Domestic violence

Question 1

What evidence do sociologists give which challenges the view that domestic violence is the behaviour of a few disturbed or ‘sick’ individuals?

Answer 1

1. Domestic violence is far too widespread to simply be the work of a few individuals
   - Women’s Aid Federation (2014): domestic violence accounts for between 1/6 and 1/4 of all reported crime
   - Crime Survey for England and Wales (2013): 2 million people reported having been victims of domestic abuse during the previous year
2. Domestic violence doesn’t occur randomly
   - It follows social patterns and these patterns have social causes
   - Coleman et al (2007): women were more likely than men to have experienced ‘intimate violence’ across all 4 types of abuse
   - Coleman and Osborne (2010): 2 women a week are killed by a partner or former partner

Question 2

What did the Crime Survey for England and Wales (2013) find?

Answer 2

There was a relatively narrow gender gap in victims of domestic abuse:

• 7.3 % of women
• 5% of men

Question 3

Whta is some evidence of a very significant gender gap?

Answer 3

• Walby and Allen (2004): women were much more likely to be victims of multiple incidents of abuse and of sexual violence
• Ansara and Hindin (2011): women suffered more severe violence and control, with more serious psychological effects
• Dar (2013): it can be difficult to count separate domestic violence incidents, as abuse may be continuous, or may occur so often that the victim can’t reliably count the instances

Question 4

What are the 2 reasons why official statistics understate the true extent of the problem of domestic violence?

Answer 4

1. Victims may be unwilling to report it to the police
   - Yearnshire (1997): a woman suffers 35 assaults on average before making a report
2. Police and prosecutors may be reluctant to record, investigate or prosecute those cases that are reported to them
   - Cheal (1991): police and other state agencies aren’t prepared to become involved in the family and make 3 assumptions:
   a) the family is a private sphere so shouldn’t be infiltrated
   b) the family is a good thing and so agencies tend to neglect the ‘darker side’
   c) individuals are free agents, so it’s assumed that a woman is free to leave if she’s experiencing abuse

Question 5

What is the radical feminist explanation of domestic violence?

Answer 5

• Millett and Firestone (1970): all societies have been founded on patriarchy
• Family and marriage are the key institutions in patriarchal society and the main sources of women’s oppression
• This helps to explain why most domestic violence is committed by men

Question 6

What is the evaluation of the radical feminist explanation?

Answer 6

• Robertson Elliot (1996): not all men are aggressive and most are opposed to domestic violence
• Fail to explain female violence, including child ause
• Wrongly assume that all women are equally at risk of patriarchal violence

Question 7

What is the materialist explanation of domestic violence?

Answer 7

• Focuses on economic and material factors such as inequalities in income and housing to explain why some groups are more at risk than others
• Wilkinson and Pickett (2010): domestic violence is the result of stress on family members caused by social inequality
• Worries about money, jobs and housing may spill over into domestic conflict as tempers become frayed
• Lack of money and time restricts people’s social circle and reduces social support for those under stress

Question 8

What is the evaluation of the materialist explanation of domestic violence?

Answer 8

• Wilkinson and Pickett don’t explain why women rather than men are more likely to be the main victim
• Marxist feminists also see inequality causing domestic violence. Ansley (1972): women are ‘takers of shit’. Domestic violence is the product of capitalism: male workers are exploited at work and take out their frustration on their wives