Theories on Domestic Violence

NASARAWA STATE UNIVERSITY, KEFFI
SCHOOL OF POSTGRADUATES STUDIES
DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY

ASSIGNMENT
SOC 729: THEORETICAL APPROACH TO GENDER RELATIONS

TITLE: THEORIES ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
BY
AGUNBIADE OLAYINKA ASANDIA
NSU/SS/MSC/073/11/12

LECTURER: DR. B. N. OTESANYA
AUGUST, 2012

INTRODUCTION
Domestic violence, also known as domestic abuse, spousal abuse, battering, family violence, and intimate partner violence (IPV), is defined as a pattern of abusive behaviors by one partner against another in an intimate relationship such as marriage, dating, family, or cohabitation. Domestic violence, so defined, has many forms, including physical aggression or assault (hitting, kicking, biting, shoving, restraining, slapping, throwing objects), or threats thereof; sexual abuse; emotional abuse; controlling or domineering; intimidation; stalking; passive or covert abuse (e.g., neglect); and economic deprivation. Alcohol consumption and mental illness can be co-morbid with abuse, and present additional challenges in eliminating domestic violence. Awareness, perception, definition and documentation of domestic violence differ widely from country to country, and from era to era.
Domestic violence and abuse is not limited to obvious physical violence. Domestic violence can also mean endangerment, criminal coercion, kidnapping, unlawful imprisonment, trespassing, harassment, and stalking.
History of domestic violence:
Prior to the mid 1800s, most legal systems accepted wife beating as a valid exercise of a husband 's authority over his wife. One exception, however, was the 1641 Body of Liberties of the Massachusetts Bay colonists, which declared that a married woman should be "free from bodily correction or stripes by her husband."
Political agitation during the nineteenth century led to changes in both popular opinion and legislation regarding domestic violence within the United Kingdom and the United States. In 1850, Tennessee became the first state in the

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