Domestic Violence: The Role Of Emotional Abuse In Relationships
Bell 1
I. Introduction
Prior to the 1800’s, most legal systems accepted wife beating as an approach to show a husband’s authority and control over his wife. In these times, women were deemed as possession to their husband’s and inferior to men in general. Women were liable to be abused by their husband’s or partner’s and received no justice in return when they were faced with such abuse. Modernly named as domestic violence, this abuse was once very common and ignored as long as it “didn’t go too far” or was done in moderation. In 1882, Maryland was the first state to pass a law making wife-beating a crime; the punishment would be either forty lashes or a year in jail (Domestic Violence Timeline). Attention to domestic violence didn’t appear until the feminist movement around 1870; women became more involved in feminism and woman’s …show more content…
rights. Feminism was a series of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal rights in all aspects for women. According to an article by Cathy Young, the publication of books such as Battered Wives by Del Martin drew attention to the various numbers of women who suffered in abusive relationships. Women all over America were seeking their equal rights and began to take notice to the violence against them in the forms of domestic abuse and sexual assaults. Women recognized gender difference expectations, and a legal system that failed to hold men accountable for their acts of violence, as a major contribution to the continuation and severity of their abuse. In the 1970s, the first shelters and crisis hotlines for abused women opened up in the United States. Women were finally beginning to see the respect and rights that they deserved. As Bell2 reporter Cara Feinberg wrote in The American Prospect, "feminist activists began to see the law not only as an important tool for protecting victims but as a way to define domestic violence as a legitimate social problem." (Independent Women’s Forum). Though women were getting their recognition socially and slowly politically, domestic abuse was and is still an ongoing problem in society.
One of the most recognizable cases of domestic violence was the O.J Simpson trial. In 1994, the historic NFL football star O.J Simpson was charged and put on trial for the suspected murder of his wife Nicole Brown-Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman. Both Nicole Brown-Simpson and her friend were found stabbed to death outside of Nicole’s Los Angeles condo. Evidence from the murder scene led police to convict Simpson for the murder. Though the case was widely known to the public, and nearly most of America thought Simpson was guilty for the murder, Simpson pleaded not guilty for all of the charges against him. Simpson was unable to be held accountable for the murders because the primary evidence used in the case was believed to have been tampered with previous to the trail. The O.J Simpson trial stirred up a lot of controversy and put domestic violence in the spotlight for a long time after many Americans still believed that Simpson was a guilty man.
In my recent research about the prevalence of domestic violence, particularly among young and middle aged adults, I have conducted four interviews to get the social point of view on abusive relationships; these four individuals were selected so I could receive a diverse perspective on such relationships. When asked the question “Which age group do you think is exposed to abusive relationships more, young adults or married couples and why?” I was able to Bell3 generate some very interesting answers and opinions. The closer in age my interviewees were the more similar their answers seemed to be.
My first interviewee was a 21 year old Hispanic male, he responded to the question as follows:
It 's easy to be blinded by love, so when you 're married, you may think you know the person when you don’t. Because you 're oblivious to what goes on, you’ll think it 'll never happen again and keep giving them chances which will promote the behavior and they will just keep doing it. Eventually it will get to the point where you will be scared to leave because of what the abuser may try and do. (Personal Communication. Dias)
My second interviewee was a 42 year old African American female, when asked the previously stated question she responded as follows:
Young adults are more exposed because they are not experienced. They think and expect whatever their significant other does is love and it’s not love. There is a lack of experience and knowledge of what love is and relationships are period. If these young adults grew up in violent homes they would learn from that behavior and tolerate it.” (Personal Communication, Bell.)
My third interviewee was a 62 year old Caucasian female. When asked the previously stated question she had trouble generating an answer. Though I was almost sure I could guess her answer, she surprised me. Her response is as follows:
Both age groups are exposed equally because both teenage males and adult males want to be in control of their spouse or girlfriend. They want to be dominant and they show jealousy. Young adults have it bad but married couples can start off okay then down the line there becomes problems. (Personal Communication, Thomas) My fourth and final interviewee was a 15 year old African American Male. He did not give an in depth response but he was able to make a valid point. His response is as follows:
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Married couples are exposed more because they’re more in love and they act on their emotions. If one person cheats in the relationship the other would go crazy.” (Personal Communication, Pearson) Before conducting each of these interviews I had pre conceived notions of what each person would say, each of their answers turned out to be quite surprising. I received very diverse responses and a lot of wise insight from all of my interviewees. I was surprised to see that my younger interviewees both were opinionated on the idea that marries couples are more exposed to abusive relationships. It was interesting to see the difference of opinion as generations transform. When discussing the social issue of domestic abuse, there are certain words that one should be able to associate with this topic. Domestic violence, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, and physical abuse are all aspects of domestic abuse that appear prominently in the discussion of this issue. In order to properly identify and recognize domestic abuse it is crucial for people to be able to know the signs and what exactly domestic abuse can be classified as. A simple knowledge of the issue will help so many more women to escape or to help someone else in an abusive relationship. Domestic Violence is defined as a pattern of abusive behaviors displayed by one partner to another in an intimate relationship such as marriage or dating. The term "intimate partner violence" (IPV) is also often used to identify with domestic abuse/domestic violence. Domestic violence is a dangerous and underrated social issue, nearly one in four women are said to be exposed to domestic violence in their lifetime. This social issue is the leading cause of injury to women, even more than car accidents, muggings, and rapes combined. Domestic Violence and
Bell5 abuse is definitely not limited to obvious physical violence, violence includes endangerment, kidnapping, unlawful imprisonment, trespassing, harassment, and stalking. Physical abuse is the form of domestic violence most identified with, when hearing the term “domestic violence”, physical assault is the first thought that pops into the general populations minds. This type of abuse is defined as any abuse involving contact intended to cause feelings of intimidation, pain, injury, or other physical suffering or bodily harm. It can involve using a weapon or restrains or merely using body, size or strength to harm another person. Physical abuse consists of grabbing, pushing, throwing, punching, biting, choking, and even scratching. Physical abuse can sometimes even lead to murder, in 2000, 1,247 women were killed by an intimate partner. (Domestic Violence Research Center) Often times when being physically abused, women do not leave their partners in fear of a worse beating.
