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Domestic violence against women is a serious and widespread problem that is just not confined to the United States
Domestic Abuse
Domestic violence against women is a serious and widespread problem that is just not confined to the United States. Gelles states that between 20 and 50 percent of women in most countries experience spousal abuse at least once in their life (Gelles, Loeske 1993). Domestic abuse is known by many different names such as, spousal abuse, domestic abuse, domestic assault, battering and wife beating. Whatever the name used to refer to it domestic violence is a very grave and difficult problem faced by women in the United States.
Domestic violence is defined as actual or threatened violence or harassment between married or de facto partners living in the same household or who have lived together. The commonly accepted definition among legal professionals according to Johnson is the emotional, physical, psychological, or sexual abuse perpetrated against a person by that person’s spouse former spouse, partner, former partner or by the other parent of a minor child (Johnson 1995).
Domestic violence is not a new phenomenon. For years domestic violence was often viewed as par to of the family dynamic. Moreover, our cultural traditions historically have encouraged women to put up with abuse. English Common Law, the basis of the American legal structure, asserted that a husband had the right to physically chastise an errant wife.
This was a legal norm still prevalent in the nineteenth century (Straus and Gelles 1986). The “rule of thumb” states that as long as the stick with which you beat your wife was no wider that your thumb it was permissible and legal. Even though the legal right to physically abuse women has long since disappeared in our society, our cultural heritage continues to influence the attitudes that suggest violence against women is acceptable (Torr and Swisher 1999).
Studies have suggested that husbands who beat their wives are attempting to compensate for general feelings of powerlessness or inadequacy. This type of domestic violence is referred to as patriarchal terrorism (Johnson 1995). Husbands may use physical aggression to compensate for their lack of occupational success, prestige, or satisfaction (Anderson 1997). Moreover, men may also use violence to attempt to maintain control over wives or partners trying to assert some independence (Dutton and Browning 1988).
According to Gelles there are several risk factors for men who abuse women; men between the ages of 18 and 20, users of illicit drugs, or abusers of alcohol, and high school dropouts (Gelles 1994, 1997). These men often have few legitimate avenues of personal and social power over their victims (Pyke 1997). As a result they resort to coercive power over their victims.
Domestic violence exists in all social classes. However, domestic violence is reported more often in blue collar and lower class families (Buchman and Salzman 1995). The fact that blue-collar families report more domestic violence does not mean that there is less violence at the upper and middle classes. Lower numbers among the higher classes can be attributed to the fact that middle class families have greater privacy than lower socio-economic families (Funeman and Mykitiuk 1994). In addition, upper and middle class families have recourse to friends and professional counselors to help deal them deal with their violent situations. This allows them to avoid reporting the violence and the police (Buzawa and Buzawa 1990).
Domestic violence occurs in a three-phase cycle. The first phase is tension building. It usually results from a minor altercation like dinner not being on time, this tension may continue to build over time. Second, the situation escalates, eventually exploding in another more violent episode. The third phase is often called the honeymoon phase. During this phase the husband becomes genuinely contrite, treating his wife very lovingly and being very apologetic. This is a repeating cycle, with the violence worsening if nothing is done to change things (Sonkin, Martin, and Walker 1985).
The Department of Justice notes that violence between intimates is difficult to measure because it mostly occurs in private. Moreover, usually reluctant victims must report the incidents. Victims are reluctant to report their abuses because of shame and fear of reprisal (Straus, Gelles and Steinmetz 1980). The National Crime Victim Survey (NCVS) reported 960,000 nonfatal domestic violence victimizations between 1992 and 1996. The NCVS estimates 1326 intimate homicides in 1996. Of these 75 percent were women. Among African Americans, more husbands were killed by wives than vice versa in 1977. However, in 1992 the opposite was true. Among White wives the opposite was true. White wives have consistently out numbered husbands as victims of intimate murder (U.S. Department of Justice 1994, 1998).
