This is the use of substantial or oral force against a person persuading action against the will of the individual thus being hurt. Violence may either be gender-based or among the youths as a result of drug abuse. However, the majority of the cases being reported are related to domestic violence. Domestic violence in quintessence is the employment of a pattern of obnoxious behaviors by either of the partners in an intimate relationship through corporeal aggression or sexual abuse. All this may be attributed to the consumption of alcohol. Conversely, this paper will purposely concentrate on domestic violence as one of the major causes of violence. In consideration of domestic violence, especially the gender-based one most of these acts are directed at women.

This is acknowledged by the law in most countries of the world as one of the most brutal symbols of inequality. However, most countries have formed organizations that highly support the desire for equality among men and women. This was done through the empowerment of the young ladies by informing them of the need to recognize their rights and roles. To also encourage them of their primitive nature of feeling as if they can not perform tasks that men are capable of doing. Kimmel Michael, In the gender of the assailant, women are most likely to be killed by their male partners. According to the research, three-quarters of women are murdered while only a quarter of men are exterminated. Men might end up slaying their female partners while women might only impart some little injuries on their husbands.

Nevertheless, most of the women jailed for murder insist on personal defense. The major purpose of domestic violence is to acquire and uphold control over the casualty. Domestic violence may be broadly categorized into physical aggression, sexual and emotional abuse, verbal as well as financial abuse. Physical abuse is described as any form of contact whose basic intention was to inflict harm to the victim. It also entails depriving the casualty of important needs in life, for instance, medical attention moreover forcing the victim into uncouth behaviors such as smoking against hisher will. Sexual abuse is common in most relationships.

In relationships, partners who have at least engaged in sexual or unsafe sex will usually acknowledge rape. It also entails unwilling participation as well as sexual activity involving abusive expressions. Ammann, Lily. It also entails denying the victim basic necessities. Acts that make the victim feel as if hisher self-esteem is lowered. The expression of threatening words, for example, being killed if one walks out of a relationship and incessant criticism by calling of humorous names. Verbal abuse involves the use of utterances that subject the victim to humiliation. Withholding of investments from the casualty until the individual starts borrowing. Some of the well-known causes of domestic violence are personality characters as well as mental distinctiveness.

Personality characters include short tempers, poor control of the impulses plus deprived self-esteem. Mental illness is also included here. These are branded as psychological causes. Some other external factors include the environment in which the criminal lives, societal stress as well as coherent choices. The offender views the act of violence as an act to gain superiority and total control against others. Berrios, D; Grady, The immediate and sensitive effects of domestic violence include bruises, the fracturing of bones furthermore internal bleeding. They all require medical check-up. Risks of miscarriages for pregnant mothers may occur.

However, NIBRS has not yet been implemented nationally. Data compiled in by the Bureau of Justice Statistics yielded the estimate that women experienced , rape, sexual assault, robbery, and aggravated and simple assault victimizations at the hands of an intimate, down from 1. Men experienced about , such victimizations, with little variation between and In , just over 1, murders were attributable to intimates, and in almost three out of four of these killings, the victim was a woman. By comparison, in , there were nearly 3, victims of intimate murder Greenfeld. Other studies have suggested that as many as four million women are battered each year, and that 14 percent of women report having been violently abused by a spouse or boyfriend at some time in their lives.

Most intimate relationships are established between people of the same racial and economic background. Domestic violence occurs across all demographic groups. However, official rates of nonlethal, intimate violence are highest among women aged sixteen to twenty-four, women in households in the lowest income categories, and women residing in urban areas Greenfeld. Couples who cohabitate experience more violence than those who are married HolzworthMunroe. Other studies have found that abused women are more likely to live in communities with the highest rates of stranger violence Fagan. African American women comprise the largest group of victims, although they are also more likely to report intimate victimizations to the police than any other group. However, ethnicity and race are not significant correlates with domestic violence when controlling for other socio-demographic variables, such as income, employment status, and age.

Official statistics may be overinclusive of the poor and minorities. Women with higher incomes often have the resources to deal with domestic violence privately without involving the criminal justice system. Furthermore, the police may be more likely to arrest people in poor and middle-class neighborhoods than in upper-class neighborhoods. However, those with fewer resources also face more stressors, and while stress itself does not lead directly to violence, it can exacerbate the risk of violence Holzworth, Munroe.

There are many theories as to the causes of domestic violence. Feminist-inspired theories look to the institution of patriarchy and argue that battering mirrors male power and control over females. Family-based theories examine the level of family conflict and the indirect lessons children learn about the relationship between violence and love. Individual-based theories attribute domestic violence to personality disorders or biomedical factors, such as head injuries or mental illness. As a result, we are beginning to understand how the battering experience is both common and unique among abusers and victims. No single causal model can explain why people hurt those they claim to love.

