Domestic Violence Case Study

Critically evaluate either tabloid or broadsheet reporting of health and social care issues in the United Kingdom, using research and press materials about two or more topics covered in the module.
Domestic violence is a worldwide social problem, which has extremely high prevalence, affecting as many as 1.2 million woman and 800,000 men in the United Kingdom during 2011 and 2012 according to the Office of National Statistics (2013). It is only fairly recently that it has been considered a social problem, domestic violence was discovered, publicly in the 1970s Berns (2008). Berns (2008) also argues that domestic violence may be influenced by a larger culture of violence, which is regarded as a private matter by society and the police. How the
When reporting on celebrities or public figures the Medias representation of domestic violence materialises a very different perspective, to that of a report on a person outside of the public eye. This is evident in the article published in The Times ‘Tory MP to quit after assault on ex-girlfriend’ Elliot (2014). The Guardian also reported Ruffley’s resignation following the domestic violence case, with the headline ‘David Ruffley ‘should step down as MP immediately over domestic violence case’ Topping (2014). The language used in the headline alone, suggests an opposite perspective of a more serious note, such as ‘domestic violence’ and ‘immediately’. The article printed in The Times is predominantly right leaning throughout; it is almost sympathetic towards Ruffley, by refusing to discuss the actual assault, or potentially negative information regarding the MP. Furthermore Ruffley’s injuries are mentioned, which have no relevance, along with his bought of depression. Following this, the article quotes Ruffley stating ‘one incident of domestic abuse is one too many’ and how grateful he is on the support of this conservative association, again mentioning his ill health. The language and structure of this article are primarily unrelated to the headline, which also suggests political bias towards
Woman ‘more likely to hit their partners’. The Times. [Online] 25th June Available at: http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/uk/article4128993.ece
Berns, N (2008). Framing the Victim Domestic Violence Media and Social Problems. New Brunswick NY: Aldine Transaction. 2- 6
Burton-Jeangros, C. Cavalli, S. Gouilhers, S. Hammer, R. (2013). Between tolerable uncertainty and unacceptable risks: how health professionals and pregnant women think about the probabilities generated by prenatal screening. Health, Risk & Society. 15 (3), 144 - 161.
Campbell, D (2009). Down’s risk or potential miscarriage: NHS offers women stark choice. The Guardian. [Online] 16th May Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/society/2009/may/16/downssyndrome-miscarriage-amniocentesis-combined-test [Accessed 11th December 2014]
Campbell, D (2010). More than 40% of domestic violence victims are male, report reveals. The Guardian. [Online] 5th September Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/society/2010/sep/05/men-victims-domestic-violence [Accessed 11th December 2014]
Chew, K (2013). Would you abort a disabled child? The Guardian. [Online] 22nd April Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/apr/22/abort-down-syndrome-child-society-shares-blame/print [Accessed 11th December