Marital violence is a serious and vital topic of consideration for applied psychologists. With 1 in 4 women experiencing domestic violence in their lifetimes, and most cases of domestic violence never even being reported, it is clear that prevention measures need to be utilized. Those households where marital abuse is present, it is much more likely that the children will be abused as well. In fact, the biggest risk factor for generational transmission of abuse is through children witnessing marital abuse. (National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, n.d., p. 1)
The finding that children who have been abused are much more likely to commit acts of violence in their own marriages and against their own children led to support of social learning theory as a relevant factor in marital violence (Mihalic & Elliott, 1997, p. 21). Social learning theory is the idea that individuals learn through observing and imitating others (Schneider, Gruman, & Coutts, 2005, p. 76). For instance, a child who witnesses his mother beat his father, or vice versa (observation), or is even beaten himself, is likely to ingrain that information into his own behavior patterns and imitate those violent behaviors (hitting his own spouse/children later in life).
In support of this, those individuals, male and female, who saw their parents hit one another had three times as much likelihood of abusing their spouses. Then, those individuals who were also abused and then witnessed their parents being violent with one another (“double whammy”) had an even higher rate of encountering marital violence, a one in three chance of occurrence within the year (Mihalic & Elliott, 1997, p. 23). High rates of battered women have witnessed abuse or been abused as children as well.
The cycling of marital abuse through generations is found to be especially prevalent in males. Women appeared no more likely to be victimized by spousal abuse no matter if they’d seen their parents violent with one another or not. With males, the opposite is true. It was found that males are much more likely to be violent towards their spouse if they had witnessed violence between their parents as a child. Also of interest, a shockingly high incidence of violence, 82%, occurs when males witness marital violence in their homes as children and are also abused. (Mihalic & Elliott, 1997, p. 23-34)
Given the large and obvious role that social learning theory plays in the perpetuation of marital violence, it seems pertinent that martial violence prevention begin with eradicating, or at the very lease reducing, acts of martial abuse. The CDC promotes individual, community and societal change. The CDC lists the key to marital abuse prevention is to speak up at the first occurrence of marital abuse. In reference to the concept of first offense response, the CDC has developed a program labeled DELTA (Domestic Violence Prevention Enhancement and Leadership Through Alliances). DELTA holds firm that all forms of domestic violence are completely preventable, the key is to that a person seeks help when they need it. DELTA is working to get people more informed about the risk factors and warning signs of domestic abuse, but also in offering community and individual activities to help and bring awareness to the domestic violence problem. Altogether, DELTA works to prevent first time, perpetration and victimization promoting protective factors which limit occurrence of domestic violence, using evidence based methods to instigate change, incorporating social change and behavior theories, reducing risk factors for domestic violence, and finally analyzing past strategies and pulling from those to construct ever better methods of domestic violence prevention. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2013, p. 1)
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2013, November 14). DELTA|Funded Programs|Violence Prevention|Injury Center|CDC. Retrieved March 5, 2014, from http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/DELTA/index.html
Mihalic, S. W., & Elliott, D. (1997). A Social Learning Theory Model of Marital Violence. Journal of Family Violence, 12(1), 21-47. doi:10.1023/A:1021941816102
National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (n.d.). Domestic Violence Facts. Retrieved March 4, 2014, from http://www.ncadv.org/files/DomesticViolenceFactSheet(National).pdf
Schneider, F. W., Gruman, J. A., & Coutts, L. M. (2005). Applied social psychology: Understanding and addressing social and practical problems. SAGE Publications. Kindle Edition.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading your post and believe you have identified an extremely important matter. I also agree that it is pertinent that marital abuse be reduced or eradicated and appreciate that one possible means toward this end is to speak up at the first incidence of abuse. The issue I see with this, however, is that in domestic abuse there are many gray areas. For example, it is unlikely that physical abuse is the first form of abuse to take place between couples. A more likely scenario is that verbal or emotional abuse takes place for quite some time before physical abuse begins to take place.
It may be interesting to do a study regarding the cycling of emotional or verbal abuse as these are likely more commonly witnessed than physical violence and indeed may be a precursor to such events. Social learning theory may be able to explain why some children grow up to verbally and emotionally abuse their partners. Perhaps children who witness verbal abuse are more likely to verbally abuse their partners as they grow older and enter into relationships.