Chart #1
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Sexual abuse is another form of domestic violence. This type of abuse is defined as any situation in which force or threat is used to obtain participation in unwanted sexual activity. Marital rape, also known as spousal rape, is non-consensual sex in which the offender is the victim 's spouse. Pressuring somebody to engage in sexual activity against their will, even if that person is a spouse or intimate partner with whom consensual sex has occurred before, is still considered an act of aggression and violence. Sexual abuse often times is linked to physical abuse; they may occur together, or sexual abuse may occur after an episode of physical abuse. When people think of domestic violence they often are thinking of battered woman, on the contrary, not all abusive relationships include violence.
Emotional abuse in a relationship can be just as serious and surprisingly it is the most common form of domestic abuse in most relationships today. Unfortunately, emotional abuse is immensely overlooked, often times even by the victim. The aim of emotional abuse is to destroy the victim’s feelings of self-worth and independence; this may make it difficult for a victim to feel strong enough to leave his or her abuser. Emotional abuse can include humiliating the victim privately or publicly, controlling what the victim can and cannot do, withholding information from the victim, deliberately doing something to make the victim feel belittled or embarrassed, isolating the victim from friends and family, subliminally blackmailing the victim by harming others when the victim expresses independence or happiness, or denying the victim access to money or other basic resources and necessities. Degrading the victim in any way can also be considered psychological
abuse. Bell7
Verbal abuse is a form of emotionally abusive behavior involving the use of language. Threatening can be referred to as verbal abuse. Through threatening a person can blatantly say they will harm you in any way and it will be considered as abuse, the act does not have to be carried out for it to be abusive behavior. Verbal abuse may include aggressive actions such as name-calling, blaming, ridicule, disrespect, and criticism. Verbal abuse may also include profanity but is not limited to using curse words. Being able to recognize and identify all these terms is important in the issue of domestic violence. Today, a lack of education on what domestic abuse really is and all of its important aspects is a contributing factor to the continuation and prevalence of domestic violence. In order to prevail against the issue of domestic violence, there must be an omnipresent knowledge of what domestic abuse is.
Bell8
II. Problem Statement
In society, there is a huge focus on love and relationships; due to this, people are engaging in serious relationships, or on the search for them, sooner and sooner. Nearly eighty-nine percent of high school teenagers have reportedly been involved in dating relationships (Statistics on Teenage Relationships). Young adults and teenagers are surely not immune to facing domestic abuse just because of their age; there is an surprising number of younger adults who face this issue each day. Articles such as one entitled “Abuse in Teenage Relationships More Prevalent Then Thought” are able to support the fact that there is on-going conflict that needs to be controlled. Abuse in adolescent relationships is more prevalent than a lot of people are able to recognize. People must be able to identify a problem in order to find a solution for it. In an article written by Helen Carter, she states that out of thirty-eight females, over half said that they were in a sexually violent relationship before the age of eighteen, and half said that they experienced physical violence. Carter also states that out of 44 males, one in four said that they had been in relationships with physically aggressive partners. That is the twist within abuse in adolescent relationships; the abuse is mutually prevalent from both sexes. As stated in Liz Claiborne Inc.’s Love Is Not Abuse 2011 College Dating Violence and Abuse Poll, almost half of dating college women report having experienced violent or abusive behavior at some point in their lives, and one in five report actual physical or sexual abuse and threats of physical violence (Teen Dating Abuse). The percentages of young adults who have never faced dating abuse are
Bell9 likely to know someone who has. So as you can see, dating violence is common with age groups both prior to and post high school. One main reason why the prevalence of abusive relationships among young adults is not more commonly known is because most parents of these abused children are not even aware of what is going on. When beginning to date or get in relationships young adults are likely to shut their parents out of that part of their life, reportedly only ten percent of parents knew that their child was being abused in a relationship (Teen Dating Abuse). Parents are known for trying to protect their children for as long as they can, if even they are oblivious to some of the signs of abuse then how would the general population be able to recognize them?
