Domestic violence

Question 1

DV is…

Answer 1

violence in the fam

Question 2

how was DV viewed in the past?

Answer 2

-perpetrators in society were known as ‘sick individuals’
-DV was caused by factors to do with the individual perpetrators (psychological state)

Question 3

(reasons for DV)

RF argue…

Answer 3

-DV is not caused due to factors of an individual
-it is caused by social factors (society)
reasons?
* too common, cant be due to some sick individuals (psychopaths)
* patterns of victimisation- certain social groups have a higher rate of victimisation:
-women
-children
-people from low-income families
the perpetrators in all these cases are usually men

Question 4

Official stats for DV

Answer 4

collected by police- show certain groups are more likely to be victims:
1. lowest social classes, low income, rented accomodation
2. young people
3. longterm illness or disabilities
4. women

Question 5

Official stats- problems

Answer 5

-they lack validity (aren’t accurate)
why?:
* they have a dark figure (particularly DV)
* official stats are underestimated (there are missing stats)- unlike other crimes, DV is less likely to get reported, reasons?
-child abuse- children are unaware of being a victim
-women- economically dependant for children
-emotional ties to perpetrator
-fear of abuse will get worse
-lack of faith in police

Question 6

Yearnshire (reporting)

Answer 6

highlights dark figure:
-females hit on an average of 35-37 times before informing an agency
-this still goes down as one incident (hightlights rate of underreporting)

Question 7

Cheal (recording)

Answer 7

in order to record a crime, it must be recorded by police- but they are less likely to record DV, why?
1. police view family as a private sphere- and so are less likely to get involved in family business
2. agents of social control (police are more likely to be men)- this means less empathy for female victims

Question 8

Unofficial stats

Answer 8

rape in marriage is very common)
-1 in 4 women are raped in marriage
-women are more likely to be raped by somone they know
-95% of rapes are never reported
-6% of rapes are resulted in conviction

Question 9

the cause of DV- CE

Answer 9

Millet and Firestone:
DV is due to patriarchy, why?
-women seen as property of men, evidence?institution of marriage:
-traditionally, women given away by father (implies she’s the property of a man)
-adopts man’s surname
Creates ideology that men can discipline women- for this reason RF see men as the enemy
RF Heidensohn and Carlen:
-convictions engage in victim blaming and they’re very patriarchal
-the alleged victim who was put on the stand is questioned
Dobash and Dobash’s study- linked to patriarchy

Question 10

AO3- Support of RF

Answer 10

explains why patterns are the way they are

Question 11

AO3- Weaknesses of RF

Answer 11

1. They ignore and don’t explain the female domestic violence against men and children
2. official statistics are bigger and the dark figure for men as victims of domestic violence
3. the theory implies all men are the enemy and the majority of men are against domestic violence

Question 12

Why do low income people have higher rates of domestic violence?

Answer 12

-poorer people suffer from material deprivation
-families like this suffer from stress and suffer from insecurities and experience overcrowding
-this slips into acts of domestic violence

Question 13

AO3: strengths

Answer 13

explains why low income families on rented accommodations have higher rates of domestic violence

Question 14

Criticisms:

Answer 14

doesn’t explain why women are the victims

Question 15

Murray

Answer 15

Believes that low income families have higher crime rates, reasons?
-fraud benefits
-deviant culture
-delinquency and domestic violence (part of culture)
domestic violence is part of their culture