Domestic Violence

Type of psychology: Psychopathology
Fields of study: Adulthood; aggression
Domestic violence refers to all forms of abuse which occur within families, including
child abuse, elder abuse, and spouse abuse. The term came into common usage in the
1970’s to emphasize wife abuse. Domestic violence is explained by several psychologically

based theories which in turn propose different solutions.

Key concepts

• battered woman syndrome
• cycle of violence
• domestic violence
• family systems theory
• feminist psychological theory
• learning theory
• post-traumatic stress disorder
• psychoanalytic theory
• systems theory
• wife abuse

Domestic violence is difficult to measure because there are no agreed-upon
standards as to what it is. In addition, most domestic violence occurs in private,
and victims are reluctant to report it because of shame and fear of reprisal.
Its scope is also difficult to determine, and society’s reluctance to acknowledge
it results in only estimated numbers of rapes, robberies, and
assaults committed by family members and other relatives, such as spouses,
former spouses, children, parents, boyfriends, and girlfriends.

In the 1970’s, publicity about domestic violence, and more specifically
wife abuse, made the public aware that many women did not live in peace
and security in their own homes. Through the usage of the terms “abuse,”
“woman abuse,” “battering,” “partner abuse,” “spouse abuse,” “intimate violence,”
“family violence” and “relationship violence,” feminists made the
public aware of the problem. As a result of the publicity, women were identified
as the most likely victims of domestic violence.

The selection of a name for the behavior will have implications for treatment
choices. In addition, the term “domestic violence” removes the issue
from a societal perspective, which condones, reinforces, and perpetuates
the problem. Domestic violence minimizes the role of gender and places
the relationship in the dominant spot. As a result, the choice of a name offers
varying perspectives, which differentially view the persons involved, the
nature of the problem, and possible solutions.

Abused women in a domestic violence situation are confronted with several
types of abuse, namely economic abuse, physical abuse, psychological/ emotional abuse, and sexual abuse. Economic abuse results when the financial
resources to which a woman is legally entitled are not accessible to her.
Examples of economic abuse include being prevented from seeking employment
even if qualified to do so, as well as being denied access to needed
education, which would aid the woman in securing better employment.

Physical abuse is the major way that abusive men control the behavior of
women. Abused women have likened psychological or emotional abuse to
brainwashing. Little research has been done on this type of abuse because it
is difficult to record. The abused woman is terrorized, isolated, and undermined
by her abuser. Psychological or emotional abuse allows men to avoid
the legal effects of physical abuse, because they can frighten women without
touching them. Five common emotional abuse methods include isolation,
humiliation and degradation, “crazy-making” behavior, threats to harm the
woman or those she loves, and suicidal and homicidal threats.

Sexual violence was reported by 33 percent to 59 percent of the battered
women in a study by Angela Browne published in 1987. Since 1992, it has
been legal throughout the United States for a woman to charge her husband
with rape. Historically, rape was thought of as intercourse forced on
someone other than the wife of the accused. As a result, a woman could not
legally accuse her husband of rape.