Many times abuse is not in the form of actual violence or physical abuse, and even when it is with clear signs of bruising or cuts the victim is liable to lie to his/her parents about it. In an article entitled “CyberDating Abuse: What Parents Need to Know” by Dewi Faulkner, the amount of young adults who face being verbally or emotionally abused by their partner by either the use of cell phones or social networking is given attention. In generations where the use of technology is growing rapidly being abused in those ways is not uncommon at all.
Being the victim of an abusive relationship at a young age can have lasting physical and emotional effects. Someone who has been in an abusive relationship at a young age is more likely to continue on engaging in relationships with abusive partners along their lifetime. In an article entitled “Dating Violence in Teen Years can Have Lasting Impact” written by Carina Storrs, she states that young adults who are involved in abusive relationships are facing higher rates of depression, binge drinking and suicidal thoughts. All those things are social issues and Bell10 produce a poor emotional and mental health. In doing her research of the effects of abusive relationships, Storrs found the work of Deinera Exner-Cortens who states that "Romantic relationships are really important developmental experiences, where teens develop their identity, if these relationships aren 't going very well; it somehow skews their view of what a healthy relationship is and their healthy development.” That statement so powerfully goes to show how important and serious relationships existing between young adults can be, and why the issue of abusive relationships among young adults needs to be properly addressed. Being that domestic violence is such a masked social issue, I conducted ten random surveys to get an honest answer and opinion on the prevalence of domestic abuse. I surveyed individuals both male and female of different ages with a variety of different ethnicities also. Individuals are more likely to give honest answers when they are assured that the answers will be anonymous, with that being said, the results of my ten surveys were definitely interesting and what I was looking for. (see appendix for listed questions)
Chart #2 Results Based on Gender
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All of the individuals, both male and female, stated that they have been in intimate dating relationships before in the results of my surveys. From the chart above, I was able to infer that females take abusive relationships as a more serious matter than males do. I noticed that more than half the males stated that they would not leave if they were in an abusive relationships compared to the four out of five woman who claimed they would; I infer that the reason for that is that a man feels he will not be in any real danger or trouble with a woman, which is a huge problem within the domestic abuse issue. While more females claimed to have been or known of people being abused, both sexes were in agreement that they were not properly taught the signs of abuse.
Chart #3 Results Based on Age
Age plays a huge part in both the knowledge and experience on the issue of domestic abuse. Based on the data from the above chart the older the individuals were the more similar their answers became. The youngest age group, 15 years through 20 years, displayed a variety of Bell12 different answers on who they knew, what they knew, and how important the issue of domestic abuse seemed to be to them. All individuals who were 40 and above knew people who have been abused, have been informed of the signs, acknowledged the importance of the different types of abuse and agreed that they would offer a helping hand to anyone who was being abused.
Chart #3 Results Based on Ethnicity
Though I received answers from some very diverse ethnicities, there were not many differences in answers between these ethnicities. I believe this is because no ethnicity that is immune to facing domestic abuse, and there is no different approach to tackling domestic violence when dealing with ethnicities. If I was able to branch off into other countries I believe that each culture and ethnicity would have different views, but being that all the individuals who participated in my survey are from the United States, most of them displayed the same views. Conducting these surveys was a very efficient way to get the real perspective of society, surveying people of diverse genders, ages, and backgrounds enabled me to receive answers that were neither biased nor similar. These surveys were very beneficial to my research and have Bell13 supported my ideas and arguments that domestic abuse is becoming prevalent among young adults and that society is not educated enough on this social issue.
