Intimate partner violence, or domestic violence, is violence done by a current or former spouse. It can also happen between partners who live together, whether they are of the opposite sex or the same sex. This type of violence can occur between dates, boyfriends, or girlfriends. Intimate partner violence and abuse take many forms and are often repeated.
Different Forms of Abuse
Physical abuse
Sexual abuse
Emotional abuse, and
Economic abuse
Physical Abuse
Behaviors may include:
Punching
shoving
slapping
biting
kicking
using a weapon against a partner
throwing items
Pulling hair and restraining the partner
Sexual Abuse
Sexual violence may include:
forcing a partner to perform sexual acts,
telling partner she asked for the abuse (in sadomasochism), and
Rape
Sexual violence is pervasive in advertising
Emotional & psychological abuse
This happens when someone uses tactics to control, influence, and take advantage of your feelings and emotions.
May include:
verbal abuse, name-calling
guilt-tripping
playing mind games, silent treatment
humiliating the partner, lobe bombing
reinforcing internalized homophobia
Economic Abuse
Economic control creates financial dependency and may include:
keeping the partner from getting a job,
getting the partner fired from a job,
making the partner ask for money, and
taking the money that he or she has earned
Resource Theory
Men have more power than women because they command greater:
Financial resources
Educational resources
Social resources
Men with the fewest resources are the most likely to resort to abuse
Many women can’t assert themselves simply because they have even fewer resources than their partners.
Besides an absence of resources, any further decline may also increase stress and provoke violence.
Social Exchange Theory
Assailants and victims tolerate or engage in violent behavior because they believe that the benefits outweigh the costs
Costs of violence
The victim might fight back
Imprisonment leading to loss of status
Breaking up the family
Many battered women stay in an abusive relationship for financial reasons.
The rewards for perpetrators include release of anger and frustration and accumulation of power and control.
Social-Psychological Model
An integrated theory that brings together three approaches to crime causation:
Social learning: learned through direct instruction, modeling, and reinforcement
We learn by observing the behavior of others
Continuous exposure to abuse and violence during childhood increases the likelihood that a person will be:
Assailant
Victim
When adults in a household experience physical and emotional abuse, children often copy these behaviors. Instead of learning how to resolve conflicts, they may engage in sibling abuse.
•Unequal power relations: abusive behavior will be tolerated, born through feminist contribution
•Personal choice theory: acts out the violence instead of using alternative methods of conflict resolution
Ecological Systems Theory
•Domestic violence is a result of the relationships between individuals and larger systems
•Economy
•Education
•State agencies
•Community
Cultural values that demean, debase, and devalue women and children promote and reinforce abusive behavior.
Factors Contributing to Assaulting Partners
Anger management
Antisocial personality
Conflict with partner
Communication problems
Criminal history
Dominance
Negative attributions about the partner
Neglect history
Sexual abuse history
Stressful conditions
Violence approval
Why Do Intimate Partner Violence Victims Stay?
The fact is, women do leave their abusers
On average, women leave and return to an abusive partner five times before permanently leaving the relationship
Reasons for staying are complex
Battered women experience shame, embarrassment, isolation
There are many reasons why a victim may not leave:
fear, lack of support, difficulties of single parenting, reduced financial circumstances, lacking a safety plan, isolation, rationalization, etc.
