Understanding Domestic Violence And Socioeconomic Factors

Defining Domestic Violence

Domestic violence has been arising as one of the major health and welfare issues. Domestic violence can be defined as the abuse, violence and intimidation among people who have been in an intimate relationship (Dillon et al., 2013). A person in the relation uses violence, cruelty and abuse to control the other person. According to reports in the two years from 2012 to 2014, one woman every week and one man every month were killed by their former or current partner (Jonas et al., 2014). The growing concern rising regarding this particular issue has been drawn to this essay. The essay discusses domestic violence and socioeconomic factors including reference to international and Australian sources. Also, the essay discusses the domestic violence and psychological factors including factors including development during infancy and childhood.

The socioeconomic factors include not only one income but also financial status, educational qualification and perception of social class. The socioeconomic factors include quality of life one is capable of living as well as the opportunities and privileges one received from the society (Tenkorang et al., 2013). The education level is one of the major factors affecting domestic violence. Although there is no ground rule of identifying the level of education which will enlighten the harasser, it is often seen that the less educated or illiterate people are mostly the people who use violence in household activities on partners. The socialisation process of a child, norms and values of families are in many ways contributing to domestic violence as a problem. Children witnessing domestic violence while growing up in-house and in the surrounded by families in a neighbourhood where domestic violence is common are likely to use the abusive methods in their own house as well (Radford et al., 2013). Families living in poverty and families from wealthy background differ in many ways. The economic status is an important factor to consider under the socioeconomic factors. The method of facing challenges and overcoming them varies with the typology of family. It would be wrong to identify all the families from a wealthy background as people abandoning domestic violence as there are existences of such cases globally. People belong below the poverty line are constantly stressed regarding financial as well as basic needs (Folkman, 2013). The problem of such stresses often leads to change in behaviour such as consumption of alcohol, drug use and use of violence (Cloward & Ohlin, 2013). According to researches, it is the poor people and children who are mostly the victim of domestic violence. Researchers have also found ethnicity to be a contributing factor in the issue. Ethnicity is often found closely inter-related to socioeconomic status. Hispanic women and African American women belonging to the low-income group are more prone to be victimised. Traditionally, men are the responsible for earning money and women are accountable for doing household works and maintaining children. A man often uses violence for the need to exert power when they are faced with challenges in the outer world. Also, women earning an adequate amount of money in the low-income houses lead to violence as the man with lack of education uses violence on women look to feel powerful (Root & Brown, 2014). Although the focus is mainly on women as the victim and commonly known as well that it is the women who are victimised, pieces of evidence show that abuse is of both types and occurring on both the gender in the lower income families.

Socioeconomic Factors and Domestic Violence

In an overall view, socioeconomic factors are inter-related with many factors such as education level, upbringing locality, family values, social perspective, income level and many more. It is the excessive stress in the low-income families that increases the chances of domestic violence. Although low-income groups are highlighted in most of the times, studies show that domestic violence is common in all the culture. Therefore, it is an issue that is becoming highlighted among the healthcare and social workers.

Home is considered to be a place where people feel a sense of warmth, a place that is secured and safe. However, it has not been the case for many since the rate of domestic violence has been only increasing with time. Domestic violence is one of the well-known issue happening in every one in a three house has large impact and consequences. The effect of domestic violence can have a strong effect on men, women and children. A person ought to become broken, battered, bruised and shattered who is the victim of domestic violence. People tend to become emotionally destroyed being experienced violence in the domestic area. Victims of domestic violence become mentally and physically wounded having different effects on them in various ways (Roberson & Wallace, 2016). Often with the fear of retaliation prevent the victim from seeking help or any needed assistance. The abusive partner uses violence to control the victim and victim’s action. People often deny coming in exposure as it will damage the family reputation. Elder deny to speak regarding their children, men and women refuse to talk about their spouses (World Health Organization, 2014). Victims develop fear, depression, anxiety and posttraumatic stress while being in the relation. Even after coming out of the disastrous relation the victims face difficulty in getting involved in any other relation due to the fear of getting abused. The emotional and psychological impacts can haunt the victims for years and unable them from living a rich and fulfilling life (Ochberg, 2013). Severe domestic violence often lead to physical injuries are often incurable or may take a large sum of money. It is never possibly imaginable to understand the impact of the violence on the victim. The psychological impacts are the threatening impact where the healthcare professionals may not be able to say the duration of recovery. The damages can be severe taking lifelong duration or short-term duration.

Research shows that a child growing up in an environment where domestic violence is common is adversely affected. Boys exposed to domestic violence are more prone to commit the same activity than the children who are unaware of the domestic violence (Van der Kolk, 2017). Girls growing up exposed to domestic violence often take the behaviour acceptable and tolerate the same abuse later in life thinking it as natural behaviour. Children who are the victims of domestic violence and being the victim of constant beating for minor reasons tend to grow as a people with low self-esteem and self-worth. In an overall perspective, domestic violence is not only physical abuse but also a psychological abuse affecting emotionally and mentally. It is an act that can affect men, women and children on an equal level.

According to researches on violence, it is an international physical assault, intimidation and sexual assault. Domestic violence is occurring across the globe, across all ages and among all the socioeconomic and demographic groups. However, it is particularly the indigenous women, pregnant women and the young women who are at risk. Although women are at high risk, men are also faced with domestic violence. When a person is faced with domestic abuse, the only solution is to seek help. Family as a social institution should act efficiently and develop ethical values and norms. The help can be from the family member, friends and even professional. Also, people need to create awareness among people who are deprived of the knowledge regarding domestic violence and the help one can receive from the nearest healthcare or welfare departments.

References:

Cloward, R. A., & Ohlin, L. E. (2013). Delinquency and opportunity: A study of delinquent gangs. Routledge.

Dillon, G., Hussain, R., Loxton, D., & Rahman, S. (2013). Mental and physical health and intimate partner violence against women: A review of the literature. International journal of family medicine, 2013 

Folkman, S. (2013). Stress: appraisal and coping. In Encyclopedia of behavioral medicine (pp. 1913-1915). Springer, New York, NY.

Jonas, S., Khalifeh, H., Bebbington, P. E., McManus, S., Brugha, T., Meltzer, H., & Howard, L. M. (2014). Gender differences in intimate partner violence and psychiatric disorders in England: results from the 2007 adult psychiatric morbidity survey. Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences, 23(2), 189-199.

Ochberg, F. (2013). Post-traumatic therapy and victims of violence. In Post-traumatic therapy and victims of violence(pp. 17-34). Routledge.

Radford, L., Corral, S., Bradley, C., & Fisher, H. L. (2013). The prevalence and impact of child maltreatment and other types of victimization in the UK: Findings from a population survey of caregivers, children and young people and young adults. Child abuse & neglect, 37(10), 801-813.

Roberson, C., & Wallace, P. H. (2016). Family violence: Legal, medical, and social perspectives. Routledge.

Tenkorang, E. Y., Owusu, A. Y., Yeboah, E. H., & Bannerman, R. (2013). Factors influencing domestic and marital violence against women in Ghana. Journal of Family Violence, 28(8), 771-781.

Van der Kolk, B. A. (2017). Developmental Trauma Disorder: Toward a rational diagnosis for children with complex trauma histories. Psychiatric annals, 35(5), 401-408.

World Health Organization. (2014). Injuries and violence: the facts 2014. World Health Organization.