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III. Literature Review The prevalence of domestic abuse within younger generation is a social issue that has been ignored for entirely too long, while conducting research to unmask the truth about this issue I came across four journal articles that have helped to support my case. Articles such as “Teen Dating Violence: A Closer Look at Adolescent Romantic Relationships” and “Physical, sexual and psychological abuse in high school dating relationships: Prevalence rates and self-esteem issues” both point out specific statistics and facts about abusive teenage relationships brings together the point of view of both victims of this violence and the adult perspective on it. Another article titled “Physical, sexual and psychological abuse in high school dating relationships: Prevalence rates and self-esteem issues”, focuses on the outcome of teenagers who are victims of these abusive relationships. While reading the journal article “Teen Dating Violence: A Closer Look at Adolescent Romantic Relationships”, written by Carrie Mulford, there were some key facts that stuck out to me. According to this article, abuse in teenage relationships is mutually put forth by both male and female with a common motive of anger. Though statistics have shown that the female is more likely to endure physical or sexual assault when it comes to facing emotional abuse both female and male partners in a relationship. This article suggest that a lack of experience in relationships for young adults contributes to their abuse, an inexperience on how to communicate can lead to very poor and naïve coping techniques such a verbal or physical abuse. According to a journal article entitled “Adolescent Relationship Abuse” the group of individuals ages sixteen to twenty-five experience the highest rate of intimate partner violence. Bell15
This article states that abusive relationships are harmful to young adults because they are more likely to carry those abusive qualities into relationships in adulthood. Young female adults who are in abusive relationships are four to ten times more likely to get pregnant and adolescent relationship abuse is associated with increased substance abuse, unhealthy weight control behavior, sexual risk behaviors, and suicide. As discovered in the journal article “Physical, sexual and psychological abuse in high school dating relationships: Prevalence rates and self-esteem issues”, written by Dr. David R. Jezl, self-esteem negatively correlated with psychological mistreatment in adolescent relationships. This article states that individuals who do not recognize their treatment as abusive are less likely to seek an outlet from the relationship, and over three fourths of young adults who are facing psychological abuse do not feel that they are being abused. In addition to that fact, most individuals who were self-aware of their abuse stated that they would not report it. The information obtained in this article is very important and can be detrimental to this social issue because in order to put a stop to it, victims must feel comfortable enough to take a stand and speak up. In the journal article entitled “The co-occurrence of adolescent boys’ and girls’ use of psychologically, physically, and sexually abusive behaviors in their dating relationships”, we are introduced with the idea that males using sexually abusive behavior and females using psychologically (emotionally) abusive behavior were linked to their respective gender roles. Some researchers have found that older youths are more likely to use physical violence than younger youths. Bell16
All of the above journal articles were helpful in my research and confirmed the prevalence of domestic abuse among the adolescent community. Young adults in relationships are suffering and if abuse continues on they will bring their abusive behaviors into future relationships, making domestic violence and abuse a more prevalent social issue among all ages. Domestic abuse in these adolescent relationships is also creating mentally unstable individuals that no one will ever notice if not properly handled.
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IV. Conclusion After taking a closer look at the issue of domestic abuse among young adults, I have concluded that the first order of business at resolving this issue is to bring more attention to it in society. There are young adults in society being abused by their partners who have not spoken up about it because either they do not where to get help or because they are not able to recognize that they are being abused. Relationships are a crucial part of social development and the importance of maintaining healthy personal relationships should be stressed more efficiently. Being that nearly every high school student is required to take a heath class, and many young adults begin dating relationships in high school, I recommend that there should be a segment of the course where healthy relationships and the signs of abusive ones are also displayed for students to see. Considering that sex and all the risk of being sexually active is discussed in these health classes, it would make sense to talk about beginning dating and intimate relationships since that does tend to lead to being sexually active. It is proven that a lack of education and experience on relationships is one cause of the continuation of domestic abuse. Though an education on abusive relationships is very important, young adults should also be educated and aware of where they can get help if being faced with an abusive relationship. Victims of abuse often feel too guilty and ashamed to seek action. Young adults must be aware that remaining in abusive relationships only promotes the cycle of abuse and creates a sense of dependency of the relationship and abusive partner. Though leaving an abusive relationship is not always an easy thing to do, there are many outlets and resources to get help when in an abusive relationships. There are safe homes so Bell18 victims may have some place to stay if needed, domestic abuse hotlines that are open for calls any time of the day or night, and counseling that will help victims to cope with any leftover emotional damage or feelings from the relationship. It is highly important for young adults to know that being abused, whether it is physically, sexually, mentally, or verbally, is neither normal nor healthy when in a relationship. Domestic abuse in society is masked and it is up to the victims to come fourth and first help themselves so one day other young adults can be helped as well.
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Works Cited
"Adolescent Relationship Abuse." California Adolescent Health Collaborative. Web. 10 Apr. 2013. .
Bell, Latonya. Personal Communication, February 19, 2013.
Carter, Helen. "Abuse in Teenage Relationships 'more Prevalent ' than Thought." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 15 Sept. 2011. Web. 18 Mar. 2013. .
Catalano, Shannan. Murder By Intimate Partner. 2012. Photograph. Statistics On Domestic Violence. 27 Nov. 2012. Web. 3 Mar. 2013. .
Dias, Sean. Personal Communication, February 18th, 2013.
"Domestic Violence Statistics." Domestic Violence Resource Center. Web. 03 Mar. 2013. .
"Domestic Violence Statistics." Domestic Violence Statistics. Web. 02 Mar. 2013. .
"Domestic Violence Timeline." Pacwcbt.pitt.edu. Web. 19 Feb. 2013 . Bell20
Exner-Cortens, Deinera. "Longitudinal Associations Between Teen Dating Violence Victimization and Adverse Health Outcomes." 10 Dec. 2012. Web. 18 Mar. 2013. .
Faulkner, Dewi L. "Cyberdating Abuse: What Parents Need to Know." Education.com. Web. 18 Mar. 2013. .
Feinberg, Cara. "Hitting Home." The American Prospect. 25 Mar. 2002. Web. 03 Mar. 2013. .
"Feminism." Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. 19 Feb. 2013. .
Jezl, David R., Christian E. Molidor, and Tracy L. Wright. "Physical, Sexual and Psychological Abuse in High School Dating Relationships: Prevalence Rates and Self-esteem Issues." Child & Adolescent Social Work Journal 13.1 (1996): 69-87. Print.
Jones, Thomas. "The Murder Trial of OJ Simpson." Crime Library. Web. 19 Feb. 2013. .
