Theories Of Domestic Violence: Understanding The Psychological Factors Behind Battering And Abuse

Intervention Programs for Battered Women

Question:

Discuss about the Counseling for the therapeutic efficacy of Domestic.

For several decades, domestic violence has been a public issue by being widespread in many countries. It has become the important cause of injury to the female between the age of 12 and 50. One out of every three women has been the victim of physical violence, and one out of five women has been the victim of sexual violence.  Both type of violence on women is mostly inflicted by their male partner in the form of rape, injury, and even killing.  Even the married women with children are also the assaulted victims (Frayer & Martin, 2014).  Domestic violence is common in social, ethnic and economic backgrounds. It also refers to the type of abuse which prevails within the home, between couples or between the family members. Violence and trauma are inter-related with each other. Trauma preceeds violence because trauma is an emotional response to the disastrous incident like rape, accident or also the natural incident. It s a very unpredictable event. Trauma may be short term or long term. The long term effects include flashbacks of the past incidents, fluctuations in the emotions and relationships.  Although this domestic violence has been the issue for ages, no proper measures have been taken to eliminate this, but several theories have been postulated to curb this issue by many authors (Howard et al., 2013).

As described by the feminist rationale, it is defined as the physically and mentally assault of the female partner by their male partner.  This violence has broadly become the patriarchal control in the family and also in the society. There are many components of violence – physical, sexual and intimidation, threats, isolation, stalking and spiritual, financial and emotional abuse.  Physical violence includes pushing, hitting, beating and choking. Sexual violence includes unwanted sexual practices, rape. Weapons were displaying, looks, gestures are a part of intimidation. Isolation means not allowing the victim to meet the family or friends. Financial abuse means control of money to the victim for the personal needs. The domestic violence followed four phases in the violence cycle-abuse occurs, reconciliation, calm and built up tension (Trevillion et al., 2012).

As cited by author

Many intervention programs by the Society welfare development have been started to aid the battered and helpless women by providing them shelter to live their life and also providing them the important necessities to further reconstruct their lives.  Many sexual assault centers and domestic violence centers were being opened up; legal services were adopted for such women and counseling services were given to the women (Hackett et al., 2015).

Many theories regarding the domestic violence trauma have emerged in sometime because the researchers feel that these theories are necessary to have a common and better understanding of the domestic violence. These theories could help the communities to have better and more effective response towards violence, and this also provides protection to the victims by avoiding conflictions (Potter, et al., 2015).

Theories of Domestic Violence Trauma

According to a theory of battering, which was introduced in the 1970s reveals that such men mentality were based on psychopathology.  It showed that the men who used to abuse their wives and beat them were ill at a mental level, and specific medication could cure them. Psychologists also found that such people’s behavior does not match to their desire profiles who commit such violence. Batterers keep this violence limited to their intimate partners only but in the case of people suffering from schizophrenia, does not limit their violence to their partners but it spreads to the other members of the family (Perez et al., 2012).

The theory of Stockholm syndrome,  reveals the attachment between the victim and the captor. This issue revolves around the point that despite being battered the battered women protect and love their abusers. This happens because the person threatens by the captor starts developing some fondness for the captor even if he shows some sort of kindness to the victim.  The victim in this theory feels that if she loves her abuser irrationally and unconditionally then the abuser would eventually love her. But in turn, the abuser gives her false hopes and encouragement as long as he wants to. This is the victim develops an unhealthy attachment in a positive way to their abusers with a hope that one day they might leave their abusive nature and love them .  for ex, this theory was named after an incident which happened in Stockholm in Sweden where the bank robbery took place, and the robbers  took three women and one man in captivity. When the ordeal was about to end then, it was found that the victims themselves took the side of the captors, and they went out of their way to help the captors to escape from the punishment. Such psychological conditions make it impossible for the victims to get detached from the abuser in the hope that they might change (Smith, 2014).

Lenore Walker gave the theory of learned helplessness, where he showed that the inclination of the battered women to stay with their abusers. He explained the reasons that this decision taken by the women was not based on any cultural, social or economic factors but the will of the women themselves. He said that the consistency of the abuse tolerated by them strips of the feeling to get rid of it. Some of the reasons given by the women for staying are their children to whom they might not finance properly or the critisisation which they would get to hear from the community in which they are living. Then this theory is also based on the periodical changes in the women life. Initially, the women leave their batterers for a short period of time to run off the violence and also in the hope that they might change, but eventually, they realize that man’s violence could not be changed, and it is an integrated part of his behavior (Ali & Naylor,  2013).

The Theory of Battering

The learned theory of behavior was based on the violence which the men have learned during childhood in their families. For example, this theory suggests that a boy who have seen abuses on their mother and think that they are sought to be then they are seven times more batterer in nature whereas men who have seen violence since childhood they are not batterers and vow not to be so (Corvo, 2014).

