Explanations For Domestic Violence

Question 1

What are the problems with official statistics on domestic violence?

Answer 1

It understates the true extent of the problem for two main reasons which are
Firstly, victim may be unwilling to report it to the police on average a woman suffers 35 assaults before making a report
Dar argues victims are less likely to report other victims of violence because they believe it is too trivial

The other reason is that domestic violence is not often recorded
Police and prosecuters may be reluctant to record those cases which are reported to them because they do not want to become involved in the family

They believe the state should not interfere in private spheres
They see family as a good thing, ignoring the dark side
They assume a woman is free to leave if she is experiencing abuse

Question 2

What is the radical feminist explanation for domestic abuse?
Ao1

Answer 2

Men are the enemy and that they use violence or the threat of it to dominate women

Dobash and dobash argue that in patriarchal societies, there is cultural support for the view that men have the right to discipline their wives or partners

And the main reason for abuse is that the Wife was not performing her domestic duties to his satisfaction
A study showed that many women are economically dependent on men since many women are poorly paid in employment.
Radical feminist suggest that domestic violence is an inevitable feature of patriarchal society

Question 3

What is the radical feminist evaluation for domestic violence?
Ao3

Answer 3

Radical feminist fail to explain female violence and child abuse by women and violence against male partners
For example, it would be difficult to explain the actions of Vanessa George who sexually assaulted children in the nursery where she worked by claiming that society is patriarchal

And they wrongly assumed that all women are equally at risk of patriarchal violence, but fail to explain which women are more likely to be victims

Question 4

Materialist explanation for domestic labour
Ao1

Answer 4

Wilkinson and Pickett see domestic violence as the result of stress on family members caused by social inequality
He argues that families on low incomes or overcrowded housing are likely to experience higher levels of stress
This reduces their chances of maintaining stable and caring relationships and increases the risk of conflict and violence.
For example worries about money, jobs and housing may spill over into domestic conflict as tempers become sprayed

Question 5

Materialist explanations of the causes of domestic labour
Ao3

Answer 5

Wilkinsons approach is useful in showing how social inequality produce stress and triggers conflict and violence in Families
As those in lower social classes face greater hardship leading to stress, this helps to explain the class difference in the statistics on domestic violence

Question 6

Marxist feminists explanations for domestic violence
Ao1

Answer 6

They see inequality causing domestic violence
Ansley describes wives as the takers of shit
Domestic violence is the product of capitalism not patriarchy as male workers are exploited at work and they take their frustration out on their wives

Question 7

Marxist feminist explanations on domestic violence
Ao3

Answer 7

Fails to explain why not all make workers commit acts of violence against their partners and it doesn’t account for cases of female domestic violence