As research becomes more interdisciplinary, and policies are driven as much by empirical data as by politics, theories will have to account for the complicated interplay of biological, social, economic, cultural, and individual factors that lead to domestic violence. Local and state governments are responsible for enforcing most domestic violence crimes. However, in , Congress passed the Violence Against Women Act VAWA. Among its many provisions, VAWA makes certain offenses federal crimes, such as interstate stalking and violation of a protection order. In addition, the Lautenberg Amendment to the Gun Control Act of prohibits the transfer, possession, or receipt of both firearms and ammunition by anyone convicted of a misdemeanor domestic violence offense.

These laws reflect a larger trend to federalize the criminal law, and they are controversial. Opponents argue that they are overreaching, ineffective, and grant excessive power to the federal government, and insist that combating domestic violence is best left to local, not federal, law enforcement. Since most domestic violence cases involve simple assault and battery—a misdemeanor—the police could not make an arrest at the scene. In , the U. Attorney General recommended arrest as the standard police response to domestic violence. This recommendation resulted from a landmark Minneapolis controlled experimental study that compared the deterrent effects of arresting the suspect, mediating the dispute, and requiring the batterer to leave the house for eight hours.

The study found that arrest more effectively deterred subsequent violence than did the other courses of action. The results were widely publicized. After the Thurman case, police departments concerned about similar lawsuits began to rethink their policies. All fifty states now provide for warrantless arrests in domestic violence cases. Since arrest statutes have been broadened, many jurisdictions have adopted mandatory or pro-arrest policies. These policies have received mixed reviews. Furthermore, when officers are either unable or unwilling to discern who was the initial aggressor, mandatory arrest policies can result in both parties being arrested.

Thus, these pro-arrest policies have the unintended consequence of penalizing rather than protecting victims. Others argue that police ought to have more discretion to handle domestic violence situations on a caseby-case basis. Does arrest work? The research is inconclusive. For example, when the Minneapolis study was replicated in other jurisdictions, the results differed significantly. Specifically, arrest consistently deterred employed batterers, but increased repeat violence among unemployed batterers. Yet, these findings were largely ignored. Furthermore, between and , while the police responded to 90 percent of calls for assistance, in only 20 percent of the cases was the alleged abuser arrested immediately Greenfeld. These findings raise questions as to how effective arrest policies have been in reducing recidivism or changing police practices.

Prosecutors routinely fail to initiate cases and follow through with prosecution. Victim noncooperation is often cited as the major reason for dismissing a domestic violence case. Thus, once police began to arrest alleged batterers, advocates began to focus reform efforts on prosecution practices. As a result, prosecutors are undertaking new initiatives. Many have established specialized domestic violence units. A few units specialize in same-sex battering, while others target teenagers in dating relationships, where experimentation with violence often begins. Vertical prosecution, in which one prosecutor is assigned to handle the case from arraignment to completion, thus providing the victim with ongoing support, is becoming common.

Increasingly, jurisdictions are employing social workers to counsel victims and their families. Some courts expedite, or rocket docket , domestic violence cases. Others divert first-time offenders into batterer treatment prior to trial. Most controversial, many jurisdictions are implementing no-drop policies. Moreover, the prosecutor usually signs the charge, relieving the victim of responsibility. At least four states have adopted legislation encouraging the use of no-drop policies, and VAWA has authorized grants to local law enforcement agencies that adopt aggressive prosecution policies.

Pro-prosecution policies are often characterized as either hard or soft no-drop policies. This can include subpoenaing the victim to testify and requesting that the judge issue an order of contempt if the victim refuses to cooperate. Most states recognize an exemption to marital privilege laws in cases in which one spouse is charged with a crime against the other and, thus, the vast majority of victims can be compelled to testify as a witness for the state and incarcerated for refusing to do so. Under soft policies, victims are provided with support services and encouraged to proceed, but are never mandated to participate.

The state will not proceed if the victim insists that the case be dropped. Furthermore, aggressive prosecution sends a strong message that domestic violence is a crime against the state as well as the individual. However, many advocates for battered women argue that the use of hard policies has the unintended effect of punishing or revictimizing the victim for the actions of the abuser. It also fails to take into account the effect that prosecution will have on family income or children. The state should neither force the victim into a process over which she has no control, nor undermine her autonomy or decision-making. Do aggressive prosecution policies work? It is difficult to measure the difference between policies as written and policies as practiced.

