Intimate Partner Violence - An Essay Sample

The family is an important social group that should provide a condusive environment for the members, which are children and their parents. Family can be viewed from two perspectives. These perspectives are frequently witnessed in every family setup. The first is that it is a place where people coexist through consolation, support, and provision of love for one another. However, on the contrary, the same family can involve into disagreement, arguments, hate, competition, leading to violence. Domestic violence has been on the increase in the twenty-first century in all the nations of the world. Numerous social work researchers, religious leaders, and health workers have tried to find out the causes, and effects of intimate partner violence in the family.

Domestic violence is the behavioral patterns that entail violence or individual rights abuse in either an internal setting which could be either cohabitation or marriage. Domestic abuse can also be referred to as intimate partner violence if it envisages the essence of fights between the spouses or intimately relating partners where it presumes the heterosexual or same-sex relationship partners (Ptacek, n.d.). Battering or family violence may also entail the aspects of abuse against the elderly or the children. The abuse mainly assumes various forms including verbal, emotional, religious, economics, physical, reproductive and sexual abuse. The sexual abuse aspect could majorly involve the coercive approach, subtle, marital rape and the domestic physical abuse that harbors the elements of female genital mutilation, choking and beating resulting in disfigurement. Globally, women tend to be the overwhelming victims of domestic abuse. In some countries, the act of domestic violence is justified on the infidelity account on women according to it a legal mandate. In the US the violence in domestic settings is a common aspect. Liberation forces have significantly laid down strategic measures of championing for the rights of domestically abused individuals and also counseling the victims. There are various National anti-domestic-domestic organizations and institutions in the US.

Background of the Study

The problem of domestic violence has greatly increased in todays world. Intimate partner violence occurs in different settings which include cultural, religious and socioeconomic groups. The intimate partner violence is in most cases experienced by the women. Most countries use the term domestic violence to refer to partner violence, but the term can as well be used to refer to abuse by any household member, child abuse or abuse by an elder person. Any behavior that causes psychological, physical or sexual harm to an individual who is in an intimate relationship can be regarded to as intimate partner violence. Examples of such behaviors include emotional abuse such as humiliation, insults, acts of physical violence, controlling behaviors and sexual violence.

According to the World Health Organization, there is a growing number of people who have been affected by Intimate Partner Violence according to various surveys that have been carried out. The multi-country study by WHO on the health of women and domestic violence against women collected data from more than 24,000 women in ten countries. The data was mainly on Intimate Partner Violence. The data that was collected was a representation of a diverse geographical, cultural, rural and urban setting. From the study by the World Health Organization, there is widespread of IPV in most countries across the world. According to the data that they collected of women who had been involved in an intimate relationship 4-49% had been involved in a severe physical violence with the partner, 20-75% had been emotionally abused by a partner in their lifetime, and 6-59% had been sexually abused.

According to the World Health Organization, most of the women who are abused are not victims who are passive. They usually adopt strategies which help protect and enhance their childrens safety and as well as their safety. There is a variety of evidence which shows that women can stay in an abusive relationship or marriage. Women can stay for the concern she has for her children, fear of retaliation, lack of support from the friends and family, love and hope that her partner will change, lack of alternative means of economic support and fear of losing her childrens custody.

According to the WHO multi-country study approximately 19-51%of women who have been abused by their partners physically they have left their homes for at least a night while about 8-21% had left their homes around two to five times. When a woman decides to leave her home permanently may be caused by the severity of the violence and also the realization that her partner will never change his behaviors and also when the violence starts having a negative impact on the children.

The ecological model suggests that four main factors can cause violence. The factors include relationship factors, societal factors, community factors and individual factors. Intimate partner violence affects the physical and mental health of women directly and indirectly. It could indirectly result in chronic health problems due to stress that is prolonged. The severe the violence the greater the impact it has on the mental and physical health of the woman. Different surveys and research have been carried out regarding Intimate partner violence.

Article 1: A Case Study of Abuse from the Military groups in Vietnam

Research Questions

What is the relationship that exists between intimate partner violence and combat-related conditions which includes traumatic brain injury, posttraumatic stress disorder, depression and substance abuse?