The loss of control theory is very much related to the learned behavioral theory. Many believe that use of alcohols is one of the main reason for the men’s violence because after being drunk, loses control over their body and also on their brain which ultimately turn into violence.  But others think the men’s violence is due to unexpressed anger and frustration which they have curbed inside due to the gendered societal expectations.  There is also a contradiction in this that such battered men do not show their frustration or anger in their profession, but the outcome is always on the spouse (Anderberg et al., 2015).

Power and control theory is the theory explaining the different methods adopted by an abuser to maintain his control and power over his spouse. They adopt such tactics to show that they are superior and make their spouse submissive to them.  This concept of power in the batterer comes by seeing the violence during their childhood. The dominant feeling and inequality come along with the power theory. This superiority brings a socio-cultural differences between the spouses (Bellack et al., 2013).

The cycle of violence, another popular theory has become popular in the field of domestic violence. This theory states the fact that, since childhood, males were taught not to show their anger and frustration to anyone, so they were unable to express and as a result, these tensions used to get build up with them until he became violent and got exploded. But this tension was released when the man enjoys the courtship period of their honey moon, but when the experiences of women were taken into account, then it was revealed that such men were very unpredictable, almost random with their battering episodes. The researchers failed to explain this fact that why this rage was exploded against their intimate partners and not against anyone else (Anderberg et al., 2015).

The theory of Feminist says that there are primarily four reasons for the domestic violence done by the men toward their spouse. They are mainly the dominance power because the men have different perceptions towards resources of material and symbolic issues. Next is that in a family, abusing of the intimate partner is very much normal for the man. Thirdly, experiences and feelings of women are always denied by considering them inferior and in cultural. Lastly, the feminist supports the women’s advocacy (Dixon, 2014).

Evolutionary theory posits that today’s society has evolved from a simpler one to the more complex one. The families have also become smaller and nuclear than the larger ones and there by more ambiguous. This has resulted in the different parenting styles where the children are given less independence and more punishment (Daly & Wilson, 2013).

The Theory of Stockholm Syndrome

This is a case study, taken by (DVRCV), about Katherine, a resident of Australia, who has been the victim of domestic violence for years. She had bear all the signs of violence but could not understand the mentality of his husband who possessed dual face nature. on one side he used to beat her and on one side he used to present himself  in front of the others as he cannot withstand the wife-bashers. Katherine suffered all the isolation and beatings her husband used to do on her for a couple of years. Her life was in a terrible mess and fully horrendous and always she or her children were used to be blame by the husband for all the violence. At last, Katherine decided to put an end to it by coping up with the situations rather than tolerating it. At first, she adopted the strategy of copying where she did all possible means to keep her husband happy so that her husband does not get any chance to create any violence but when this strategy dint worked out, then she moved to the counseling strategy where she seek help from the center of domestic violence. She got immense help and support from that center. The women of the center at first gave her medical assistance to her bruising body as well as her mind. Then they shared her experiences of violence and understand her. Finally, when Katherine was fully recovered from the counseling strategy, the women went to the Family Court, to get her and children rid of her husband. When the court heard the story of Katherine, he ordered the husband as to make no contact with them. This decision was a major turning point in her life. Thus the strategy of copying and counseling helped Katherine to move out of her traumatic life and lead a healthy life free of domestic violence.

Post this comes the domestic violence trauma which is faced by every victim of the violence. The range of trauma could be mild to severe depending upon the victim’s reactions. These reactions could be cognitive, physical,  relational,  psychological, spiritual.  According to the stated reactions, the victim reacts as per their ease. Different people have different strategies to recover from the trauma. To overcome this, people brings changes in their daily routine to achieve this.

The diet strategy should be one of the most important ones in victim’s  life because it is essential for them as what they put in their body at this point in time. Many victims tend to use alcohols and drugs as they can suppress the trauma feeling for sometime but its not helpful in the long run. So, if the victim eats well then his body and mind would be healthy.

Relaxation and rest strategy is also one of the most suited factors for the traumatic patient as it can help them to achieve mental peace. Several people have the different methodology to have rest.  Some go for meditation or deep breathing exercises, or some listen to music or turn to religious phase.

The Theory of Learned Helplessness

The strategy of social contacts includes the victim’s family members, friends, and colleagues who play a pivotal role in victim’s life. They could be a beneficial strategy in reducing the stress of the victim .these people always look forward to the victim’s care and lessen the burden on the victim’s shoulder.  They don’t let the victim get isolated from the social company as it would lead the victim more towards the memories of violence.

The strategy of copying is the one which helps to deal with the traumatic effects where the survivor starts copying or mimic certain things to minimize the impact of violence related experiences. The victim starts adopting many techniques like self – medicate, switching on to crisis mode and ignoring any incidents related with the past (Iverson et al., 2013).

