Behavioral science Persuasive Essay
Family violence is used to refer to the many forms of abuse or mistreatment or neglect that adults or children face within the family setting. Lately more focus is put on the groups that are victimized. Child abuse and spousal abuse are most emphasized areas. It is not definite how family violence is widespread as in most cases it remains untold. Spousal abuse is a major type of family violence. It entails any form of maltreatment of a woman or a man by their partners.
There are different forms of spousal abuse and they include physical abuse, which includes any physical force meted on the person, sexual abuse which could be inform of degrading where one can withhold finances required for necessities, stealing or using fraudulent means to take the partners finances. Spiritual abuse can also be used whereby one is denied the freedom of worship or engaging in spiritual or religious activities. Most causes of spousal abuse go unreported, as partners are less willing to see the abusers punished. Most believe that using the criminal justice system will not suffice.
They also fail to trust that the system will protect them. Males and females get the same exposure to spousal abuse. Males are less likely to report their condition than females. The consequences of spousal abuse affect the physical, mental health and emotional aspects one’s self esteem is reduced and their self-efficacy and worth consequently declines. Spousal abuse affects children growth in the homes where it occurs. It instills fear and hinders their reasoning ability. Spousal abuse can ensure a circular link whereby those who are abused maintain the cycle.
Death for the abused person is the ultimate solution of those who are abused. Abused spouses undergo extra costs in terms of medical and health costs. Partners used in the process of ensuring the reduction of spousal abuse include lawyers, psychologists, police, social workers and those who work with battered spouses. These parties work incorporation with the government of the day to ensure that family violence comes to a stop. A major government role in ensuring that this aim is reached is to strengthen the criminal system so that people shy away from committing such claims for fear of the punishment.
Ways of enforcing the government is increasing the penalties and ensuring privacy and confidentiality of those who report violent cases. (Holden, pp320) To tackle spousal abuse the victims need to report the acts. The police tact is required so that justice prevails when responsible abusers are arrested. Police protection will ensure that abused people come and report their cases with a tactful police force. Justice will prevail when they are arrested and taken to authorities. Public education will be a necessary step to ensure that spousal abuse is addressed.
It sensitizes the public about their rights and how they can fight exploitation by their spouses. Organizations dealing with battered spouses will help them heal from the wounds caused by the abuse. Dissemination of information about people’s right and access to services that facilitate reduced abuse can be through publications. The governments of respective countries should increase their funding to projects that are geared towards eradication of family violence especially spousal abuse. (http://www. justice. gc. ca/en/ps/fm/spouseafs. html). The police ensure that the country abides the laws of the day.
They allow promotion of respect for the rights and freedoms. Live free is an organization that deals with battered spouses. It acknowledges the importance of awareness in preventing and reducing family violence especially spousal abuse. It helps members of society understand the causes of the abuse and the forms by which it occurs. It also gives people a clear picture of the effects of family violence to the society at large. It sensitizes people of how the abuse can be stopped. It assists victims understand how denial and isolation promotes the vice.
The organization harbors victims of spousal abuse where it offers the basic needs and counseling services. Those who undergo their program are changed by it eventually. Their perception about abuse and their rights enable the halting of such abuse. It ensures support and safety for the victims and instills in the minds of ‘survivors’ that only them are accountable for stopping their violence. Inside the organization, social network groups are formed and through sharing experiences protection of members is sustained. (Tan et al, pp444) Inadequate resources to fund the projects are a major challenge for the organization.
The demand or needs of their services are increasing overwhelming and this hinders their efficiency. Battered immigrant women face challenges in seeking their services. Language barriers, fear of deportation and mistrust of the government hinder them from accessing ‘Live Free’ services. It has succeeded in offering shelter for the abused spouses in society. It gives them a new lease of life where they are able to understand and end abuse. This is done through informative presentations or skills performed before officials like law enforcement and service providers.
The organization uses art, music and fun in promoting awareness about family violence. It offers training for leaders to equip them with information and skills geared towards eradicating family violence. It has succeeded in ensuring people’s perception has changed. The judicial system has incorporated some guidelines aired by Live Free organization. It has also promoted leadership and empowerment development. Another problem faced is that some members in society may be unwilling to accept the organizations point of view. The police are influential in a country’s legal institutional context.
Police intervention on family violence is highly dependent on the people’s willingness to report the matters to them. The society determines what is crime and people will report family violence to the police if they consider it a crime. Police efforts of combating spousal abuse are negatively affected by women’s attitudes. Sometimes women are ashamed of reporting incidences of violence. At other times they fear what will befall them after authorities handle their abusers. Fear of own victimization will hinder a woman from reporting a rape incidence.
