Dating Violence Sociology

14. Is there a difference in the patterns of violence towards male and female victims? Although over 12 million women and men are victims of rape, physical violence, or stalking by an intimate partner in the United States each year, women are significantly more likely to be victimized than men. Women’s battering has reached epidemic proportions in the United States and is considered to be a major social problem. In fact, intimate partner violence is the leading cause of injury and death to American women. Furthermore, no woman is more susceptible to experience domestic violence than another woman. Victims of violence include poor and uneducated women, professional women, working women, military women, and women who earn more money than their abusers. A major problem with female victims of abuse is that many feel unable to leave an abusive relationship. Often people believe that female victims of abuse do not leave because they “need the abuse,” “love too much,” or have “low self-esteem,” when in reality this is far from the truth. Leaving an abusive relationship could actually cause the women additional problems such as living in poverty, losing child custody, losing financial support, and experiencing harassment at work. Additionally, women may choose not to leave an abusive relationship because the fear the offender will become more abusive, their friends and family may not support them leaving, they are unaware of available support services, they may believe that it is up to them to make their marriage work, and they may have rationalized the abuser’s behavior by blaming substance abuse or problems at work (Gosselin, pp. 166-167, 2014). On the other hand, male victims have difficulty reporting violence and seeking support because of the negative stigma of being a male victim. However, studies have found that one in four men in the United States have experienced rape, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime. As a result, it is important that studies no longer focus exclusively on male perpetrators and female victims. It has been found that there are four factors that contribute to husband abuse including (1) ineffective communication between spouses, (2) struggle over control and power in the relationship, (3) inadequate financial resources and social bonds, and (4) the knowledge of the female abuser that likelihood of apprehension is slim. Men also face unique circumstances that make it much more difficult to achieve recovery. For instance, men are less likely to seek treatment and are reluctant to disclose about sexual abuse because they feel they will not be taken seriously. Furthermore, many men believe that “real men” don’t need help in recovery, which could lead a male victim to turn to drugs, alcohol, or abusing others to get over their pain (Gosselin, pp. 171-173, 2014). 15. Why don 't victims of violence leave the home as soon as the violence starts? Victims of violence do not leave the home as soon as the violence starts for a number of reasons. Although many people believe victims of abuse who do not leave the home either …show more content…
Younger individuals are most susceptible to this type of violence, which can include sexual assault, rape, physical assault and battery, and verbal and emotional abuse. In fact, dating violence has been documented in middle school relationships. Researchers believe younger populations have had more of a problem with dating violence because they have not yet gained the maturity to handle the frustrations of intimacy, which causes them to react in inappropriate ways. Risk factors associated with dating violence include poor anger management, antisocial personality, poor communication patterns, and having a history of criminal activity, neglect, or sexual abuse (Gosselin, pp. 179-180, …show more content…
First of all, men are less likely than women to seek treatment and more reluctant to make a disclosure about sexual abuse for fear that it will not be seen as a victimization experience. In addition, many men feel as if “real men” do not experience abuse, which is why men who are abused are more likely to feel as if they failed to protect themselves. Furthermore, men are more likely to develop a low self-esteem after being victimized which may lead them to try and control others, abuse alcohol or drugs, engage in compulsive behaviors, and victimize others (Gosselin, p. 174,