DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

What is the scale of Domestic Violence and is enough being done to reduce it?

Domestic Violence

Introduction

Human suffering is the most the most painful topic of sociology, which needs immediate attention. Suffering can be defined as the pain and harm caused by the unequal and unjust social structures to a person, group or a social class. Sufferings are of two types, physical and mental. The intensity of suffering varies for different individuals ranging from low to high and uncontrollable levels. The attitude of people against different types of suffering varies. Some people fight with the harsh circumstances of their lives and achieve their goals. On the other hand, some people give up their efforts and current in front of the evil and unjust social structures.

The most common form of violence which prevails in every society in the world is domestic of family violence. It shows the instability and gender relations between men and women based on the institution of marriage. Most recently it has become a significant issue which has grabbed attention of public, political and academic audience. At the social level, it involves ideological beliefs and institutional policies and practices. At the individual level, it involves personal attitudes and prejudices as well as individual behavior and conventions of daily life. Also mental pressures amongst men give rise to such issues and further the children at home are affected.

Therefore, in sociological research this particular topic has been repeatedly questioned and further many researchers have been conducted in order to come up with concrete evidence regarding such an issue. Moreover, different sociological perspectives have stated their opinions about domestic violence. For example according to the functionalist perspective family violence prevails in the household due to the incompatibility between the spouses, whereas on the contrary according to the conflict perspective domestic violence is due to the merger of two different classes in an institution of marriage. They further argue that due to the different class backgrounds of the spouses, family violence is uprooted. The conflict sociologist see the society as similar to the Marxist perspective as Karl Marx was the initiator of the conflict perspective and believed that since their where two main classes of people prevailing in the society namely the bourgeoisies and proletariats, conflicts were bound to happen , despite of the harmony if it existed.

Historical Perspective

Moreover, according to the conflict perspective, the society is seen as a whole in which all the individuals dwell and they see the society as a constant conflict between the groups and classes of people living with each other. They also believe that the society is held by dominant groups and classes which want the weaker people to be submissive and obey to the rules set by them. Since the conflict perspective is highly influenced by the works of Karl Marx, they argue that the social stratum is the main reason for domestic violence. According to Emile Durkheim marriage and families are composed of people who have different ideas, values, personalities and ...