Domestic Violence

Question 1

Radical Feminist explanation and a criticism of this argument

Answer 1

Millet / Firestone
• all societies have been founded on patriarchy, men are the enemy
• male domination of state institutions explains why police don’t intervene

Criticism
• failed to explain female violence or which women are at risk

Question 2

What was Dobash & Dobash’s study of domestic violence called?

Answer 2

Violence against Wives

Question 3

What method did Dobash and Dobash use for their study?

Answer 3

Unstructured Interviews with continual contact / observation

Question 4

What did Dobash & Dobash find in their study?

Answer 4

• violent incidents were set off by a challenge to the husband’s authority
• women didn’t leave abusive relationships because of financial problems or self-esteem/confidence issues

Question 5

Materialist explanation of domestic violence (sociologist)

Answer 5

Wilkinson
• explains violence as a result of stress on family members caused by social inequalities eg. money, jobs, housing worries
- this leads to social isolation

Question 6

The ‘dark figure’ of official statistics

Answer 6

• The police may be unwilling to record or investigate crimes in the family

Cheal
• the family is a private sphere
• the police ignore the darker side
• they argue that individuals are free agents