolation)
• spiritual abuse
    * the abuser laughs if a victim is very religious
    * uses religion against her
• cyber abuse
• negligence

What is domestic violence? (video)

• pattern of abusive behaviour
    * mantain power and control over another
      * intimidation
      * manipulation
      * humiliation
• married couples
• cohabiating
• partners
• dating partners
• relatives
• 1 in 3 women
• 1 in 4 men
• most common age: 18-24
• Forms
    * psysical
    * harder to detect
      * emotional
        * verbal criticism
        * belittling
        * shaming
        * guilt trip
        * name calling
        * threats
        * sarcasm
        * jealousy
      * sexual
        * forcing/coercing partner sexually unwanted kissing, touching or rape
        * threats to
        * child marriages
        * forced marriages
        * “traditional” marriages
        * genital mutilations
      * economic
        * forcing financial dependence
        * forbidding work
      * spiritual
        * forbiddance to practice beliefs
        * misuse of passages
        * behaviour/belief
• relationship started off well
• frequency and intensity of abuse varies
• may apologize
• just lost control
• almost always intensifies

Discussion of a film

The most dangerous moment: when the victim tries to escape

• victims are usually killed while trying to escape

The abusers almost never change

Sexual violence often comes together with the psysical violence

Low self-esteem is the most popular personality disorder that abusers have

Abusers often use disguised tactics

Fear is a typical effect that abuse has

• living in a constant fear can feel like a torture

Some abusers are abusive only at home

Victims are the ones blamed

If a woman feels pressure to stay in the marriage, it’s even more difficult to break the cycle

Violence is not provoked, it’s inside of the abuser

Main characteristics of domestic violence

• latent
    * it’s not easy to detect it
    * underreported
• multiform, multidimensional, multifaceted, complex
• cyclic
• systemic
    * it’s not separated accidents, it’s systemic tactic of the abuse
• gender asymmetry
• negative cumulative effect
    * every single accident cumulates its negative effect, so it becomes double or triple
• is always a pattern of abusive behaviour
    * abusers have a personal pattern how to do it

Typology of domestic violence (Johnson)

Types of violence

1. coercive controling violence

• non/violent tactics
• one partner seeks to dominate over the other (analogy to kidnapping)
• Pattern of violence
    * physical and sexual violence
    * intimidation
    * isolation
    * control of personal life
      * activities
      * appearance
      * support
      * social life
      * family
      * employment
      * health issues
      * intimate relationships
      * legal issues
      * children
• systemic
• escalating
• very frequent
• very severe
• most common type that is faced by victim support organizations, health sector, and law enforcement
• gender assymetry is very clearly expressed
    * women are mostly victims and men are mostly abusers

2. situational couple violence

• escalation of a conflict when it turns into agression
    * incident-based
    * an accident happened and that’s it
• no controlling behaviour
• less prevalent, non-escalating
• gender assymetry is very clearly expressed

3. violent resistance

• a woman tries to resist to controlling behaviour, due to this she becomes violent
    * self-protection
• no controlling behaviour

4. mutual coercive control

• both partners are violent and controlling
• least prevalent
• some researchers say that there’s no such thing as mutual violence, there’s always original abuser and the other partner just reacts

Male batterer typology (Holtzworth-Munroe, G.L. Stuart)

• based on the personal characteristics of an abuser

1. family-only violence

   
   1. friendly in public, violent at home
   2. most dangerous for the victim, because it’s difficult to find evidence

2. Dysphoric - borderline batterer

   
   1. rarely violent in public

3. Low level antisocial batterer

   
   1. violent both in family and public

4. Generally violent / antisocial behaviour

   
   1. violent everywhere with everyone
   2. addicts, substance abusers
   3. criminal behaviour

Female batterer behaviour (S.L. Miller, L. Meloy)

1. generalized violent behaviour (5%)

   
   1. both in family and in public

2. frustration response (30%)

   
   1. violence is just a response to violence

3. defensive behaviour (50%)

   
   1. self-defence
   2. defending children or pets