Martin, Del. Battered Wives. San Francisco: Glide Publications, 1976. Print.
Montaldo, Charles. "The Four Types of Domestic Abuse." Crime / Punishment. Web. 02 Mar. 2013. .
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Mulford, Carrie. "Teen Dating Violence: A Closer Look at Adolescent Romantic Relationships." National Institute of Justice 261 (2008): 34-40. Print.
Pearson, Davante. Personal Communication, February 19th, 2013.
Sears, Heather A., E. Sandra Byers, and E. Lisa Price. "The Co-occurrence of Adolescent Boys’ and Girls’ Use of Psychologically, Physically, and Sexually Abusive Behaviours in Their Dating Relationships." Journal of Adolescence 30.3 (2007): 487-504. Print.
Storrs, Carina. "Dating Violence in Teen Years Can Have Lasting Impact." US News. U.S.News & World Report, 10 Dec. 2012. Web. 18 Mar. 2013. .
Thomas, Brenda. Personal Communication, February 19th.
Young, Cathy. “Domestic Violence: An In-Depth Analysis.” Independent Women 's Forum, 30 Sept. 2005. Web. 19 Feb. 2013. .
I. Introduction
Prior to the 1800’s, most legal systems accepted wife beating as an approach to show a husband’s authority and control over his wife. In these times, women were deemed as possession to their husband’s and inferior to men in general. Women were liable to be abused by their husband’s or partner’s and received no justice in return when they were faced with such abuse. Modernly named as domestic violence, this abuse was once very common and ignored as long as it “didn’t go too far” or was done in moderation. In 1882, Maryland was the first state to pass a law making wife-beating a crime; the punishment would be either forty lashes or a year in jail (Domestic Violence Timeline). Attention to domestic violence didn’t appear until the feminist movement around 1870; women became more involved in feminism and woman’s …show more content…
rights. Feminism was a series of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal rights in all aspects for women. According to an article by Cathy Young, the publication of books such as Battered Wives by Del Martin drew attention to the various numbers of women who suffered in abusive relationships. Women all over America were seeking their equal rights and began to take notice to the violence against them in the forms of domestic abuse and sexual assaults. Women recognized gender difference expectations, and a legal system that failed to hold men accountable for their acts of violence, as a major contribution to the continuation and severity of their abuse. In the 1970s, the first shelters and crisis hotlines for abused women opened up in the United States. Women were finally beginning to see the respect and rights that they deserved. As Bell2 reporter Cara Feinberg wrote in The American Prospect, "feminist activists began to see the law not only as an important tool for protecting victims but as a way to define domestic violence as a legitimate social problem." (Independent Women’s Forum). Though women were getting their recognition socially and slowly politically, domestic abuse was and is still an ongoing problem in society.
One of the most recognizable cases of domestic violence was the O.J Simpson trial. In 1994, the historic NFL football star O.J Simpson was charged and put on trial for the suspected murder of his wife Nicole Brown-Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman. Both Nicole Brown-Simpson and her friend were found stabbed to death outside of Nicole’s Los Angeles condo. Evidence from the murder scene led police to convict Simpson for the murder. Though the case was widely known to the public, and nearly most of America thought Simpson was guilty for the murder, Simpson pleaded not guilty for all of the charges against him. Simpson was unable to be held accountable for the murders because the primary evidence used in the case was believed to have been tampered with previous to the trail. The O.J Simpson trial stirred up a lot of controversy and put domestic violence in the spotlight for a long time after many Americans still believed that Simpson was a guilty man.
In my recent research about the prevalence of domestic violence, particularly among young and middle aged adults, I have conducted four interviews to get the social point of view on abusive relationships; these four individuals were selected so I could receive a diverse perspective on such relationships. When asked the question “Which age group do you think is exposed to abusive relationships more, young adults or married couples and why?” I was able to Bell3 generate some very interesting answers and opinions. The closer in age my interviewees were the more similar their answers seemed to be.
My first interviewee was a 21 year old Hispanic male, he responded to the question as follows:
It 's easy to be blinded by love, so when you 're married, you may think you know the person when you don’t. Because you 're oblivious to what goes on, you’ll think it 'll never happen again and keep giving them chances which will promote the behavior and they will just keep doing it. Eventually it will get to the point where you will be scared to leave because of what the abuser may try and do. (Personal Communication. Dias)
My second interviewee was a 42 year old African American female, when asked the previously stated question she responded as follows:
Young adults are more exposed because they are not experienced. They think and expect whatever their significant other does is love and it’s not love. There is a lack of experience and knowledge of what love is and relationships are period. If these young adults grew up in violent homes they would learn from that behavior and tolerate it.” (Personal Communication, Bell.)
