Violence can take many forms. Domestic violence takes place within marriages, in intimate or cohabitating relationships. Physical abuse such as pushing, shoving, hitting, sexual assault can occur. Emotional abuse including: stalking, intimidation, isolation, and withholding money are all forms of domestic violence (EBSCO 9). More than one third of all women have been or are victims of abuse, physically and or emotionally by significant others (citation?). The prevalence of domestic violence in the United States, a developed and largely educated society, is exceedingly high. Victims of domestic violence have civil and criminal remedies in order to protect themselves and their children from further …show more content…
Religion is a social factor. Victims justify their abuse for the sake of the family. Society turns to religion in order to protect them from their abusers at home (Citation ?). In the book of Mathew 5:39, the Christian bible states “If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also”. The quote implies that women of Christian faith should be accepting of abuse from their partner. However, with religion and social policy being positive for some, there are downsides. Walter Wink, author of the book entitled Engaging the Powers, feels that Jesus’s teachings are to take action through nonviolent resistance as a response to spousal abuse. Wink proposes the idea of opposing evil without creating new evils. He teaches that Jesus created a “third pattern of resistance” (Thistlethwaite 142). The use of this third pattern of resistance led to battered women trying to find the safe help that some so desperately needed, however; it is not as easy living in a shelter as most would suspect. Shelters are a safe place to reside in order to escape the abuse; however, leaving home contributes to the further chastisement of the victim and not the perpetrator. This is especially the case when battered mothers have to leave their children or take them to the shelters as well to ensure safety. Most of the shelters are group situations. Moreover, they …show more content…
Medical staff can evaluate a victim’s psychological state of mind, but a professional psychologist is to further examine and identify a course of action. This resource is becoming far too expensive for it to be provided. If and when the domestic violence is constructed as a traumatic experience, it needs psychological treatment. This treatment is seen as an “important and ethically relevant target” (Husso 352). Each case must be treated individually. Domestic violence causes psychological problems, disturbances, and or crises for the victim. Violence should be addressed; nevertheless, at the same time treatment is full of risks. “Psychiatric facilities that had theretofore primarily treated the psychotically mentally ill found themselves accommodating burgeoning rates of paraphilic and personality disordered patients” (D’Orazio 2). From this came the Cognitive Behavioral Theory. This theory became popularized in the 1980’s and used with Relapse Prevention (1985 what is this date?), which also became a widespread treatment of impulse disorders, including sexual abuse (D’Orazio 2). Psychological intervention offers a wider definition of a patient then, for example, in the medical frame. (this makes no sense why is this