Domestic Violence and Social Support

The present outbreak of domestic violence in America endangers not only our physical well-being but as well as the veracity of fundamental communal establishments such as the family, the societies where we live, and our health care organization (Mercy, Rosenberg, Powell, Broome, & Roper, 1993).

Domestic violence is a subject that is profoundly personal for me as I was a victim.  Domestic violence abuse can be corporeal, poignant, sexual, financial manipulation and negligence and can include assault and battery with a deadly weapon, illegal trespass, disorderly demeanor, intimidating, abduction, and observer coercion (FindLaw, n.d.).  Domestic violence accounts for 21% of all violent oppression and a greater fraction of females were victims than men (US Census Bureau, 2014).  Every year, at least 3.3 million children are at risk of experiencing parental violence (Edleson, 1999). 

Reported studies have shown that children who witness domestic violence develop problems in two main categories; behavioral and emotional functioning, and cognitive functioning and attitudes (Edleson, 1999).  Children with difficulties in behavioral and emotional functioning display more hostile, rebellious, apprehensive, and repressed behavior (Edleson, 1999). Furthermore, amplified violence exposure is linked with reduced cognitive functioning (Edleson, 1999).

The consequences of domestic violence, both in the long and the short-term can be tremendously damaging to the physical, emotional and monetary well-being of the victim. A tenacious topic is the result on the mental health of children who witness marital abuse. While most domestic violence pursues recurring examples, the influences can be particularly demoralizing to all immersed accomplices in the long run.

Subsequently, numerous procedures have been implemented by most countries to fight domestic violence, from presenting awareness about the controversy impending, to prompting victims to come out and communicate their quandary (Mercy et al., 1993). Perpetrators are frequently either penalized by stringent rulings, or recommended counseling and rehabilitation, specifically for isolated, less harsh occurrences (Mercy et al., 1993).

Current interventions and programs include assessment instruments to detect women who have been abused (Wathen & Macmillan, 2003).  Approaches that direct male batterers only or with their companions signify the biggest group of interventions (Wathen & Macmillan, 2003).

One survey discovered that a procedure for treatment of battered women displayed some basic helpful changes, such as referrals for additional intervention services (Wathen & Macmillan, 2003).

A study of the use of domestic safety orders and an advanced experimental study of permissible assistance and therapy presented favorable outcomes that these permissible interventions can decrease domestic violence (Wathen & Macmillan, 2003).  Additionally, most state laws are no longer limited to a female victim and male offender; they now pertain to couples of any gender order, including same-sex couples (Hall, 2014).  Since I reside in California, I chose to research some of the different policies and punishments for domestic violence offenders in California and in Arizona.  What I found is that California usually handles spousal abuse more earnestly than other types of abuse (FindLaw, n.d.). 

Physical injury on a significant other can result in serving a few years or 25 years depending on if the perpetrator is charged with a misdemeanor or felony based on California’s three strikes law (FindLaw, n.d.).

Spousal battery is considered a misdemeanor and can result in fines of up to $2,000 and up to one year in county confinement (FindLaw, n.d.).  Physical injury on a spouse however, can be felonies punishable by two to four years in confinement and a fine of up to $6,000 (FindLaw, n.d.).

Although the consequences of domestic violence may seem punitive enough to some, some feel there should be harsher punishment and rehabilitation facilities that specialize in domestic violence. There is no solitary solution for domestic violence; many factors come into play. Some recommendations and solutions that would address domestic violence and improve marriage and family relationships are better reporting habits, more effective treatment programs, collective law enforcement tactics, home inspection and family provision services, and comprehensive assessments in health care venues.  The majority of research on domestic violence is shown amongst women who are now receiving domestic violence assistance and the quantity of women who do not pursue services or admit domestic abuse significantly exceeds those who do obtain assistance Aldridge, 2013).

The National Domestic Violence

Hotline (n.d.), provides several resources for victims of domestic violence such as, beneficial conflict solution, placing limitations, communication, consent, and trust.  According to Dr. King (2018), an experienced psychologist and domestic violence activist, valuable domestic violence therapy endorses change for batterers and rebuilding for domestic abuse victims. Dr. King’s book which is featured on her website, provides insight on how emotional and verbal abuse come from the abuser’s defenselessness, not authority, therefore helping the partners in taking the initial step on ending the progression of domestic abuse (King, 2018). 

Even though developments in information and comprehension about the influences of domestic violence on females' lives, international studies on violence toward women displays the need for examination that not only stations women in the limelight in research practices, but also includes them more collectively in authentic discourse about their incidents, along with their independent standpoints (Aldridge, 2013). This is primarily the case for disregarded and communally omitted women sufferers of domestic violence, like those who are not recognized and who endure disparaging relationships desolated or with limited external backing (Aldridge, 2013). 

Data from studies propose that women's ability to reach out are jeopardized by several significant influences, and that these are also shown in the conflicts amongst small and large studies and awareness of the effect of domestic violence on women (Aldridge, 2013).  This is predominantly relevant because the methods for detecting uncorroborated women sufferers of domestic violence, enlisting them to research studies and urging them to expose abuse in order for them to make critical evolutions from casualty to survivor, are oppressed with virtually limitless predicaments and disputes that are held up in the connection between micro and macro realms, between women's individual knowledge as the victims of domestic violence, and the impact of abundant wider societal, ethical and economic gestures.

Women are programmed into thinking they cannot live without their abusive partners, but they need to realize that there are so many resources and ways to get out of abusive relationships.  The destruction an abusive relationship can cause is sometimes hard to come back from, but putting yourself and your children first, is the best thing to do.

Surviving an abusive relationship has taught many women how to be content and self-assured without being reliant on a relationship.

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