Perpetrators of Domestic Violence Free Essay

Domestic violence is not an isolated private act but instead a continuous habit that the abuser uses in gaining control and power over the victim. It represents the primary cause of injury for women between ages fifteen to forty-four. These assaults are usually in the form of of physical harm but could also be depicted through sexual and psychological abuse. Domestic violence mostly against women is a worldwide problem moving across international borders as well as class, racial, cultural, and socio-economic distinction. Domestic violence can be visible from the start of a relationship. Couples do not have to be married for others to see a party facing abuse. Boyfriends and girlfriends could as well get abused. Some of the signs that one is harmed in a relationship are: refusing to use birth control, preventing your partner from doing their things, humiliating a partner in front of friends and family, forcing a partner into having sex, and dictating how your spouse should behave or dress among other things. The issue is not only widely spread geographically, but its incidence is also extensive, hence becoming an 'acceptable and typical' behavior.

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Goal Statement: The goal of this research is to find out who gets arrested more for domestic violence offenses considering the different variables of gender, income levels, education levels, culture, and race.

Domestic Violence as an Offence

Laws state that police ought to apprehend men suspected of domestic violence, even if the woman denies it took place. On the contrary, there is a typical example in domestic violence cases including violent activities throughout a household disagreement, maybe prompting police mediation (Buzawa &Carl, 2003). The man is apprehended yet later after things get calm, the victims drop charges: this leads police to be reluctant on the laws and not have any desire to mediate in household matters. Being charged with the domestic violence offense in Alabama may be confusing. There are diverse ways in which one can be charged: domestic violence by suffocation, strangulation, first, second, and third degree. Domestic violence according to the Alabama law takes place when the victim and the defendant have a special relationship, and the abuser commits certain offenses against the victim. The special relationship could be an individual with whom the defendant has a child in common with, one who is dating or has dated the defendant, a former member of the household, a present member of the family, child, parent, former or current spouse (Buzawa &Carl, 2003). A person in any of the mentioned relationships is at risk of getting arrested and charged for domestic violence when they commit domestic abuse through first-degree assault or aggravated stalking, second-degree assault, intimidates a witness, or commits first-degree criminal mischief. Domestic violence in the third degree happens when the defendant commits the offense of arson, harassing communications, illegal surveillance, harassment, unlawful coercion, reckless endangerment, or menacing.

Variables in Domestic Violence

Gender

Domestic abuse can be present in any close affiliation. The two main factors in domestic violence cases are: the abuser and victim have had intimate relations, and the perpetrator deliberately decides to be violent to be in power and control (Buzawa & Carl, 2003). In certain situations, the victim could be male, and the abuser is female; domestic abuse takes place in lesbian and gay affairs as well.

Nevertheless, 4.9% of reported exploitations on ex-spouses and 53.1% domestic violence on spouses are committed by men compared to women (Buzawa & Carl, 2003, p.15). In the United States, approximately three million men are victims of physical abuse while one in four women are victims of domestic violence from their partners (Black et al., 2011). These numbers continue rising as the government fails to find measures of putting an end to domestic violence.

When the topic of abused men comes up, people tend to perceive it as very uncommon or entirely false. Even when there is a man-victim, the woman had a five times lower chance of getting arrested than a male in the same situation. Consequently, the possibility of male victims facing dual arrest was three times higher than those of female victims (Buzawa & Carl, 2003). Historically, battered men have either been ignored or ridiculed. Even though feminism has opened society's eyes on the presence of domestic violence, the abuse of men is a rarely discussed subject. One reason for neglecting husband battering is that women are perceived to be weaker and helpless than their male counterparts about sex roles while men are more independent and sturdier. Hence in most cases, men end up behind bars for committing domestic violence more than women perpetrators.

Education Level

Another risk factor associated with domestic violence is the discrepancy of education between partners. Education empowers women and hence does not have negative impacts as some individuals believe. This aspect denotes the imperious necessity for a change in attitude among men in society. Even though men's perception of having control over their wives reduces with age, research shows that men with lower education levels than their wives have a higher chance of committing domestic violence than those with a similar educational level (Jeyaseelan et al., 2004).

The common assumption is that higher levels of education improve one's communication skills; hence those at the lower level could decide to be violent since they are not able to express their frustration and anger properly. Domestic violence is thus at a reduced rate among couples who are both educated equally as compared to marriages where the man is less literate than his spouse (Jeyaseelan et al., 2004). If educational levels are not built upon sound character, then it is of no value. Education seems to be the most relevant element for changing women's subjugated position in society. It develops the individual's rationality and personality as well as qualifies them to accomplish specific cultural, political, and economic functions hence improving their socio-economic status (Jeyaseelan, 2004).