My third interviewee was a 62 year old Caucasian female. When asked the previously stated question she had trouble generating an answer. Though I was almost sure I could guess her answer, she surprised me. Her response is as follows:
Both age groups are exposed equally because both teenage males and adult males want to be in control of their spouse or girlfriend. They want to be dominant and they show jealousy. Young adults have it bad but married couples can start off okay then down the line there becomes problems. (Personal Communication, Thomas) My fourth and final interviewee was a 15 year old African American Male. He did not give an in depth response but he was able to make a valid point. His response is as follows:
Bell4
Married couples are exposed more because they’re more in love and they act on their emotions. If one person cheats in the relationship the other would go crazy.” (Personal Communication, Pearson) Before conducting each of these interviews I had pre conceived notions of what each person would say, each of their answers turned out to be quite surprising. I received very diverse responses and a lot of wise insight from all of my interviewees. I was surprised to see that my younger interviewees both were opinionated on the idea that marries couples are more exposed to abusive relationships. It was interesting to see the difference of opinion as generations transform. When discussing the social issue of domestic abuse, there are certain words that one should be able to associate with this topic. Domestic violence, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, and physical abuse are all aspects of domestic abuse that appear prominently in the discussion of this issue. In order to properly identify and recognize domestic abuse it is crucial for people to be able to know the signs and what exactly domestic abuse can be classified as. A simple knowledge of the issue will help so many more women to escape or to help someone else in an abusive relationship. Domestic Violence is defined as a pattern of abusive behaviors displayed by one partner to another in an intimate relationship such as marriage or dating. The term "intimate partner violence" (IPV) is also often used to identify with domestic abuse/domestic violence. Domestic violence is a dangerous and underrated social issue, nearly one in four women are said to be exposed to domestic violence in their lifetime. This social issue is the leading cause of injury to women, even more than car accidents, muggings, and rapes combined. Domestic Violence and
Bell5 abuse is definitely not limited to obvious physical violence, violence includes endangerment, kidnapping, unlawful imprisonment, trespassing, harassment, and stalking. Physical abuse is the form of domestic violence most identified with, when hearing the term “domestic violence”, physical assault is the first thought that pops into the general populations minds. This type of abuse is defined as any abuse involving contact intended to cause feelings of intimidation, pain, injury, or other physical suffering or bodily harm. It can involve using a weapon or restrains or merely using body, size or strength to harm another person. Physical abuse consists of grabbing, pushing, throwing, punching, biting, choking, and even scratching. Physical abuse can sometimes even lead to murder, in 2000, 1,247 women were killed by an intimate partner. (Domestic Violence Research Center) Often times when being physically abused, women do not leave their partners in fear of a worse beating.
Chart #1
Bell6
Sexual abuse is another form of domestic violence. This type of abuse is defined as any situation in which force or threat is used to obtain participation in unwanted sexual activity. Marital rape, also known as spousal rape, is non-consensual sex in which the offender is the victim 's spouse. Pressuring somebody to engage in sexual activity against their will, even if that person is a spouse or intimate partner with whom consensual sex has occurred before, is still considered an act of aggression and violence. Sexual abuse often times is linked to physical abuse; they may occur together, or sexual abuse may occur after an episode of physical abuse. When people think of domestic violence they often are thinking of battered woman, on the contrary, not all abusive relationships include violence.
Emotional abuse in a relationship can be just as serious and surprisingly it is the most common form of domestic abuse in most relationships today. Unfortunately, emotional abuse is immensely overlooked, often times even by the victim. The aim of emotional abuse is to destroy the victim’s feelings of self-worth and independence; this may make it difficult for a victim to feel strong enough to leave his or her abuser. Emotional abuse can include humiliating the victim privately or publicly, controlling what the victim can and cannot do, withholding information from the victim, deliberately doing something to make the victim feel belittled or embarrassed, isolating the victim from friends and family, subliminally blackmailing the victim by harming others when the victim expresses independence or happiness, or denying the victim access to money or other basic resources and necessities. Degrading the victim in any way can also be considered psychological
abuse. Bell7
Verbal abuse is a form of emotionally abusive behavior involving the use of language. Threatening can be referred to as verbal abuse. Through threatening a person can blatantly say they will harm you in any way and it will be considered as abuse, the act does not have to be carried out for it to be abusive behavior. Verbal abuse may include aggressive actions such as name-calling, blaming, ridicule, disrespect, and criticism. Verbal abuse may also include profanity but is not limited to using curse words. Being able to recognize and identify all these terms is important in the issue of domestic violence. Today, a lack of education on what domestic abuse really is and all of its important aspects is a contributing factor to the continuation and prevalence of domestic violence. In order to prevail against the issue of domestic violence, there must be an omnipresent knowledge of what domestic abuse is.
