the dark side of the family

Question 1

Dobash and Dobash (1979:2007)

Answer 1

• violent incidents often happened when a man felt his authority has been challenged
• marriage legitimates violence against women by conferring power authority on husbands and dependency on wives

Question 2

Dar (2013)- the problems with statistics of DV

Answer 2

• knowing the number of victims does not say anything about the frequency, severity or the effects of the abuse suffered
• it is difficult to seperate and count different incidents as it may be a continuous threat or the victim may not be reliable
• ## women don’t see DV as a police issue or they worry about reprisals so don’t report it

Question 3

Walby and Allen (2004)

Answer 3

• women are more likely than men to be the victims of multiple incidents of abuse

Question 4

problems with official stats on DV- facts n statistics
Yearnshire, Cheal, 1 other point

Answer 4

• women suffer 35 assaults before reporting to police- Yearnshire 1997
• police are unwilling to record/investigate/prosecute because they don’t want to get involved in family/private matters- Cheal 1991
• individuals are free so women can choose to leave if they want

Question 5

radical feminist views on DV

Answer 5

• male dominance of social institutions mean police and courts are reluctant to deal with cases of DV
• Firestone and Millet suggest that men are the oppressors and exploiters of women, DV is evidence of patriarchy
• DV is an inevitable feature of patriarchal society, marriage and family are the main source of oppression
• hence most is man against women, norms of marriage also justify it

Question 6

against radfem view of DV

Answer 6

• Faith Robertson Elliot rejects the idea that all men benefit from violence against women because not all men are agressive or against women
• fail to explain violence that is not men against women
• not all women are equally at risk, some more than others

Question 7

how can DV be caused by material deprivation?
Wilson and Pickett

Answer 7

• Wilson and Pickett see DV as a result of stress caused by social inequality
• poorer families are more likely to end up in the child abuse stats because the frustration of material deprivation and children asking for things may frustrate parents

BUT they don’t explain why women are the main victims

Question 8

marxist feminist view on DV

Answer 8

• Ansley 1972 says wives are ‘takers of shit’ and DV is a product of capitalism because male workers are exploited at work and take out frustration on their wives

HOWEVER this doesn’t explain why all working men do not commit violence against their wives, doesn’t account for female violence

Question 9

what is ‘the dark side of the family’

Answer 9

any incident or pattern of incidents of controlling, coercive threatening behaviour,

violence or abuse between those aged
16 or over who have been
intimate partners or
family members
regardless of gender or sexuality

Question 10

what are some sociologists’ ideas about the dark side of the family?

Answer 10

• Vagel and Bell: children might be used as emotional scapegoats for adults to remove stress
• R.D Laing: families are the cuase of mental distress, family is a ‘tangled web of conflict and confusion’
• Leach: parents fight, kids rebel and the family becomes claustrophobic
• New Right: children are disadvantaged by dysfunctional family

Question 11

statistics about DV

Answer 11

• Stanko 2000: an incident is committed every 6 seconds
• BMA 1998: more likely during pregnancy, 1 in 10 women experience DV anually, 1 in 4 women experience it in their lives
• women are more at risk of SA by intimate partners/ family members than a stranger