IPV and Domestic Violence is a Social Problem

Intimate partner violence (IPV) refers to violence between two people involved in an intimate relationship, and it occurs in all countries, irrespective of social, economic, religious or cultural group. One of the most common forms of violence against women is that performed by a husband or an intimate male partner (Akhter 2015). The world health organization’s reports the rates across ten countries ranging from the extremes of 15 to 71% of women reporting physical or sexual abuse by their intimate partner (Akhter 2015) beyond that, The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey shows an annual estimate of 4.2 million intimate partner violence related physical assaults, rapes, and stalking perpetrated against women (Lohman 2013).

Intimate partner violence among African Americans attributes a great deal of significance to the masculine frustrations of African American men, which have been precipitated by their political and economic subordination to White men (Hampton 2003). Intimate partner violence occurs more often in societies in which men have economic and decision-making power in the household, where women do not have easy access to divorce, and where adults routinely resort to violence to resolve their conflicts.

Once initiated, violent patterns of interacting and resolving conflict with romantic partners become difficult to break (short 2013). women are often emotionally involved with and economically dependent on those who victimize them and has major implications for both the dynamics of abuse and the approaches to dealing with it. partner violence is more common in places where war or other conflicts or social behaviors are taking place or have recently taken place.

Where violence has become commonplace and individuals have easy access to weapons, social relations including the roles of men and women are frequently disrupted. During these times of economic and social disruption, according to center for women’s studies and development, the more educated and better employed the wife is compared to her husband, the more likely she is to experience intimate partner violence (Jin 2014).women are often more independent and take on greater economic responsibility, whereas men may be less able to fulfil their culturally expected roles as protectors and providers. Such factors may well increase partner violence, but evidence for this remains largely anecdotal.

Others have suggested that structural inequalities between men and women, rigid gender roles and notions of manhood linked to dominance, male honor and aggression, all serve to increase the risk of partner violence. This paper aims, therefore, to present a rigorous review of various contributing social factors of intimate partner violence.

METHODS

Through literature search of primary sources was undertaken of three databases: ProQuest, EBSOhost, JSTOR. To identify appropriate studies various search terms including ‘domestic violence’ AND ‘contributing factor’, ‘intimate partner violence’ AND ‘contributing factor’. Alternative terms for intimate partner violence including: ‘intimate partner abuse’, ‘spousal abuse’, ‘martial violence’ were also used. Peer-reviewed, full text articles were accepted from the above listed databases. during the period of 2000-2019 were included to obtain only current and relevant literature. All articles included both nationally and internationally conducted studies. And last but not least Each article was closely read and the main points and findings, strength and limitations of each documents were summarized. The data collected was systematically sorted by relevance to the research question of what social factors contribute to men’s response to domestic violence situations with their female partners.

RESULTS

Various social factors are summarized here, according to the focus of the social factors that contribute to domestic violence situations within female partners such as young age; witnessing or suffering family violence as a child; suffering sexual abuse as a child; alcohol and substance abuse; relationships characterized by inequality and power imbalance; poverty, economic stress, and unemployment; gender inequality; lack of institutional support or sanctions; low self-esteem; social isolation; and social norms that support traditional gender norms, condone violence, or promote models of masculinity that are based on the abuse of power and aggressiveness are all big factors in intimate partner violence. 

Income and violence

Women who are economically dependent on their abusers are less able to leave and more likely to return to abusive partners. Further, the degree of women’s economic dependence on an abuser is associated with the severity of the abuse they suffer. Greater economic dependence is associated with more severe abuse. Third, economic abuse is in itself a form of domestic abuse since abusive partners may act in ways that harm women financially and undermine their ability to become financially independent. Examples of economic abuse include limiting women’s access to funds and undermining their ability to gain employment or attend school concluded that those factors have caused someone to be vulnerable to violence outside and inside the home.

Alcohol intake

Another study examined the relationship between alcohol consumption and domestic violence. alcohol was thought to have increased aggression and suggested that while under the influence of alcohol immediate contextual factors might have been seen as more threatening than they actually were which led to an episode of domestic abuse. Alcohol use directly affects cognitive and physical function, reducing self-control and leaving individuals less capable of negotiating a non-violent resolution to conflicts within relationships (Ozdemir 2014). Excessive drinking by one partner can exacerbate financial difficulties, childcare problems etc.

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