Bell8
II. Problem Statement
In society, there is a huge focus on love and relationships; due to this, people are engaging in serious relationships, or on the search for them, sooner and sooner. Nearly eighty-nine percent of high school teenagers have reportedly been involved in dating relationships (Statistics on Teenage Relationships). Young adults and teenagers are surely not immune to facing domestic abuse just because of their age; there is an surprising number of younger adults who face this issue each day. Articles such as one entitled “Abuse in Teenage Relationships More Prevalent Then Thought” are able to support the fact that there is on-going conflict that needs to be controlled. Abuse in adolescent relationships is more prevalent than a lot of people are able to recognize. People must be able to identify a problem in order to find a solution for it. In an article written by Helen Carter, she states that out of thirty-eight females, over half said that they were in a sexually violent relationship before the age of eighteen, and half said that they experienced physical violence. Carter also states that out of 44 males, one in four said that they had been in relationships with physically aggressive partners. That is the twist within abuse in adolescent relationships; the abuse is mutually prevalent from both sexes. As stated in Liz Claiborne Inc.’s Love Is Not Abuse 2011 College Dating Violence and Abuse Poll, almost half of dating college women report having experienced violent or abusive behavior at some point in their lives, and one in five report actual physical or sexual abuse and threats of physical violence (Teen Dating Abuse). The percentages of young adults who have never faced dating abuse are
Bell9 likely to know someone who has. So as you can see, dating violence is common with age groups both prior to and post high school. One main reason why the prevalence of abusive relationships among young adults is not more commonly known is because most parents of these abused children are not even aware of what is going on. When beginning to date or get in relationships young adults are likely to shut their parents out of that part of their life, reportedly only ten percent of parents knew that their child was being abused in a relationship (Teen Dating Abuse). Parents are known for trying to protect their children for as long as they can, if even they are oblivious to some of the signs of abuse then how would the general population be able to recognize them?
Many times abuse is not in the form of actual violence or physical abuse, and even when it is with clear signs of bruising or cuts the victim is liable to lie to his/her parents about it. In an article entitled “CyberDating Abuse: What Parents Need to Know” by Dewi Faulkner, the amount of young adults who face being verbally or emotionally abused by their partner by either the use of cell phones or social networking is given attention. In generations where the use of technology is growing rapidly being abused in those ways is not uncommon at all.
Being the victim of an abusive relationship at a young age can have lasting physical and emotional effects. Someone who has been in an abusive relationship at a young age is more likely to continue on engaging in relationships with abusive partners along their lifetime. In an article entitled “Dating Violence in Teen Years can Have Lasting Impact” written by Carina Storrs, she states that young adults who are involved in abusive relationships are facing higher rates of depression, binge drinking and suicidal thoughts. All those things are social issues and Bell10 produce a poor emotional and mental health. In doing her research of the effects of abusive relationships, Storrs found the work of Deinera Exner-Cortens who states that "Romantic relationships are really important developmental experiences, where teens develop their identity, if these relationships aren 't going very well; it somehow skews their view of what a healthy relationship is and their healthy development.” That statement so powerfully goes to show how important and serious relationships existing between young adults can be, and why the issue of abusive relationships among young adults needs to be properly addressed. Being that domestic violence is such a masked social issue, I conducted ten random surveys to get an honest answer and opinion on the prevalence of domestic abuse. I surveyed individuals both male and female of different ages with a variety of different ethnicities also. Individuals are more likely to give honest answers when they are assured that the answers will be anonymous, with that being said, the results of my ten surveys were definitely interesting and what I was looking for. (see appendix for listed questions)
Chart #2 Results Based on Gender
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All of the individuals, both male and female, stated that they have been in intimate dating relationships before in the results of my surveys. From the chart above, I was able to infer that females take abusive relationships as a more serious matter than males do. I noticed that more than half the males stated that they would not leave if they were in an abusive relationships compared to the four out of five woman who claimed they would; I infer that the reason for that is that a man feels he will not be in any real danger or trouble with a woman, which is a huge problem within the domestic abuse issue. While more females claimed to have been or known of people being abused, both sexes were in agreement that they were not properly taught the signs of abuse.
Chart #3 Results Based on Age
Age plays a huge part in both the knowledge and experience on the issue of domestic abuse. Based on the data from the above chart the older the individuals were the more similar their answers became. The youngest age group, 15 years through 20 years, displayed a variety of Bell12 different answers on who they knew, what they knew, and how important the issue of domestic abuse seemed to be to them. All individuals who were 40 and above knew people who have been abused, have been informed of the signs, acknowledged the importance of the different types of abuse and agreed that they would offer a helping hand to anyone who was being abused.
Chart #3 Results Based on Ethnicity
Though I received answers from some very diverse ethnicities, there were not many differences in answers between these ethnicities. I believe this is because no ethnicity that is immune to facing domestic abuse, and there is no different approach to tackling domestic violence when dealing with ethnicities. If I was able to branch off into other countries I believe that each culture and ethnicity would have different views, but being that all the individuals who participated in my survey are from the United States, most of them displayed the same views. Conducting these surveys was a very efficient way to get the real perspective of society, surveying people of diverse genders, ages, and backgrounds enabled me to receive answers that were neither biased nor similar. These surveys were very beneficial to my research and have Bell13 supported my ideas and arguments that domestic abuse is becoming prevalent among young adults and that society is not educated enough on this social issue.
