Domestic Violence

Definition:

(Home Office 2013) Domestic violence: 'Any incident or pattern of incidents of controlling, coercive or threatening behaviour, violence or abuse between those aged 16 or over who are or have been intimate partners or family members regardless of gender or sexuality. This can encompass, but is not limited to, the following types of abuse:

  • psychological

  • physical

  • sexual

  • financial

  • emotional

'Controlling behaviour is: a range of acts designed to make a person subordinate and/or dependent by isolating them from sources of support, exploiting their resources and capacities for personal gain, depriving them of the means needed for independence, resistance and escape and regulating their everyday behaviour. Coercive behaviour is: an act or a pattern of acts of assault, threats, humiliation and intimidation or other abuse that is used to harm, punish, or frighten their victim.'

Social causes of DV

‘DV is the behaviour of a few disturbed individuals and has psychological causes instead of social causes.’

DV is too widespread to be solely psychological and done by only a few people therefore must have social causes.

Women’s Aid Federation (2014)

  • DV makes up 1/6 to ¼ of all recorded violent crime

Crime Survey for England and Wales (2013)

  • 2 million people reported that they’d been victims of DV in 2012

DV follows particular social patterns that have social causes. One pattern is that it is mostly violence by men against women.

Coleman et al. (2007)

  • Women more likely than men to have experienced intimate violence such as partner abuse, family abuse, sexual assault and stalking.

Coleman and Osborne (2010)

  • 2 women/week (1/3 of all female homicide victims) are killed by a (former) partner.

Dobash and Dobash (1979; 2007)

  • Research done in Scotland which involved police and court records, as well as interviews with inhabitants of women’s refuges.

    • Found that wives were/are slapped, pushed about, beaten, raped and killed by their husbands.

    • Violent incidents could be set off by ‘challenges to the husband’s authority’ such as a wife asking their husband why he was late home for a meal

      • Suggests marriage legitimates violence against women by conferring power and authority on husbands and dependency on wives.

Crime Survey for England and Wales (2020) (other studies report a larger gap)

  • Estimates 7.3% of women (1.6 million) experienced DV in 2019

  • 3.6% of men (750000) experienced DV in 2019

Walby and Allen (2004)

  • Women much more likely to be victims of multiple incidents of abuse and sexual violence

Ansara and Hindin (2011)

  • Women suffered more serious violence and control, as well as more serious psychological effects.

  • Women more likely than men to be fearful of their partners.

Dar (2013)

  • It can be difficult to count separate DV incidences as abuse can be continuous e.g. living under constant threat, or may occur so often that the victim cannot reliably count the instances

Reporting and Official Statistics

Yearnshire (1997)

  • On average, a woman suffers 35 assaults before making a report

    • DV is the violent crime least likely to be reported

Dar (2013)

  • Victims are less likely to report DV as they believe it is too trivial, or not a matter for the police, or because they fear reprisals

Cheal (1991)

  • Police and prosecutor’s reluctance to record/investigate/prosecute is because the police and state agencies are not prepared to become involved in the family due to assumptions about the family

    • The family is a private sphere and therefore access by state agencies should be limited

    • Family is good (therefore the ‘dark side’ is neglected)

    • Individuals are free agents so women are free to leave abusive situations

      • This is false as male violence is often coupled with economic power so abused women are financially dependent on their husbands and therefore unable to leave

2020- DV made up 7% of incidents reported to police

Explanations of DV

Radical feminist

  • Patriarchy influences ideas, cultural values and institutions

  • Interpret findings such as Dobash & Dobash as evidence of patriarchy

  • Millett (1970) and Firestone (1970) argue that all societies have been founded on patriarchy

    • Key divisions in society are between men and women

    • Men are the enemy because they are the oppressors and exploiters of women

  • Family & marriage are key institutions in a patriarchal society and the main source of women’s oppression as men dominate women through (the threat of) DV

    • Patterns of DV link to social norms about marriage

  • DV is inevitable because the patriarchy preserves all the power men have over women

  • Reluctance of police and courts to deal with DV is explained by the male domination of state institutions

    • All men benefit from violence against women

CRITICISM

  • Robertson Elliot (1996)

    • Not all men are aggressive and most are opposed to DV

Mistakes

  • Wrongly assumes all women are at equal risk of patriarchal violence

    • Fails to explain which women are most likely to be victims

      • Office for National Statistics (2014)

        • Women and men from some social groups face a higher risk of DV

          • Young

          • Low social class

          • Living in a deprived area

          • Low income

          • Financial difficulties

          • Shared and/or rented accommodation

          • Alcoholics

          • Drug addicts

          • Long-term illness

          • Disabled

  • Fails to explain female violence

    • Child abuse by women

    • Violence against male partners

      • Crime Survey for England & Wales (2020)

        • 13.8% of men (2.9 million) experienced DV since the age of 16

    • Violence in lesbian relationships

Materialist explanation

  • Economic and materialist factors e.g. inequalities in income and housing explain why some groups are more at risk than others

Wilkinson & Pickett (2010)

  • DV is the result of stress on family members caused by social inequality- not all people are equally at risk of DV

    • Some families have fewer resources than others

      • Low income, overcrowded accommodation leads to higher stress and decreased chances of stable, caring relationships and therefore an increased risk of conflict and violence

      • Worries about money/jobs/housing leads to domestic conflict due to frayed tempers

      • Lack of money and time leads to a smaller social circle which means there is less social support for those under stress

Marxist feminism

Fran Ansley (1972)

‘Wives are the takers of shit’

  • DV is a product of capitalism as men are exploited at work and take this frustration out on their wives

    • This explains why it’s men vs women and not vice versa

    • Fails to explain why not all men commit DV and why there are women who commit DV