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Assignment is about the domestic violence and abuse have been increasing in many parts of the world at a rapid pace

Home, - Domestic violence

Introduction

Domestic violence is the violence that one person commits to another person when they are in a domestic relationship, which can be either marriage of cohabitation. Domestic violence is one of the leading causes of deaths of women in the world. It can, contrary to popular belief, occur for men as well as women, though most often, women are the victims. Domestic violence can be physical, sexual, mental, economic and emotional (Strom, Warner, Tichavsky, & Zahn, 2014). In many Asian countries, sexual domestic violence, which is often exhibited in the form of marital rape, is not considered to be a valid form of domestic violence, since consent is implied in a marital setting. However, it is often men who are overlooked by providers of healthcare, due to the stigma that is related to male domestic violence. Domestic violence, while it is condemned in many countries, is often allowed in many countries, if the circumstances mitigate the violence, according to the laws of the country. 

Domestic Violence 

As a sociological issue, domestic violence is often explained by the family violence theories. It looks at domestic violence as related to various conflicts that arise in the home that are related to control. It can thus, be viewed from the inspection of social structures that surround violence and the home (Lawson, 2012). The other main sociological theory is the feminist theory, which looks at domestic violence as the expression of patriarchy and the control that men have towards women. The following essay will aim to look at both these theories, which are the most popular theories that try to explain domestic violence. 

The most common family values theories are systems theory, exchange/social control theory and resources theory. Systems theory looks at how the overall systems that are interconnected that can lead to the behaviour (Labella &Masten, 2018). It aims to explain the behaviour of the individual through the context of the behaviour. This theory can be used to explain some aspects of domestic violence, such as the importance of society and family values. Studies have shown that the chances of a child who has seen their parents abuse each other, or watched the mother be a victim of domestic violence, would be an abuser themselves. This is called the intergenerational cycle of abuse, and can explain how so many abusers have either been witnesses to abuse, or have been abused themselves (Begum, Donta, Nair &Prakasam, 2015). Another way in which this theory can look at abuse is by looking at society and how it normalizes the abuse of women in many cases. 

The social control theory, which is the second of the family values theory, proposes that people have an inherent moral nature inside them, that is manifested in the way that relationships, norms, values and beliefs encourage them not to break the law(Bates,Graham-Kevan & Archer,2014). Thus, it can explain how in countries where domestic violence is permitted by the law, such as marital rape in India, there are a greater number of offenders, since the abuse is not seen to be in violation of the law. In countries that criminalize abuse, and have enforced the punishment, it is seen that the cases of abuse are less. 

The resources theory looks at how domestic violence is often used as a resource that can enable social interaction better. This would have to do with the mindset of society, which looks at how men and women have to behave (Heath, 2014). In most cultures, it is essential for the woman to be subservient and for men to control the women around them. Thus, in order to men to effectively socially interact with other men, they would have to violate the women who are not subservient. 

Most family theories, such as the social control theory and the systems theory have been proven to apply in the context of domestic violence, and may be able to explain the statistics that are related to domestic violence. They may also help in understanding methods to stop domestic violence, such as an adherence to ensuring that witnesses to domestic violence and children who may have been abused get the professional help that is needed in order to ensure that the violence is not repeated. The change would thus, have to be brought into the mindset of the people in the society, and the law of the country as a whole (Michailakis& Schirmer, 2014). Since the family values theory looks at how family values, which are often an extension of societal norms and values can increase or decrease the rate of domestic violence, it thus stands that there should be changes that are brought to the family. This also means that there are changes that should be brought to the society itself, so that the changes are magnified, which can break the intergenerational cycle of abuse. 

The other main theory is the feminist theory, which looks at how domestic violence occurs when there is the subjugation of women by men. It looks at trying to understand and find ways to end domestic violence by recognizing the customs, types of relationships and ideas that promote this type of violence. Some of the ideas would be written in the holy texts, such as in the Koran and the Bible. It also aims to include the contribution of culture and traditions to the idea of gender violence, which often translates to domestic violence. Patriarchy is a huge part of the culture, and is the main reason that men are expected to be violent, short-tempered and dominant, while women are expected to be subservient and meek (George & Stith, 2014). Feminist theory claims that by changing the idea of masculinity and toxic masculinity, and by enabling men to stop viewing women as objects or bodies, a lot of domestic abuse cases can be resolved. There is a lot of research and evidence that supports the theory, which looks at countries and cultures where the role of the woman is equal to that of a man, and cultures that do not expect women to be subservient and meek, and have found that cases of domestic violence have significantly reduced to a very large extent (Anthias, 2014). The feminist theory, in many ways, takes the blame away from the families, and places it as a whole on society. The theory does imply that the individual abuser is not at fault, but it does imply that the society that they have grown up can be a huge contributor. In this sense, it encompasses the family values theory. 

Thus, due to the overwhelming evidence that favours the theory, and the ability for common people to understand the theory and put the solutions based on the theory into practice, the feminist theory is able to offer more perspective on domestic violence. Since the theory looks at both the individual and the society, and offers specific traits that could be identified as the issue, it is able to better explain domestic violence. 

In accordance with the theory, the solution would be prevention and awareness. Both of them go hand in hand, since it often awareness that leads to prevention. Prevention is ensuring that the crime does not happen in the first place, for which awareness of the crime is important. Women should know the markers for violence, which when it is not physical, is sometimes difficult to understand. Prevention is also used to root out the hallmarks of domestic violence, such as ingrained sexism and toxic masculinity (Cattaneo& Goodman, 2015). Awareness would to a large part also include seminars for health professionals and law enforcement that can help them identify the markers of violence. The violence could be emotional, economic or mental, for which there might not any physical signs. Thus, law enforcement should be able to understand and be able to communicate with a violence victim so that they can ensure that the victim does not suffer to a large extent (George& Stith, 2014). Thus, it is absolutely essential that health professionals be taught as well, since they are often the first people who might be able to notice the signs. These would be the basic recommendations that would be made to the Royal Commission. 

Conclusion

Domestic violence and abuse have been increasing in many parts of the world at a rapid pace. This could be due to the rise in religious fundamentalism, or shift in economic power in most countries. Many governments have been trying their best to control the abuse, and there have been shelters that have been set up to protect women who are victims of abuse. To that effect, the Royal Commission that has been set-up by the Victorian government has been extremely effective in controlling the amount of abuse in many cases. While it may seem hard to stop the abuse if women completely, it is only by changing the mindset of men, and ensuring that there are check-points at every hospital and police station that can help woman report and escape from a domestic partner, that the harm that domestic violence has, at least in terms of physical abuse can be reduced. 

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