Income Level

Arrests on domestic violence have been on the rise in the past years making this offense the leading violent crime arrest locally and globally putting it at the top of law enforcement's priority list. Violence on women happens at every societal level. Nevertheless, the majority of the convicted batters are from poor income areas. Men at the lower ranks of the socio-economic ladder - barbers, carpenters, cobblers, and migrant laborers portrayed a sexual violence rate of thirty-five per cent (Buzawa & Carl, 2003, p.76). This rate almost doubled to sixty-one per cent among the highest income groups. Poverty has been associated with the rising levels of domestic abuse and could have an impact on any family member, as to who might end up being the abuser. Declines in the economy with no doubt cause cases of domestic violence to be on the rise. With the increasing financial issues globally, 'domestic violence' experts and health professionals see no signs of 'domestic violence' rates going down anytime soon.

This factor is especially upsetting because low-wage ladies are particularly in danger of domestic abuse. Even though ladies of all income levels can encounter aggressive behavior at home, those who live in financially distraught family units and neighborhoods are bound to face abusive behavior at home. Ladies without their very own monetary assets or who financially depend on their violent partner have a higher likelihood of staying with their abuser or come back to their abuser if they had left, and they are more reluctant to get a restraining order against their abuser. This circumstance leaves low-wage female employees caught by their deficiency in financial assets, a situation that is frequently exploited by abusers to keep these ladies and their youngsters in a cycle of domestic abuse. Consequently, research on domestic violence across social classes portrays a strong inverse relationship between a woman's risk of domestic abuse victimization and financial status: as the social level rises, the potentiality of 'domestic violence' declines (Buzawa & Carl, 2003). This pattern does not necessarily mean that wealthier and middle-class women are immune from domestic abuse, but the observed relationship could be as a result of their ability to keep victimization of domestic violence in the dark.

Culture

Most people claim the substantial cause of domestic violence is stress. Although stress in the workplace is a contributing element, it is by no means the substantial one. It is thus clear that the significant causes are more linked to cultural taming of men and in one's family setting. Traditionally, men have been habituated to suppress their emotions, always acting like the cowboy, tough guy (Buzawa & Carl, 2003). Nonetheless, on the instance that they encounter an emotionally hard situation, one that is difficult to suppress, they erupt in volcanic proportions, frequently projecting their anger on their family members.

Nevertheless, what happens to be the principal cause of a man's way of resolving conflict, is violence within the family background. Research shows that seventy-three per cent of male domestic violence perpetrators were brought up in a dysfunctional family where they witnessed their mothers abuse or were individually abused causing them childhood trauma (Buzawa & Carl, 2003). The main issue is the fixation in the male being. Similar to rape cases, the critical problem is controlled. Culturally, male abusers have a fear of losing power. They instill physical pain on their partner to prove their control over their spouses and children.

Race

The higher prevalence of domestic violence among ethnic minorities cannot be clarified by any single factor but appears to be related to risk factors like income, pregnancy, cohabitation of unmarried partners, education, unemployment, and substance abuse. Hispanic and black couples are two to three times more likely to report female-to-male, and male-to-female domestic violence than whites and alcohol plays a crucial role in the high rates of this violence. Around one in two multiracial non-Hispanic women (53.8%), four out of ten Alaska Native or American Indian women (46.0%), and four out of every ten non-Hispanic Black women have experienced physical and sexual abuse by their spouses(Black et al., 2011, p.20). These statistics are thirty to fifty per cent higher than those experienced by Asian non-Hispanic and White non-Hispanic women (Black et al., 2011). Some Hispanic victims fail to report their abusers to the police since the perpetrators tell them that they will be at a higher risk of facing deportation. This situation could thus skew the statistics for domestic abuse among ethnic minorities (Buzawa & Carl, 2003).

Conclusion

Domestic violence has always been a burden to women, not by the fact that society considers them as weak, meek, and dependent on men, but since their rights do not get the deserved attention. It includes sexual abuse, battery, intimidation, physical assault, as well as other offensive acts on women. Nevertheless, this does not justify that women only experience domestic violence; men might as well be victims of these heinous acts. Domestic abuse is thus well-thought-out as prevalent in every society. Most of the perpetrators of domestic violence that come to the attention of court authorities or criminal justice tend to have a prior criminal history for some violent and nonviolent crimes against females as well as males, and of a nondomestic or domestic nature.