Incidents of Domestic Violence in the United States

Incidents of Domestic Violence in the United States

         Introduction

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention indicates that domestic violence is one of the major social challenges experienced in the United States and other parts of the world. In their research to determine the most common types of domestic violence in the United States, they indicate that sexual violence, intimate partner relationships as well as intimate partner stalking are some of the major public challenges experienced within the current United States populace. In a research article published on the Online Safe Horizon article, domestic violence is described as a pattern of behavior that is applied between two or more people to gain power and attain control over other people. This is usually achieved through fear and intimidation through strategies such as violent acts, threats or verbal abuse. The article also indicates that other terms that are applied to describe domestic violence in the United States and other parts of the world include: Spousal abuse, battering, intimate partner violence et cetera. This paper will focus on an analysis of domestic violence in the United States as published in various research articles.

           Incidents of Domestic Violence in the United

In article published by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, it is estimated that approximately twenty people every minutes are victims of domestic violence, suffering from physical violence caused by the intimate partners. Annually, approximately ten million men and women suffer from domestic violence in the United States. This is an indication how domestic violence is a social menace in the United States creating a need for intervention among concerned stakeholders. On an average approximately two million women are raped on an annually basis while about 8 million women and men have reported incidence of intimate partner stalking on an annual basis.

Domestic violence is a challenge that affects all races and ethnic groups in the United States. It is also a challenge to people of varying religious affiliations, age-groups as it affects the young and the old. Moreover, research has indicated that domestic violence is not associated with certain levels of socio-economic status; that is, it affects the rich, middle-income families and the low-income families. However, it has been acknowledged that despite the fact that domestic violence is a challenge cutting across all cultures, religions, races, and socio-economic status; it does not affect men and women on the same level of frequency. Some women and are men are subject to violent domestic abuses while others are usually subjected to incidences of verbal abuse or intimate partner stalking. Researchers have also argued that the lives of United States citizens lost as a result of domestic violence at some point have even surpassed the lives of soldiers lost during war. In a research article published in the online Huffing Post, it is indicated that the number of lives that were lost during 2012 as a result of domestic violence was quite high raising concerns among various parts of the United States. The author of the article mentions that the number of soldiers lost between the year 2001 and 2012 was approximately 6,500 while the number of women’s lives lost during that period stood at 11,000, which was almost double the number of lives lost as a result of war casualties. From this article, it is quite evident that women in the United States are more likely to experience domestic violence compared to their male partners. This is affirmed by the author of the article indicating that women are 85% more likely to suffer from domestic violence compared to men who are at 15% likely to suffer from domestic violence.

Perhaps one of the major questions that emerge when the issue of domestic violence is mentioned in the United States is: How does domestic violence begin? However, through social research, it has been indicated that occurrence of domestic violence in the United States and other parts of the world usually begin when one partner is of the belief or feeling that they ought to be in control in their relationship or dominate their partners. People who engage in domestic violence tend to the need to control their partners mainly due to: Low self-esteem; challenges or difficulties their experience in regard to managing their anger; inferiority complex has also been described as a factor that causes occurrence of domestic violence i.e. due to different socio-economic status and education. Efforts to dominate partners when such feelings begin to occur between couples or ex-couples usually take the form of sexual abuse, physical or even emotional abuse. However, some researchers have argued that incidences of violent behavior may be caused by individual factors as well as situational factors. On the other hand, learning as a process of psychological development among children is also considered a contributing factor t domestic violence in the United States. That is, children raised in families that experience frequent domestic violence learn to associate violence as the most appropriate strategy to solving conflicts.

       Conclusion

From the discussion, one can identify the magnitude of domestic violence in the United States; the discussion indicates that approximately twenty people are victims of domestic abuse in the United States every minutes. This is an alarming level of domestic violence creating a need for appropriate intervention mechanisms. The discussion also indicates that children raised in families experiencing a high level of domestic violence tend to learn that violence is the most appropriate strategy to solving conflicts; this is one of the factors that propagate the occurrence of domestic violence in the United States. It is imperative to acknowledge the reduction of domestic violence in the United States and other parts of the world is of paramount importance and requires the participation of various stakeholders.