The effects of domestic violence do not stop when the cuts and bruises heal. The psychological affects of domestic violence can be seen long after the violence has stopped. Many of the inmates in prisons blame their violent acts on the violence that they were victims of when they were children. Research suggests that people who experience violence in their parent’s home while growing up may regard beatings as part normal married life (Torr and Swisher 1999).
The most serious of affects are the physical injuries sustained by the victims of domestic violence. Injuries range from swollen eyes to broken ribs and limbs. Some victims report being burned and beaten with various objects ranging from belts to baseball bats (Kurtz 1993).
In conclusion it is important to mention that due to such high profile murders like that of Nicole Brown Simpson domestic violence has gotten more attention than in past years. This attention has facilitated stricter domestic violence laws being passed. In addition the attention has also resulted in the mandatory training of law enforcement officials, which in turn has resulted in more arrest being made in domestic violence cases. While domestic violence is still a prevalent problem in our society-we can see definite signs of positive change.
Bibliography:
Works Cited
Anderson, K. (1997). Gender, status, and domestic violence: An integration of feminist and family violence approaches. Journal Marriage and the Family, 59, 655-69.
Bachman, R. and Saltzman, L. (1995) Violence against women: Estimates from the redesigned survey. US Department of Justice Special Report NCJ-15438.
Blumberg, L. and Tolberg, M. (1989). A theoretical look at the gender balance of power in the American couple. Journal of Family Issues, 10, 225-50.
Dutton, G. and Browning, J. (1988) Concern for power fear of intimacy: Family abuse and its consequences. New Directions in Research, 163-175.
Gelles, R ., & Loeske, D. (1993). Current Controversies of Family Violence.
Newberry Park, CA: Hartford Press.
Johnson, M. (1995). Patriarchal terrorism and common couple violence: Two forms of violence against women. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 57, 283-94.
Kurtz, D. (1993). Physical assaults by husbands: Major social problem Current controversies on family violence, 88-103.
Pyke, K. (1997). Class based masculinities: The interdependence of gender, class and interpersonal power. Journal of Gender and Society, 10, 527-49
Sonkin, D., Daniel, J., Martin, D., & Walker, A. (1985). The Male Batterer: A Treatment Approach. New York, NY: Singer
Straus, M., Gelles, R., & Steinmetz, S. (1981). Behind Closed Doors: Violence in the American Family. New York, NY: Doubleday.
Torr, J., & Swisher,K. (1999). Violence Against Women: Current Controversies. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press
Walker, L. (1984). The Battered Woman Syndrome. New York, NY : Springer.
US Department of Justice, (1994). Violence Between Intimates. Bureau of Justice Statistics Selected Findings Domestic Violence. Nov. NCS
Factors associated with death and dying determine how you and or your family and friends cope with death
Factors associated with death and dying determine how you and / or your family and friends cope with death?
Losing a person close to my family and I is a process that involves varied emotions and behaviors. People respond differently to grieving but some traditions in my family might influence how we do it. The men mostly do not cry but they stay quiet while some exhibit signs of numbness, depression, and anxiety. Believe it is significantly harder for this group because they are traditionally not expected to cry and so letting these emotions remain and chock them for a long time. Coping thus becomes hard for male members of my family. People do not sleep much during a grieving period. We understand that some may lose the energy to do things that are enjoyable or just follow a basic routine and so everybody joins in staying awake with them and avoid loneliness. Coping is mostly dependent on how close the deceased was to an individual. The nature, intensity, and the duration it takes for one to accept that a loved one has gone depends on the relationship. Also, whether the person died instantly or after a long illness affects how we grieve as a family although subconsciously.
What helps the healing process?