What is the impact of IPV on families who are military personnel and veterans?

Importance of the Article

The article is important to us in the world we are living in the cases of intimate partner violence are increasing on a high rate and hence it will help people learn the impact that the violence has on the affected individual. It will also assist the health centers physicians to know how they can assist those who are affected by the violence about their health condition. The article will also help the intimate partners to know the right intervention that can be used for any violence and as well be in a position to plan for their safety.

Research method

To address this issue, the authors of this article used the ethnography research method. The authors of this article researched by concentrating on the survivors of an intimate partner violence relationship and violence that occurs in a heterosexual relationship. The article concentrated on partner violence where a partner is working with the military and as well as veterans. They observed the behavior of the military personnel and veterans who have been involved in violence with their partners. They observed how they interact with each other and also their social practices. From the observation, they analyzed everything which was unique or the same as to an intimate partner violence that is occurring between partners who have never been in the military or an ordinary civilian without using any framework or deductive structure.

Findings

The researchers of this article found out that military couples undergo a period of increased stress due to combat deployment. After the deployment, it becomes stressful for an individual to reintegrate with his/her family. An individual may use illegal drugs and alcohol while away from the family to try to cope with posttraumatic stress which may be experienced in a battlefield or even anxiety. A military personnel has lower marital satisfaction as compared to other couples who are ordinary civilians.

When a military personnel return to the family after a given period of deployment the individual may be suffering from the problem of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and this may result in Intimate partner violence. The PTSD may result in the partner having nightmares, memory problems due to events that were traumatic, lacking the ability to have positive emotions, and having difficulty to concentrate. Such problems may cause serious problems, and for example, during a nightmare, a person can end up strangling her partner while thinking that he is still on a battlefield.

The deployment of military personnel may expose them to all sorts of injuries including a head injury. A severe head injury can greatly impact the manner in which a person interacts with others. The head injury can cause poor communication between partners and this can significantly contribute to the partners being involved in violence due to misunderstanding.

Most of the military personnel tend to use drugs during the deployment period. Most of the drugs that are abused include cocaine, alcohol, and marijuana. One of the ways of diagnosing the problem is by the individual continuing to use the drugs or be taken to a rehabilitation center. Continuous use of substance abuse may result in the partner not being in a position to support the family due to financial problems since most of the money the partner may use to buy the drugs. It results in Intimate partner violence resulting in higher levels of psychological and physical abuse.

From the findings of the study, it is evident that depression can easily cause an individual to have unusual behavior and also to feel fatigued. A depressed person may lack interest in things or activities that he/she once enjoyed. Depression can result in a relationship breaking up due to lack of interest, and this can result in violence with the aim of protecting the children.

Limitation of the Study

The limitation to this study is that it lacks data that can be used to support the claims regarding how the problems of military deployment which includes head injury, depression, posttraumatic stress and substance abuse lead to the Intimate partner violence but rather most of the findings have been based on assumptions. The assumptions and overgeneralization used in this article are not appropriate and may be incorrect since not every military personnel have been trained to kill or go to the battlefield, but it all depends on the position of an individual. The study can be improved by the researchers using various methods of data collection which can be analyzed to give statistics which can be used to support their information.

Article 2: The Lived Experience of Women Victims of Intimate Partner

Research Question

What is the experience of the female victims who had been involved in intimate partner violence?

Importance of the Study

The study was vital since it guides the health professionals in various ways of assessing the level of emotional and physical needs that the woman involved in the violence requires.The study is also essential since it guides health professional in a clinical setting to show the women involved in intimate partner violence acceptance and also empathy and as well assess how safe they are once they are discharged from the hospital.

The researchers of this study employed the exploratory research method whereby face to face interviewing method was used to collect data. The data was collected among nine female victims who were at the emergency department which was based in a regional hospital. The nine females were victims of intimate partner violence. The data collected was then analyzed.

Findings of the Study

According to the study, most of the females who are involved in cases of intimate partner violence fear to seek help from the relevant authorities, and also they feel ashamed to share the problem with other people who can be of help to them. The victims have a fear of being ignored and ridiculed. Most of the women who have been violated by their partners end up having depression, a low self-esteem,...