Domestic Violence: Agents That First Defined Domestic Violence as a Social Problem

Domestic violence is described as any form of intimidation, physical assault, sexual assault and other forms of abusive behavior perpetrated by one intimate partner against another. The violence may be physical, sexual, psychological and even emotional. The main cause of domestic violence has been identified as the quest for power and control of one partner towards the other. This type of violence affects individuals in every community regardless of age, sexual orientation, economic status, race, religion, and nationality. Domestic violence is a major cause of physical injury, psychological trauma and in some cases, death. Domestic violence has had a long history in the society, and its definition has changed over the years. It has been a public concern which many people have viewed as a social problem. The discussion will analyze the history of domestic violence, why it is referred to as a social problem, the debates surrounding it and the theoretical perspectives that can be used to explain it. 

History of Domestic Violence 

Before the mid-17 th century, various legal entities viewed wife beating as a justified exercise of the husband’s authority over the wife. During the 19 th century, political activism led to the initiation of changes with regards to popular opinion and legislation regarding domestic violence especially in the United Kingdom and America. Tennessee was the first state in the United States to illegalize wife beating in the year 1850. A matrimonial act in the UK made it possible for a wife to legally seek separation from an abusive husband in the 1870s. Also, by the end of the 1870s, sensitization concerning domestic violence had increased as courts in the US rejected claimed rights of husbands to physically abuse their wives as a way of discipline. By the start of the 20 th century, the department of the police became vigilant in intervening in cases of domestic violence, but arrests were still few. Proper legal interventions on matters of domestic violence began in the late 20 th century, particularly from the 1990s. The United nations, in the year 1993 published strategies for confronting domestic violence urging countries around the world to treat domestic violence as a criminal act. 

Before the publication by the UN, legal systems regarded domestic violence to be outside the scope of the law as pointed out by Dutton (2011). Domestic violence was viewed through different lenses as the physical discipline of the children was allowed and even encouraged. Many legal systems around the world also allowed for a moderate physical abuse of the wife. Also, legal institutions did not find any fault with husbands who forcefully encountered their wives into sexual activities against their wills. There was also a general belief that women tolerated and even enjoyed violence leveled against them by their husbands. In the recent years, domestic violence has been defined as a legal impunity which several measures have been taken to end. The Istanbul Convention was put in place to deal with domestic violence across Europe. It sought to end the toleration, in law or practice, of domestic violence. Also, in recent years, the scope of the definition of domestic violence has widened to accommodate acts such as honor killings, forced marriages and dowry deaths. With regards to domestic violence against children, little has been done historically to mitigate it. The Ancient Rome culture allowed a father to kill his son and also many other cultures allowed for the selling of children into slavery. Therefore, with the intervention of international bodies such as the United Nations and other European organizations such as the Istanbul convention, it is very evident that domestic violence has been of great public concern over the years. With the increased vigilance by the legal system also proves that there is an increasing consensus that domestic violence is a social problem. 

Agents That First Defined Domestic Violence as a Social Problem 

Various movements that sought to stop domestic violence emerged because they understood that the abuse was not an individual problem to the women but rather a social problem. The movements also understood that cultural institutions reinforced the idea of violence within people in an intimate relationship. During the mid-20 th century, civil rights and anti-war movements sprouted that challenged various countries and laid the foundation for feminist movements. Such groups gained ground in the 1970s as spousal abuse became a public concern. The social movements that were responsible for highlighting domestic violence as a social problem during this time include the women's liberation movement, the women's health movement, and the anti-rape movements. These movements led to the formation of the battered women's movement that was responsible for the opening of many battered women's shelters in the United States. 

The political class, especially in the United States, played a critical role in defining domestic violence as a social problem. The Congress in 1984 passed a bill called the Family Violence Prevention Service Act. The act was geared towards establishing projects and programs that would stop incidences of family violence and provide shelter and other forms of assistance for the victims. Apart from political interventions, public awareness campaigns have also been carried out at national, state and local levels in a bid to publicize domestic violence as a social problem. Large foundation and government agencies were on the forefront to fund research efforts such as projects to identify intervention problems. 

Public Debates Surrounding Domestic Violence 

Johnson (2010) asserted that one major debate that has existed with regards to domestic violence is the men's versus the women's involvement in perpetrating the violence. It is widely believed both in the academic scholarship and the culture that men are always the perpetrators of the violence and women the victims. However, there is a contemporary discussion that claims that domestic or family violence is gender equal or gender neutral. Men's and father's groups that represent their rights claim that as much as the focus is emphasized on the violence directed to the women, men are also at risk of being a target of violence from women and other men too. The debate also involves the claims that men should be protected as much as women are protected with regards to domestic violence. Another public debate that has surrounded this matter is the conundrum whether domestic violence is a private matter or a social problem. Those who think that domestic violence is a private issue reason that it affects individuals in families and hence does not have any implications for the society at large. However, those who feel that domestic violence is a social problem view it in a cyclic form. Children that are raised in families where they are abused tend to repeat the cycle either by becoming abusers themselves or becoming victims of abuse in the future. Also, domestic abuse leads to the involvement of police, courts, hospitals, schools, and neighbors all which are functions of the society. 

Relationship to Social Structure 

Social structure is the arrangement of institutions in the society that determine how people interact and live together. Social structure tends to explain matters such as integration and inequality that are built in the society. Social structure also focuses on gender roles in the society and the place of the man and the woman in the societal hierarchies. According to Aizer (2010), domestic violence relates to social structure because it outlines the overall position of the man in relation to the woman in the society. Many societies have elevated the position of the male gender into a superior one, and the woman is supposed to remain submissive to the man. This, together with the superior gender roles associated with the male gender have created a sense of power to the man, and therefore domestic violence towards women could be viewed as an exercise of the many powers bestowed on the male gender. 

Theoretical Perspectives 

The theoretical perspective that best explains domestic violence from class is conflict. The conflict theory states that tensions and conflicts emerge in the society when resources, status, and power are not evenly distributed among groups in the society. About domestic violence, power would refer to the man's social status relative to others such as women and children. When domestic violence involves a man who assaults a woman, the conflict could be viewed to have resulted from a power difference that has been created by gender. Conflict in domestic violence could also be viewed through the lenses of the women's determination to have change. So many groups in the society that fight for women's rights have been formed in a bid to acquire social change. In the process, a conflict arises because the movements are aimed at victimizing a group of people who are responsible for perpetrating the domestic violence further continuing the theme of conflict in the society. 

In conclusion, domestic violence is a historical problem that continues to affect humanity till today. However, with the increased sensitization and awareness that has been created by civil groups, the judicial system, and politicians, strong measures have been put in place to curb the menace that has threatened to destroy many families. 

References 

Aizer, A. (2010). The gender wage gap and domestic violence.  The American economic review ,  100 (4), 1847. 

Dutton, D. G. (2011).  Rethinking domestic violence . UBC Press. 

Johnson, M. P. (2010).  A typology of domestic violence: Intimate terrorism, violent resistance, and situational couple violence . Up.