Download Through a Sociological Lens: Social Structure and Family Violence

Domestic violence
Dfn: Violence between family members or
between men and women in intimate
relationships
 How common? My neighborhood
 How many of you know someone who has
been physically assaulted by someone in
their family or someone who they have
been dating?
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Sociology 1201
National Violence Against Women
Survey (NIJ, CDC) N=8000
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% of women who
reported having been
physically assaulted by
an intimate partner: 22%
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Beat up: 9%
Choked, tried to drown: 6%
Kicked, bit: 6%
Hit with object: 5%
Threatened with gun: 4%
Stalked: 5%
Raped: 8%
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Related issues of prevalence
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Are there abused men? In comparable survey,
8% of men reported physical assaults… in my
view, intimidation the key.
Domestic violence does take place within gay
and lesbian relationships, and is higher for men.
About ¼ of the kids in Unexpected Legacy had
witnessed violence by fathers against mothers…
these are mostly middle class, white families
Sociology 1201
Institutional Features (explain)
Source: Richard Gelles, Intimate Violence: The
Causes and Consequences of Abuse in the
American Family.
 Time at risk
 Intensity of involvement: primary group
 Right of influence
 Age and sex differences
 Ascribed roles
 Privacy
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Conflict theory/feminist theory: sex
In most forms of violence, males
predominate, and if we control for time
spent with the children, this is also true for
child abuse
Anthropology: The more sex equality in a
society, the less violence toward women.
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Social structure: Social class
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Gelles (Through a Sociological Lens: Social
Structure and Family Violence): “The risk of child
abuse, wife abuse, and elder abuse is greatest
among those who are poor, who are
unemployed, and who hold low-prestige jobs.”
Stress and the resources to handle it
successfully
Power in the home as a substitute for power in
the workplace? (2006 film: “The Waitress”
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Social structure: Age
Violence more common for those in the
15-35 age range (same as with street
crimes)
 These are also the prime years of family
formation
 For child abuse and elder abuse, an
obvious connection with age.
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Social structure: Race/ethnicity
Minorities over-represented
 Gelles says this reflects “both the reality
of greater risk of abuse and violence in
these groups and the fact that abuse and
violence in these groups are over-reported
to official agencies.”
 This may be largely the result of more
poverty and more persistent poverty
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Sociological theories: selected
propositions from Gelles
Violent acts by violent persons may
produce desired results (intimidation)
 The more resources a person has, the
less he or she will need to use force in an
open manner.
 Related to the first two propositions, the
principle of costs and rewards helps to
explain family violence.
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Sociology 1201
Why do victims stay?
Battered self-esteem and isolation
 Intimidation/fear of more violence
 Lack of resources
 Role of
police/prosecutors/family/community
 Religious misinterpretations
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Feminist theory and battering
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Gelles: “Feminist theory is becoming the
dominant model for explaining violence
toward women.”
 Cross
cultural research
 Contains both an explanation and a solution
 Many feminist scholars are sociologists
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“Feminist theory offers a single-variable
analysis, albeit a powerful one, in a multivariable world.”
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How did battering emerge as a
social problem?
Battered women’s movement, beginning in
England in the early 1970s: Scream
Softly…
 In the U.S., early priority of NOW
 First four shelters, including the one in
Duluth, funded by legislature in 1977
 Duluth Domestic Abuse Intervention
Project, beginning in early 1980
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“The Duluth Model”
Cooperation among criminal justice, social
welfare, and advocacy organizations
 Arrest policy
 24 weeks of group counseling mandated
for abusers as a condition of probation
 Violence is recognized as a means of
power and control
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Basic principles(selected)
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The first priority of intervention should be to carry out
policies and protocols which protect the victim from
further harm and whenever possible, the burden of
holding abusers accountable should rest with the
community, not the victim.
The primary focus of intervention is on stopping the
assailant's use of violence, not on fixing or ending the
relationship.
In general, the court avoids prescribing a course of
action for the victim, e.g., does not force a victim to
testify by threatening jail, nor mandate treatment for the
victim.
Policies and procedures should act as a general
deterrent to battering in the community.
All interventions must account for the power imbalance
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between the assailant and
the victim.
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Duluth Domestic Abuse
Intervention Project
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Domestic Abuse Information Manual
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Violence against children
First publicized in the U.S. as the result of
an article by pediatric radiologists in JAMA
in 1962: “The Battered Child Syndrome”
 Much more difficult to measure than
battering of adults
 2001: 3 million reports of child abuse or
neglect to state or local welfare agencies
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Control agencies
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Laws requiring reporting of suspected abuse by
teachers and medical personnel
Family court
Social welfare agencies
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Minnesota Department of Human Services
Video: “Failure to Protect”
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Causes
Social organization of the family: intensity
and isolation
 Lack of knowledge about child
development
 Adult caregivers who were themselves
abused as children
 Inequality
 Power and control again
 Cultural beliefs about punishment?
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Sociology 1201
Is spanking a form of child abuse?
Social movement: outlawing of spanking
in the Scandinavian countries—ultimate
success of this movement unknown
 Universal Declaration of Human Rights: no
proscription on spanking
 Symbolic interactionism
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Meaning of the behavior
 Effects on self
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What are the dangers?
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Consequences of child abuse
An estimated 30% of those who are
abused become abusers, compared with
5% of the general population
 Chesney-Lind, Wisconsin study: 79% of
the girls in the juvenile justice system had
been abused, physically or sexually
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Solutions
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Parenting education
“Visiting nurse” programs (Elmira)
Parents Anonymous and the like
Removal of children by Child Protective Services
Legal changes to more quickly terminate
parental rights
High quality childcare for mothers that are poor,
young, single
Less poverty and racial injustice
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