While early data indicate that aggressive policies can reduce domestic homicides, lower recidivism rates, and change attitudes within the criminal justice system, more research is needed to verify these findings Hanna, Despite these reforms, most domestic violence cases still end in arrest. Of those cases that are prosecuted, many are charged or plead down to misdemeanors even though the conduct constituted a felony. When prosecutors do go forward, the final disposition is most often a period of probation. Only a small percentage of domestic violence offenders are sentenced to incarceration Hanna, How do domestic violence cases compare to nondomestic violence cases?

View sample crime research paper on domestic violence. Browse other research paper examples for more inspiration. If you need a thorough research paper written according to all the academic standards, you can always turn to our experienced writers for help. This is how your paper can get an A! Feel free to contact our writing service for professional assistance. We offer high-quality assignments for reasonable rates. However, only since the s has the criminal justice system begun to treat domestic violence as a serious crime, not as a private family matter. Domestic violence is any physical, sexual, or psychological abuse that people use against a former or current intimate partner. It refers to a number of criminal behaviors: assault and battery; sexual assault; stalking; harassment; violation of a civil restraining order; homicide; and other offenses that occur in the course of a domestic violence incident, such as arson, robbery, malicious destruction of property, and endangering a minor.

No person can validly consent to a breach of the peace or a battery that may result in serious injury or death. Furthermore, most states have abolished the marital rape exemption in toto; this exemption precluded husbands from being prosecuted for raping their wives. Thus, in general, there is no legal distinction between crimes committed against intimate partners and those committed against strangers. Police, prosecutors, and judges are routinely trained in domestic violence, and aggressive interventions are continually implemented. Individuals across the political spectrum have generally supported these changes, although there is ongoing debate as to which interventions work best. Furthermore, some fear that the pendulum has swung too far, and that those who are accused of domestic violence, particularly men, are presumed guilty rather than innocent.

Advocates are concerned that the needs of victims are being sacrificed for higher conviction rates. Indeed, the ongoing challenge for the criminal justice system is to protect the rights of both defendants and victims while at the same time treating domestic violence as a serious social problem. Even though the criminal justice system has come a long way since , it still has a long way to go. The majority of those arrested for domestic violence are heterosexual men. However, between 5 and 15 percent of those arrested for battering are women. Many of these cases involve self-defending women who have been mistakenly arrested. While women can be the initial aggressor, female abusers are rarely identified or studied.

Gay men and lesbians constitute only a small percentage of those arrested for domestic violence. As with female abusers, we know surprisingly little about domestic violence in same-sex relationships. Same-sex victims receive fewer protections and face many more social consequences when reporting domestic violence to the authorities than heterosexual victims. For example, many states define domestic violence in a way that excludes same-sex victims, and some states with sodomy laws also require victims to acknowledge that they are in a domestic relationship, forcing victims to admit to a crime before receiving legal protection.

How many people are victims of domestic violence? The honest answer is that we just do not know. The federal government and a majority of the states collect statistics on domestic violence, but there are wide variations in how each jurisdiction defines offenses, determines what is counted, and measures or reports incidents. Statistics on the incidence and prevalence of domestic violence vary greatly. Thus, it is imperative that when evaluating data one considers the source and the methodology. It is vital to have an accurate picture of domestic violence in order to formulate appropriate policies and maintain intellectual integrity.

There are two official federal measures of crime, the National Crime Victimization Survey NCVS and the Uniform Crime Reporting Program UCR of the F. The NCVS gathers information about crime and its consequences from a nationally representative sample of U. It surveys respondents about any crimes experienced, including their relationship to the perpetrator. However, there is no way to independently verify this information or to determine how many incidents go unreported to authorities. In fact, it is estimated that about one-half of the incidents of intimate violence experienced by women are never reported to the police. The UCR tracks crimes reported to law enforcement.

However, it does not require local law enforcement to maintain data on the relationship between victim and offender except in the case of murder. The National Incident-Based Reporting System NIBRS , authorized by Congress in , will include and standardize data collection on domestic violence. However, NIBRS has not yet been implemented nationally. Data compiled in by the Bureau of Justice Statistics yielded the estimate that women experienced , rape, sexual assault, robbery, and aggravated and simple assault victimizations at the hands of an intimate, down from 1. Men experienced about , such victimizations, with little variation between and In , just over 1, murders were attributable to intimates, and in almost three out of four of these killings, the victim was a woman.

By comparison, in , there were nearly 3, victims of intimate murder Greenfeld. Other studies have suggested that as many as four million women are battered each year, and that 14 percent of women report having been violently abused by a spouse or boyfriend at some time in their lives. Most intimate relationships are established between people of the same racial and economic background. Domestic violence occurs across all demographic groups. However, official rates of nonlethal, intimate violence are highest among women aged sixteen to twenty-four, women in households in the lowest income categories, and women residing in urban areas Greenfeld. Couples who cohabitate experience more violence than those who are married HolzworthMunroe. Other studies have found that abused women are more likely to live in communities with the highest rates of stranger violence Fagan.