There is a high tendency of women understanding of violence and they try to justify their husband’s actions. Notions used to justify violence against them include jealously, alcohol influence or hardships like unemployment or stressful work. (E. G et al, pp320) The police have succeeded in rescuing victims of spousal abuse who almost got killed. These incidences give the police joy as they save lives. The core purpose of the police in handling this problem is arresting culprits and ensuring justice always prevails. They offer investigative services here they investigate cases of spousal abuse that have been reported to them.
They also provide legal services where by the process of obtaining emergency or long-term protection for those who report cases to them are provided. This approach is very important in ensuring that other cases are reported. Those who shy away from reporting cases for fear of the abuser can now report their cases. The police also offer social services where counseling services are offered for the victims. The counselors are the first people to handle victims of abuse. They assess the problems of the victims to establish how they will be assisted.
They aim to increase batterer accountability, empower the survivors to lead violent free lives and ensures society have zero tolerance of family violence. (Brinkerhoff et al, pp26) The police advice victims that they will lay charges if their thorough investigation demands for it. They provide information of services they provide. They obtain statements, and gather evidence at the scene of said abuse. They remain until the clouds are clear or there are no threats to the victim. Reduction of federal government funding would negatively affect the services offered by the police.
Perception that spousal abuse is a private matter also limits the number of people reporting the issue. Success of the police in handling these services can be assessed by the reduction in violence overtime. (Burris et al,pp315) Ties of the offenders like economic ties, emotional ties and other shared memories make some spouses forfeit charges that could have see the abuse come to an end. Arresting offenders against the victim’s wishes hinders effective eradication of family violence. Arrests have not been very successful in promoting behavior change. Not all abusers who are arrested change their behavior.
Up to date the police still use the approaches they used before. Those who abuse their spouses are arrested and charged. The police face the challenge of risking their when investigating these cases. The people they are attempting to arrest can harm them. If the police force and the organizations dealing with battered spouses worked without hindrances like limited funds then they would be able to fulfill the needs of the victims of spousal abuse. The frustration faced by the police and organizations trying to help the abused spouses in society include the bureaucratic long procedures that hinder effective counteracting of abuse.
Unwilling victims also contribute to inefficiency in the police will to combat spousal abuse. The police find joy when they help save victims of abuse from their abusers. Fear to approach the police also frustrates the police as it hinders their efficiency in promoting productive services. Dropping charges by the victims also frustrates the efforts by the police to fight spousal abuse. Officers agree that arresting offenders is not the sole way of eradicating or solving, spousal problem. Police are also accused of not responding quickly especially if according to their judgment the person seeking for helping is not very desperate.
Reference: Hattendorf, J. , & Tollerud, T. R. Domestic Violence: Counseling Strategies That Minimize the Impact of Secondary Victimization. Perspectives in Psychiatric Care, 1997, pp14-23 Sherman, L. W. , Schmidt, J. D. , Rogan, D. P. , Smith, D. A. , Gartin, P. R. , Cohn, E. G. , Collins, D. J. , & Bacich, A. R. The variable effects of arrest on criminal careers: The Milwaukee domestic violence experiment. The Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology, 1992, 83, pp137-169. Brinkerhoff, M. B. , Grandin, E. , & Lupri, E. Religious involvement and spousal violence: The Canadian case Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 1992, 31, pp15-31.
Holden, G. & Ritchie, K. Linking extreme marital discord, child rearing, and child behavior problems: Evidence from battered women. Child Development, 1991, 62, pp 311-327. Family violence Initiative. Spousal Abuse. A fact Sheet from Department of Justice Canada. 2006. Retrieved on 19th October 2007 from (http://www. justice. gc. ca/en/ps/fm/spouseafs. html). Tan, C. , Basta, J. , Sullivan, C. M. , & Davidson II, W. S. The Role of Social Support in the Lives of Women Exiting Domestic Violence Shelters Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 1995, pp 437-451 Burris, C. A. , & Jaffe, P. Wife abuse as a crime: The impact of police laying charges.
Canadian Journal of Criminology, 1983, 25, 309-318 Spanking a child is abusive. It has been found out that in the long term it may produce adverse effects to the child. Children who start being pked at an early age end up adapting anti-social behavior like disobedience at school and deliberate breaking of things. Levels of anti-social behavior of children who don’t get pked were lower. The common saying ‘spare the child spoil the rod’ has been internalized in people’s mind but this has proved to have reverse effects. Spanking children has been going on for a long time with approximately 90% of parents in U.
S pking their children. Most parents regardless of their cultures pk their children occasionally. Most experts have divergent ideas as to whether it should be used but at some circumstances and that it should be done sparingly. Spanking is a way of enforcing limits to children especially when they are incontrollable and at a delicate age. Again, pking may act as a means to warn them of activities that may be harmful to them option. Spanking is done more to boys than girls and it declines with age. Fathers are less likely to pk their older daughters while blacks and single wome