The most beneficial strategy to overcome the trauma is the counseling strategy. It has three phases to counsel the victim. In the first phase, the counselor tries to build a safety goal between him and the victim so that more attention is given to the basic health needs and avoidance of self- destructive activities. In the second phase, the counselor tries to explore the experience of the trauma at the root level with the patient. In the third phase, the counselor tries to reconnect the victim with the world socially (France et al., 2012).

One of the most horrendous abuse is the domestic violence which mostly affects the women in the society. According to the statistic report, 85% sufferers are the women, and 15% are men. This type of violence can occur to anyone irrespective of caste, religion, creed. The government should take action in three different areas to reduce the violence level against women.. Firstly, to expand knowledge about the violence, programs should be made to ensure that the problem of violence should be genuinely solved. Secondly, there should be the awareness in the public regarding the extent of the violence (Kundu et al., 2014). The people should be taught about the impact of the violence and the urgent need to eradicate it from the society. Thirdly, the system of support, one of the most strongest pillar of the victim who has experienced violence. This support system helps the victim to heal faster both mentally and physically. Thus, these measures should be an important part of any project to reduce the violence factors prevailing in the society which could cause serious hazards to the victim’s health, well- being and opportunities. Thus, the Commonwealth government has issued a plan which is a comprehensive one. This plan has provided immense opportunities to the victims to recover and lead a healthy and peaceful life whereas it provides severe punishments to the batterers. There are millions of people who are living in a relationship with an abusive atmosphere. Even if the victim’s physical wound gets heal with time but the psychological wounds remains for lifelong, Thus, recovery from the abusive violent is a gradual step by step process and this journey takes a longer time if the victim is alone (Stets,  2012).

References:

Ali, P. A., & Naylor, P. B. (2013). Intimate partner violence: A narrative review of the feminist social and ecological explanations for its causation. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 18(6), 611-619.

Anderberg, D., Rainer, H., Wadsworth, J., & Wilson, T. (2015). Unemployment and domestic violence: theory and evidence. The Economic Journal.

Bellack, A. S., Hersen, M., Morrison, R. L., & Van Hasselt, V. B. (Eds.). (2013). Handbook of family violence. Springer Science & Business Media.

Corvo, K. (2014). The role of executive function deficits in domestic violence perpetration. Partner Abuse, 5(3), 342-355.

Daly, M., & Wilson, M. (2013). Evolutionary social psychology and family homicide. The maladapted mind: Classic readings in evolutionary psychopathology, 115.

Dixon, J. (2014). Feminist Theory and Domestic Violence. In Encyclopedia of Criminology and Criminal Justice (pp. 1612-1617). Springer New York.

  A case study : sourced from Domestic Violence Resource Centre Victoria (DVRCV)

France, M. H., del Carmen Rodríguez, M., & McCormick, R. (2012). Counselling in the Indigenous Community. Diversity, Culture and Counselling: A Canadian Perspective, 2e, 65.

Frayer, D. W., & Martin, D. L. (2014). Troubled times: violence and warfare in the past (Vol. 3). Routledge.

Hackett, S., McWhirter, P. T., & Lesher, S. (2015). The therapeutic efficacy of domestic violence victim interventions. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 1524838014566720.

Howard, L. M., Oram, S., Galley, H., Trevillion, K., & Feder, G. (2013). Domestic violence and perinatal mental disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis. PLoS Med, 10(5), e1001452.

Iverson, K. M., Litwack, S. D., Pineles, S. L., Suvak, M. K., Vaughn, R. A., & Resick, P. A. (2013). Predictors of intimate partner violence revictimization: The relative impact of distinct PTSD symptoms, dissociation, and coping strategies. Journal of traumatic stress, 26(1), 102-110.

Kundu, H., Basavaraj, P., Singla, A., Kote, S., Singh, S., Jain, S., … & Vashishtha, V. (2014). Domestic Violence and its Effect on Oral Health Behaviour and Oral Health Status. Journal of clinical and diagnostic research: JCDR, 8(11), ZC09.

Perez, S., Johnson, D. M., & Wright, C. V. (2012). The attenuating effect of empowerment on IPV-related PTSD symptoms in battered women living in domestic violence shelters. Violence Against Women, 18(1), 102-117.

Potter, A. E., Davidson, M. M., & Wesselmann, D. (2015). Utilizing dialectical behavior therapy and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing as phase-based trauma treatment: A case study series. International Journal of Medical and Biological Frontiers, 21(2), 189.

Smith, D. M. (2014). Stockholm Syndrome. Wiley Encyclopedia of Forensic Science.

Stets, J. E. (2012). Domestic violence and control. Springer Science & Business Media.

Trevillion, K., Oram, S., Feder, G., & Howard, L. M. (2012). Experiences of domestic violence and mental disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis. PloS one, 7(12), e51740.