Domestic Violence and Social Class

Domestic violence is something that happens every day around the world. Young, old, rich or poor, this is an issue that we must look at to better ourselves as a country. One of the things that we look at is how domestic violence relates to the different social classes of the country, this being upper, middle, and lower. Some would thing that it would be more common in lower classes, but the reality of it is domestic violence is a problem across all social classes. In this paper I will discuss different articles about domestic violence and its relation to social class. It is clear to see that many of the articles on this topic focus around women as victims and men get put into a category of the only ones committing violence. From different articles you can see that social class has a relation and an effect on domestic violence. To begin with we need to understand what domestic violence is. The National Domestic Violence Hotline describes domestic violence as pattern of behavior in any relationship that is used to gain or maintain power and control over an intimate partner. Abuse is physical, sexual, emotional, economic or psychological actions or threats of actions that influence another person. This includes any behaviors that frighten, intimidate, terrorize, manipulate, hurt, humiliate, blame, injure or wound someone. Domestic violence can happen to anyone of any race, age, sexual orientation, religion or gender. It can happen to couples who are married, living together or who are dating. Domestic violence affects people of all socioeconomic backgrounds and education levels (The National Domestic Hotline). This is one of the best definitions you will find. It’s important to realize that Domestic Violence can happen to anyone. The focus on economic background is important; there is not one social class that domestic violence does not occur in. It is key that we keep this in mind, otherwise we begin to label and fit certain social groups into categories. And as we

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