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III. Literature Review The prevalence of domestic abuse within younger generation is a social issue that has been ignored for entirely too long, while conducting research to unmask the truth about this issue I came across four journal articles that have helped to support my case. Articles such as “Teen Dating Violence: A Closer Look at Adolescent Romantic Relationships” and “Physical, sexual and psychological abuse in high school dating relationships: Prevalence rates and self-esteem issues” both point out specific statistics and facts about abusive teenage relationships brings together the point of view of both victims of this violence and the adult perspective on it. Another article titled “Physical, sexual and psychological abuse in high school dating relationships: Prevalence rates and self-esteem issues”, focuses on the outcome of teenagers who are victims of these abusive relationships. While reading the journal article “Teen Dating Violence: A Closer Look at Adolescent Romantic Relationships”, written by Carrie Mulford, there were some key facts that stuck out to me. According to this article, abuse in teenage relationships is mutually put forth by both male and female with a common motive of anger. Though statistics have shown that the female is more likely to endure physical or sexual assault when it comes to facing emotional abuse both female and male partners in a relationship. This article suggest that a lack of experience in relationships for young adults contributes to their abuse, an inexperience on how to communicate can lead to very poor and naïve coping techniques such a verbal or physical abuse. According to a journal article entitled “Adolescent Relationship Abuse” the group of individuals ages sixteen to twenty-five experience the highest rate of intimate partner violence. Bell15
This article states that abusive relationships are harmful to young adults because they are more likely to carry those abusive qualities into relationships in adulthood. Young female adults who are in abusive relationships are four to ten times more likely to get pregnant and adolescent relationship abuse is associated with increased substance abuse, unhealthy weight control behavior, sexual risk behaviors, and suicide. As discovered in the journal article “Physical, sexual and psychological abuse in high school dating relationships: Prevalence rates and self-esteem issues”, written by Dr. David R. Jezl, self-esteem negatively correlated with psychological mistreatment in adolescent relationships. This article states that individuals who do not recognize their treatment as abusive are less likely to seek an outlet from the relationship, and over three fourths of young adults who are facing psychological abuse do not feel that they are being abused. In addition to that fact, most individuals who were self-aware of their abuse stated that they would not report it. The information obtained in this article is very important and can be detrimental to this social issue because in order to put a stop to it, victims must feel comfortable enough to take a stand and speak up. In the journal article entitled “The co-occurrence of adolescent boys’ and girls’ use of psychologically, physically, and sexually abusive behaviors in their dating relationships”, we are introduced with the idea that males using sexually abusive behavior and females using psychologically (emotionally) abusive behavior were linked to their respective gender roles. Some researchers have found that older youths are more likely to use physical violence than younger youths. Bell16
All of the above journal articles were helpful in my research and confirmed the prevalence of domestic abuse among the adolescent community. Young adults in relationships are suffering and if abuse continues on they will bring their abusive behaviors into future relationships, making domestic violence and abuse a more prevalent social issue among all ages. Domestic abuse in these adolescent relationships is also creating mentally unstable individuals that no one will ever notice if not properly handled.
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IV. Conclusion After taking a closer look at the issue of domestic abuse among young adults, I have concluded that the first order of business at resolving this issue is to bring more attention to it in society. There are young adults in society being abused by their partners who have not spoken up about it because either they do not where to get help or because they are not able to recognize that they are being abused. Relationships are a crucial part of social development and the importance of maintaining healthy personal relationships should be stressed more efficiently. Being that nearly every high school student is required to take a heath class, and many young adults begin dating relationships in high school, I recommend that there should be a segment of the course where healthy relationships and the signs of abusive ones are also displayed for students to see. Considering that sex and all the risk of being sexually active is discussed in these health classes, it would make sense to talk about beginning dating and intimate relationships since that does tend to lead to being sexually active. It is proven that a lack of education and experience on relationships is one cause of the continuation of domestic abuse. Though an education on abusive relationships is very important, young adults should also be educated and aware of where they can get help if being faced with an abusive relationship. Victims of abuse often feel too guilty and ashamed to seek action. Young adults must be aware that remaining in abusive relationships only promotes the cycle of abuse and creates a sense of dependency of the relationship and abusive partner. Though leaving an abusive relationship is not always an easy thing to do, there are many outlets and resources to get help when in an abusive relationships. There are safe homes so Bell18 victims may have some place to stay if needed, domestic abuse hotlines that are open for calls any time of the day or night, and counseling that will help victims to cope with any leftover emotional damage or feelings from the relationship. It is highly important for young adults to know that being abused, whether it is physically, sexually, mentally, or verbally, is neither normal nor healthy when in a relationship. Domestic abuse in society is masked and it is up to the victims to come fourth and first help themselves so one day other young adults can be helped as well.
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Mulford, Carrie. "Teen Dating Violence: A Closer Look at Adolescent Romantic Relationships." National Institute of Justice 261 (2008): 34-40. Print.
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Sears, Heather A., E. Sandra Byers, and E. Lisa Price. "The Co-occurrence of Adolescent Boys’ and Girls’ Use of Psychologically, Physically, and Sexually Abusive Behaviours in Their Dating Relationships." Journal of Adolescence 30.3 (2007): 487-504. Print.
Storrs, Carina. "Dating Violence in Teen Years Can Have Lasting Impact." US News. U.S.News & World Report, 10 Dec. 2012. Web. 18 Mar. 2013. .
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