Domestic Violence Cycles Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Domestic Violence Cycles - Term Paper Example The victims are usually women, children, elderly people, physically or mentally challenged persons and partners in gay or lesbian relationship (Steiner, 1996). Domestic violence is a far-reaching and social problem which has raised many serious debates. While many sociologists argue that domestic violence is mainly a male- perpetrated issue, many others believe that women are as violent as men in intimate relationships. The issue of domestic violence, especially against women, is not new and in fact, the domestic violence movement is at least 3 decades old. The movement has caught a lot of public awareness and has got many protective laws enacted. Many extensive networks of services have been started to help the victims of domestic violence. Domestic violence can be either physical - where there is danger of harm to any part of the victims body; psychological and emotional - where the offender abuses the victim verbally or criticizes her in front of others or causes embarrassment, despair, sadness or terror; sexual- wherein the victim suffers rape or any other derogatory treatment; economical- the offender tortures the victim by causing financial tensions, not allowing her to spend or asking her penny-to-penny accounts of what is being spent; or social- where the victim is not given freedom to meet her friends and relatives or attend social gatherings. Other methods of harassment include blackmailing, following, unwanted emails, and phone calls, etc. Children, elderly and the disabled may also suffer by sheer negligence like not giving food, shelter, and clothes properly or not giving medical aid in time. Also, children may suffer by just looking at their mother being beaten up (Davies, Smith and deBenedictis, 2008). According to the 1998 Commonwealth fund survey, nearly 31% of American women report being abused by their partners at some point in their lives (Commonwealth Fund, 1999).