African American women comprise the largest group of victims, although they are also more likely to report intimate victimizations to the police than any other group. However, ethnicity and race are not significant correlates with domestic violence when controlling for other socio-demographic variables, such as income, employment status, and age. Official statistics may be overinclusive of the poor and minorities. Women with higher incomes often have the resources to deal with domestic violence privately without involving the criminal justice system.

Furthermore, the police may be more likely to arrest people in poor and middle-class neighborhoods than in upper-class neighborhoods. However, those with fewer resources also face more stressors, and while stress itself does not lead directly to violence, it can exacerbate the risk of violence Holzworth, Munroe. There are many theories as to the causes of domestic violence. Feminist-inspired theories look to the institution of patriarchy and argue that battering mirrors male power and control over females. Family-based theories examine the level of family conflict and the indirect lessons children learn about the relationship between violence and love. Individual-based theories attribute domestic violence to personality disorders or biomedical factors, such as head injuries or mental illness.

As a result, we are beginning to understand how the battering experience is both common and unique among abusers and victims. No single causal model can explain why people hurt those they claim to love. As research becomes more interdisciplinary, and policies are driven as much by empirical data as by politics, theories will have to account for the complicated interplay of biological, social, economic, cultural, and individual factors that lead to domestic violence. Local and state governments are responsible for enforcing most domestic violence crimes. However, in , Congress passed the Violence Against Women Act VAWA. Among its many provisions, VAWA makes certain offenses federal crimes, such as interstate stalking and violation of a protection order.

In addition, the Lautenberg Amendment to the Gun Control Act of prohibits the transfer, possession, or receipt of both firearms and ammunition by anyone convicted of a misdemeanor domestic violence offense. These laws reflect a larger trend to federalize the criminal law, and they are controversial. Opponents argue that they are overreaching, ineffective, and grant excessive power to the federal government, and insist that combating domestic violence is best left to local, not federal, law enforcement. Since most domestic violence cases involve simple assault and battery—a misdemeanor—the police could not make an arrest at the scene. In , the U. Attorney General recommended arrest as the standard police response to domestic violence. This recommendation resulted from a landmark Minneapolis controlled experimental study that compared the deterrent effects of arresting the suspect, mediating the dispute, and requiring the batterer to leave the house for eight hours.

The study found that arrest more effectively deterred subsequent violence than did the other courses of action. The results were widely publicized. After the Thurman case, police departments concerned about similar lawsuits began to rethink their policies. All fifty states now provide for warrantless arrests in domestic violence cases. Since arrest statutes have been broadened, many jurisdictions have adopted mandatory or pro-arrest policies. These policies have received mixed reviews. Furthermore, when officers are either unable or unwilling to discern who was the initial aggressor, mandatory arrest policies can result in both parties being arrested.

Thus, these pro-arrest policies have the unintended consequence of penalizing rather than protecting victims. Others argue that police ought to have more discretion to handle domestic violence situations on a caseby-case basis. Does arrest work? The research is inconclusive. For example, when the Minneapolis study was replicated in other jurisdictions, the results differed significantly. Specifically, arrest consistently deterred employed batterers, but increased repeat violence among unemployed batterers. Yet, these findings were largely ignored. Furthermore, between and , while the police responded to 90 percent of calls for assistance, in only 20 percent of the cases was the alleged abuser arrested immediately Greenfeld. These findings raise questions as to how effective arrest policies have been in reducing recidivism or changing police practices.

Prosecutors routinely fail to initiate cases and follow through with prosecution. Victim noncooperation is often cited as the major reason for dismissing a domestic violence case. Thus, once police began to arrest alleged batterers, advocates began to focus reform efforts on prosecution practices. As a result, prosecutors are undertaking new initiatives. Many have established specialized domestic violence units. A few units specialize in same-sex battering, while others target teenagers in dating relationships, where experimentation with violence often begins. Vertical prosecution, in which one prosecutor is assigned to handle the case from arraignment to completion, thus providing the victim with ongoing support, is becoming common.

Increasingly, jurisdictions are employing social workers to counsel victims and their families. Some courts expedite, or rocket docket , domestic violence cases.

Childhood Experinces of Domestic Violence. This perspective is supported by the fact that most women who are in abusive relationships do not report their plight to the police. The gist of this argument is that women with high education and income security are less dependent on men. Some students opt to seek help but others are Read more…. Domestic Violence Research Paper Published by gudwriter on June 23, June 23, One way to curb domestic violence is to reform the legislation and ensure that the vice falls under the law. One may also develop the urge to control when they feel their partner is superior to them in terms of socioeconomic or educational background.

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