The violence that results from domestic misunderstandings is a serious social issue as it possesses the threat of tearing down contemporary founded families and societies. It’s committed by an individual as a result of making a conscious judgment to enforce power and control over an intimate companion. Abusers often resort to acts that result in serious consequences for the victims, comprising of either physical, psychological or economic damage. This repudiates victims the chance to live up to their optimal productive ability since their lives are characterized by psychological torture, physical pain, and economic distress.
Domestic violence is the pattern of forced strategies/tactics that include psychological, sexual, economic, physical as well as emotive abuse performed by an intimate pattern with the prime objective of creating or strengthening control and power. Even though women constitute the majority of domestic violence victims, men, as well as children, may also be victims. Therefore, the definition of domestic violence has a wide scope.
Violence social problem.
Present-day homes have had widespread domestic violence in all forms of intimate relationships. These affiliations may include persons who are courting, couples that reside together, wedded couples, persons with children in common, teen dating relations and same-sex associates.
Conservatively, bodily abuse usually starts with acts that are less violent such as pushing or pulling. As the abusive party continues with the behavior, the acts become increasingly violent. Most forms of physical abuse target areas that are covered with clothing since it is easy to conceal injuries from concerned members. Other forms of physical abuse may include shaking, kicking, slapping, abuse planned to cause a miscarriage, use of weapons, punching, strangulation, target hitting, biting, sustained beating and homicide (Edwards, n.d.). Many cases of homicide are caused by domestic abuse, especially in cases where victims use deadly weapons such as rifles. Sustained beating can also result in fatalities, especially when vital organs sustain injuries.
Committers of emotional vehemence often want to instill fear in their partners. Victims often feel scared, worthless, or responsible for the abuse. When abusers take control of the emotional aspects of their victims, it becomes difficult for victims to report cases of abuse since they often feel responsible for whatever happens to them. Moreover, they feel worthless and therefore shy away from getting in contact with the outside world. Emotional abuse may include insults, blaming a victim for any domestic problems, making demeaning jokes about the victim, withholding affection, questioning/criticizing the competence of the victim, humiliation in front of others, yelling at a victim and threatening with physical violence.
Lastly, domestic violence might also come in a form of sexual abuse. Most cases of sexual abuse are presented in the form of sexual jokes that make victims uncomfortable about themselves or the environment, withholding sex as a way of punishing a victim, employing sexual jealousy as a control tool, flaunting affairs, treatment of victims as objects, unwanted or uncomfortable touch, demanding sex against the will of the individual, sexual activity after beating, sexual torture, rape and assaulting a victim sexually in front of children (WHO, 2013).
Why this problem is suitable as a social problem.
Domestic violence qualifies as a social problem since it tends to manifest the situation in cycles that are often stimulating to break. For instance, children that grow up in families that are characterized by domestic violence tend to repeat the cycle by either becoming abusive or finding themselves in relationships that are abusive. These cycles can go on for many generations, affecting thousands of families, women, and children being the most vulnerable. When one considers the extent to which the cycles can spread in our communities, then domestic violence ceases being a personal problem and qualifies ultimately as a social problem.
The individual and social implications of this problem
When domestic violence blowouts across peers, it leads to the over-commitment of public assets and establishments in dealing with the different harms. Courts, hospitals, police departments, schools, prisons and social services such as foster homes become overstretched. In many cases, these agencies struggle to meet their budgetary requirements, therefore, exposing entire communities to danger (WHO, 2013).
A Summary of what social science experts have to say about this social problem
Experts present diverse interpretations of domestic violence, but all lead to the same inference concerning the cost of domestic violence. (Chen, 2017), social costs of domestic vehemence are impossible to measure in monetary terms. However, statistically, the problem cuts deeply into gender gaps in contemporary society. As the safety nets for survivors of domestic violence deteriorates, they encounter a continuous burden of physical psychological, sexual and economic abuse. Domestic violence may widen the gender gaps in terms of economic equality, especially among working women who encounter domestic violence at one time in their lives.
(Lomborg, 2014), domestic violence, particularly violence against women could be a more serious problem than civil unrest. According to Lomborg, nine people are killed in incidences of domestic violence for every person killed on the battlefield. Therefore, this means that domestic violence poses a more serious challenge to humanity than civil war. One homicide death in the U.S. costs the society approximately $9.1 million. Scaling this figure by national global income results in a massive violent crime, cost of approximately 1.7% of the global GDP. The conclusions by Michelle Chen and Bjorn Lomborg are methodologically sound because they use reliable data and objective statistical measures to explain the nature and degree of the problem.
The Society Focus on the subject.
There has been an increased emphasis on creating an awareness concerning the perils and occurrence of domestic violence in recent years. One such tactic is enlightening individuals about the signs and indicators of domestic violence. Identifying signs of physical and psychological violence enables faster intervention, even when the victims are unwilling to reveal their suffering. Societies have also become more systematized and receptive to domestic violence circumstances. Better channels of communication have been established where neighbors and friends can report suspected cases of domestic violence. Technology has also helped in protecting victims of domestic violence (Nonell, 2013).
An effective response, the only alternative to the problem
The alternate of contributing to domestic violence is providing shelters and psychotherapy centers as its effective since it helps praise the existing government properties that are always rare. Police divisions, hospitals, and social services are generally overstrained and may not provide sufficient aid to all victims. Furthermore, recovery from domestic violence takes some time and individuals need support through this phase. This can be catered for by donations received from individuals. However, there is a danger of lack of accountability for funds received, especially if individuals running the centers are looking for personal financial gain.
Conclusion
Violence is undeniably a stern problem worldwide. Obnoxious peoples make conscious choices to enforce power and control over another intimate partner. In essence, domestic violence denies victims the opportunities to live up to their optimal ability, since they live in fear, pain and other modes of psychological conditions such as stress and depression. It is wrong to deny other people their happy lives just because one wants to assert domination. Governments, communities and non-governmental institutions should put in more efforts to avert the escalation of domestic violence.
References
Chen, M. (2017). The Economic Costs of Domestic Violence. Retrieved from The Economic Costs of Domestic Violence.: https://www.thenation.com/article/the-economic-costs-of-domestic-violence/
Edwards, D. (n.d.). Domestic Violence Facts, Types " Effects. Retrieved from Domestic Violence Facts, Types " Effects: https://www.medicinenet.com/domestic_violence/article.htm
Lomborg, B. (2014). Why domestic violence costs More than War. Retrieved from Why domestic violence costs More than War: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2014/09/domestic-violence-cost-war-development-goals/
Nonell, J. (2013). 16 Ways to Stop Domestic Violence in Your Community. Retrieved from 16 Ways to Stop Domestic Violence in Your Community: http://16days.thepixelproject.net/16-ways-to-stop-domestic-violence-in-your-community/
WHO. (2013). Global and regional estimates of violence against women. Retrieved from Prevalence and health effects of intimate partner violence and non-partner sexual violence: https://www.who.int/reproductivehealth/publications/violence/9789241564625/en/