Turning to friends and family is very important for grieving and significantly helps the grieving process. The pain of grief usually causes limited socialization but support from close people is very essential for the healing process. A person that is not comfortable talking about their feelings in normal circumstances should express himself or herself during grief. One can also draw comfort from religion and take advantage of the comfort that comes from the mourning rituals. One can also engage in spiritual activities they find meaningful such as meditating, praying, or going to the worship center to seek solace. Joining a support group is also another way one can deal with grief. Even with loved ones around, grief can make someone feel lonely, so having the opportunity to share one’s experience with people who have gone through the same is very helpful. So joining a support group should help one significantly through the healing process. Taking to a grief counselor or a therapist is important because they take one through intense emotions and overcome the obstacles to grieving.
Advice on how to help someone cope with the loss of a loved one or death in general?
The advice I would give to a grieving person is to face their feelings. Suppressing the feelings does not mean they will go away, and in order to heal one has to acknowledge the pain. The grieving process is prolonged by pushing down the feelings of sadness and if the grief goes unresolved, the result is depression, anxiety, health complications, and substance abuse. The other advice would be expressing emotions physically such as writing down on a journal or writing a letter to the loved on containing all the things one wished they said when the person was alive. Grieving can cause one to lose themselves and thus trying to maintain usual activities such as hobbies and interests is very important. These routines give comfort and bring joy and allow the bereaved to interact with others which can help people come into terms with the loss.
Evaluating the controversy of the Right to Die with Dignity
The advantage of laws that support the right to die with dignity is that it gives transparency to the process. They also define the obligations of each party involved in the decision. The person giving consent for a dignified death must consider the people that are affected. Their right to die is confined by their obligation to family, friends, and their physician. Besides, it is not the physician’s duty to kill the person and should not be forced to do so. The cons of having these policies include the ethical question of the right to take one’s life. These laws have seen these practices conducted in secret without adequate oversight, which does not guarantee the right to die in a good way.
How the pandemic has contributed to inequality for people who work in customer service
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How the pandemic has contributed to inequality for people who work in customer service
History has taught us that epidemics and pandemics affect the most vulnerable people in society. They can significantly result in huge socio-economic inequalities. The coronavirus has exacerbated the socio-economic inequalities that already bedevil many workers across the globe. Interventions implemented at the national, regional, and local levels to fight inequality have largely failed or ineffectively addressed the problem. Hence, the gap between the rich and the middle class has been widening. Socio-economic constraints directly or indirectly associated with the pandemic have affected every industry, and workers in the customer service have not been spared. Before the coronavirus outbreak, workers in the customer service industry were already facing many challenges associated with remuneration and the working environment, and the pandemic worsened their situation. Although every individual has directly or indirectly suffered from the effects of the coronavirus, people in customer services have also been significantly impacted.
Many people who work in the customer service industry rely on businesses to blossom to retain their jobs. Given that a significant number of people who work in customer service are minimum wage employees, the pandemic has pushed them to a wall and resulted in the loss of their jobs. At the onset of the pandemic, it was not possible for many people who work in customer service to acknowledge how hard they would be hit. Many of them hoped that the loss of jobs would be temporary, although this turned out to be a misjudgment. Due to the downfall of many businesses, workers in the customer service were retrenched, and this was due to several factors. First, businesses were forced to cut down on their expenses as their businesses were experiencing a deep in sales. As a result, many of them could no longer sustain the huge workforce they had; hence some of the employees lost their jobs, including customer service personnel. Secondly, the pandemic resulted in a shift in how businesses operate. Many businesses have moved from conventional brick-and-mortar stores to virtual stores. The transformation meant that many of them did not require onsite customer service personnel as they could automate their systems. Many employees who worked in the customer service departments were let go hence pushing them to bankruptcy. The loss of jobs for many customer service personnel has turned upside down their fortunes hence increasing socio-economic inequality (Cui et al. 123).
