Common View - behaviour of a few disturbed or 'sick'
individuals - causes are psychological rather than social
Sociologists - DV is far too wipespread to be simply the work of a few
disturbed individuals
Mirrlees- Black found that there's 6.6 million domestic assaults a year
4 types of abuse: partner
abuse, family abuse, sexual
assault and stalking
Mirrlees- Black found that...
Most victims are women
99% of all incidents against women are commited by men
Nearly 1 in 4 women have been assaulted by a partner
Dobash and Dobash found
violent incidents could be set off by what a husband saw as a challenge to his authority
They argue that marriage legitimates violence against women by conferring power and
authority on husbands and dependency on wives
Official Statistics
According to Cheal...
The family is a private sphere, so access to it by state
agencies should be limited
The family is a good thing and so agencies tend to
neglect the 'darker side of the family'
Individuals are free agents so its assumed that if a woman is
experiencing abuse, shes free to leave
Radical Feminist Explanation
Findings e.g. from Dobash and Dobash show evidence of patriarchy
Key division in society is between men and women - men are the enemy and
exploiters of women
See the family and marriage as the key institutions in patriarchal society and the main
source of women's oppression - within the family, men dominate women through
domestic violence or the threat of it
Help to explain why most domestic violence is committed by men - argue that violence
against women is part of patriarchal system that maintain's men's power
Elliot rejects RF claim and says not all men are aggressive - RF reject this
Other Groups at Risk
Children and Young People
Those in low social classes
Those who live in rented accommadation
Those on low income
Those with high levels of alcohol, drugs etc
Wilkinson- Domestic Violence, Inequality and Stress
Sees DV as the result of stress on family members caused by social inequality
Findings of Wilkinson and Mirrlees-Black show those with less power, status, wealth or income are often at greater risk
Wilkinsons approach is useful in showing how social ineuality
produces stress and triggers conflict and violence in families
Those in lower social classes face greater hardship and stress - helps to explain the class
differences in the statistics on DV