Transcript THE DARK SIDE OF THE FAMILY

THE DARK SIDE OF THE
FAMILY
• People who die violently are more likely to
die at the hands of someone that they know
• Selbourne (1993) says that the largest
category of murder victims in most years is
children under the age of five years, at the
hands of a family member
• A woman dies every three days at the hands
of a partner
Read the following quotation. What questions might one
need to ask about the quotation when assessing how
much it tells us about attitudes to domestic abuse and
violence?
• “There are only about 20 murders a year in
London and many not at all serious – some
are just husbands killing wives”
• Scotland Yard Commander G.H.Hatherill (1954)
Why hasn’t the dark side of the
family always been visible?
• Until the ’60s, functionalists said the most
about the family
• Warm bath theory
R.D.Laing
• R.D. Laing said in 1976 that mental
illnesses sometimes happen because of the
pressures of family life.
• If you have destructive family relationships,
you might get schizophrenia.
There are different types of abuse
within families:
• Sexual abuse
• Neglect
• Physical abuse
• Emotional abuse
Feminists say…
…men commit domestic violence and abuse
because they are able to exert power over
weaker women and children…
Key studies
• Dobash and Dobash (1980)
• Large scale research in Glasgow – women
in refuges who had left partners
• First to raise the issue of under-reporting
• Police often failed to respond
• Predominantly an issue affecting women
Key studies
• Hester and Radford (1996) studied domestic
violence and the law.
• They suggested that male dominance in
families does still exist
• The law wasn’t very helpful
Key studies
• Lockhurst (1999) studied male victims of
domestic violence
• The problem of woman on man violence is
‘underestimated, under researched and
under funded’
It is hard to define, and find true figures about
violence and abuse – but we know they
exist in some families.
The privacy and intimacy of family life can be
a source of danger to the vulnerable and
weak.
Questions
• Why was the dark-side of family life largely
ignored for many years?
• Suggest two reasons why domestic violence
is not simply the behaviour of a few
psychologically disturbed individuals?
• Identify two other groups apart from women
who are at risk of violence?
• Why might the most economically deprived
be more at risk of committing/ experiencing
violence?