The Covid-19 pandemic has worsened inequality due to the surge in household expenditures across the globe. Many customer service workers are middle-class citizens who have been the most affected by the coronavirus. Even before the pandemic hit the globe, income inequality was highest, and many households were struggling to afford a decent life. The pandemic has partly disrupted production and transportation channels in numerous industries. Inflation in many countries has hit record levels, and this coupled with disruption in the supply chains has seen prices of basic commodities skyrocket. This has been bad news for many people who survive from paycheck to paycheck (Özkazanç‐Pan et al. 695). They can no longer afford to pay their bills as their expenditures have increased, pushing them further into poverty. For most rich people who have diversified investment portfolios, the socio-economic impacts of the pandemic have hit them, but most of them can still afford to sustain their lifestyles. These contradictory effects of the pandemic on the middle class and the rich have further increased inequality. The middle-class citizens are being pushed into bankruptcy as their sources of income have diminished, and the customer service employees have been the recipients.
The pandemic has highlighted the chronic inequality in access to healthcare services and outcomes people considered low and middle income. Many people who work as customer services personnel have been exposed as vulnerable due to unequal access to healthcare services (Scott and Kelly, 85). A 2018 research by the European Commission on access to healthcare revealed that people who fall in the lowest income quintiles even in developed countries were highly disadvantaged in access to effective healthcare. This means that people who work in customer service don’t have access to comprehensive healthcare insurance. The pandemic has further exposed the flaws in the global health care systems and further pushed customer service personnel to oblivion. Hospitalization and care for covid-19 patients are expensive, and this has forced many of those affected to spend their savings and accumulated assets to seek medical care. This has further pushed such individuals into poverty hence increasing inequality across the globe.
Governments have put in place several measures to contain the pandemic’s spread, which has further increased socio-economic inequality. Measures such as curfews, social distancing, and wearing of masks have had repo effects on the health and wellbeing of customer service personnel. At the pandemic outbreak, many people who worked in customer service did not know what to expect. Many of them were unprepared economically, socially, and mentally (Thomeer et al. 450). In addition, many people who worked as customer service personnel have experienced mental inequality due to the psychological and emotional struggles with the coronavirus.
Although many customer service personnel have faced a lot of inequalities due to the pandemic, numerous steps could be taken to help minimize it. First, there is a need to ensure that customer service employees ensure they protect their mental health through regular exercising and sharing their worries. Everyone needs to acknowledge that they must prioritize their physical and emotional wellbeing (Williamson et al. 110). This will go a long way in minimizing the potential for hospitalization due to mental-related challenges. Second, now that the government provides vaccines for free, it is vital for all customer service personnel to ensure they protect themselves by getting vaccinated. Vaccination against Covid-19 is a reliable way of reducing the risk of hospitalization if one contracts the virus and saving on the money that would have been used to seek healthcare services.
Government interventions have also gone a long way in helping address the inequality that the coronavirus has increased. As part of the federal and local governments’ interventions to help companies and employees cope with the pandemic’s impacts, many programs have been initiated to curb the inequality. It is vital for customer service personnel to be on the lookout to ensure they benefit from the government interventions. This would go a long way in ensuring that many people do not become bankrupt or lose their sources of income. Failure to ensure that the run-away inequality that results from the coronavirus is addressed would increase the socio-economic inequality.
Work Cited
Cui, Ruomeng, Hao Ding, and Feng Zhu. “Gender inequality in research productivity during the COVID-19 pandemic.” Manufacturing & Service Operations Management (2021).
Özkazanç‐Pan, Banu, and Alison Pullen. “Gendered labour and work, even in pandemic times.” Gender, Work, and Organization 27.5 (2020): 675.
Scott, Maura L., and Kelly D. Martin. “Introduction to the Commentary Series: Inequalities and Divides as We Continue to Grapple with a Global Pandemic.” (2021): 83-88.
Thomeer, Mieke Beth, Jenjira Yahirun, and Alejandra Colón‐López. “How families matter for health inequality during the COVID‐19 pandemic.” Journal of family theory & review 12.4 (2020): 448-463.
Williamson, Ben, Rebecca Eynon, and John Potter. “Pandemic politics, pedagogies and practices: digital technologies and distance education during the coronavirus emergency.” (2020): 107-114.