Developing interrupters in these situations is important as you indicate in your article – such as seeking help at the first sign of violence. It is pertinent that these habits are interrupted early so they do not have time to take root in a relationship and grow to dangerous physical and mental abuse. A by-product of this sort of forced respect within troubled relationships may be healthier marriages as these couples seek the help they need to interrupt this very serious problem.
I enjoyed reading your post and I agree with this post completely. All bad and good habits can be passed down from generation to generation. In this case marital violence is observed throughout childhood, the child will think that violence is a way to keep a relationship going because that is all they know of a relationship. When children grow up and experience violence how are these children supposed to break the cycle from something that they don’t think that they are doing wrong? The Delta program is a way to help the victims from getting abused, and to warn people about domestic violence. This is a great program to get help for victims and possibly potential victims, because they will be able to receive help. But I also believe that the suspect should also have some type of help because they feel this type of behavior is expectable. Can we blame the suspect for their behavior? Or should there up bringing be to blame, because this how they have been taught that a relationship is supposed to operate? Consider abusers are more likely to have been abused or witnessed abuse at some point there should also be a program to help the suspects because they have been once victims themselves at a point in time.
You are very right that domestic violence is a generational issue. It does appear to be extremely common in the United States. I have volunteered at shelters and there are places for women and children. When I was in high school, I spent a week at a half way house and it was a safe haven for women and children. These women experienced spousal abuse and it got so bad that they needed to get away. Currently, I volunteer at the Salvation Army Soup Kitchen and they have a women and children’s area. I know some of the women there are there due to poverty reasons, however, there are a large number there due to abuse.
I think this is a growing problem especially as globalization continues. There are stereotypes in other cultures that show the males as the dominant household figure and they operate under the concept of whatever the man says goes. Awareness and protection are the ways to help mitigate this problem. The awareness should begin at six or seven. This way young kids are aware that they don’t need to be treated poorly and abuse isn’t normal. If we can get away from children seeing abuse as the norm and what they should do as an adult, this will curb and hopefully end the abuse.
Domestic violence is a serious problem in the United States. I recently did a project on domestic violence, before doing the project I was under the impression that domestic violence was between two significant others after doing the project I now know that it can be seen in other forms such as abusing your children or even you elderly parents. Along with it being seen in different forms through people it can also be seen through different forms of abuse such as physical and verbal. Informing society of this problem is key in eliminating that problem, or at least reducing the acts of domestic violence. Being a psychology student you do realize that what children see in their childhood is likely to be replicated in their adulthood. Teen parents for instance, have a tendency to be seen throughout generations. This is also seen through domestic violence.
Children are one of the main groups affected by social learning theory. They see things being done and whether or not it is right they show similar behaviors to what they have seen. I believe the best way to prevent domestic violence is do what the CDC is doing and promote change. I however would go about promoting in a slightly different way. I would use tv, social media, school assembly’s, internet, billboards, and every other thing that people will see and focus their attention on as a way to promote it. If children that have seen or been victims to domestic violence are the ones that keep it occurring, I would target them to defeat this problem.
In order to reduce domestic abuse, society must first understand the issue. It is a complicated issue with many contributing factors, and manifests in many ways. Domestic abuse is mistakenly thought of as an issue of violence. An abusive relationship does not automatically mean a violent relationship. In some ways, the nonviolent aspects are the worst. Having no financial resources, living in fear due to threats, and isolation are other forms of abuse that are very powerful and can leave the victim with a feeling of hopelessness. Domestic abuse is actually an issue of control. This desire for control stems from society’s acceptance of men’s domination of women. Societal norms must be changed and law enforcement must recognize the seriousness of the issue when responding to a call of a “domestic dispute”. Government funding cuts for domestic violence awareness programs and shelters are also hurting the fight against domestic abuse.
The complexity of domestic abuse might be the biggest obstacle in reducing it. While promoting change and focusing on preventative measures is a good start, the CDC also must also address the many factors that keep a victim from leaving an existing abusive relationship. As a former victim and current survivor of domestic abuse, I know there are many reasons why victims stay in abusive relationships. There are cognitive reasons, such as thinking that you can change the abuser, or worse, that it is your own fault and you deserve it. There are financial reasons, as when the abuser controls the household money and/or the woman is not allowed to be employed. There are fears of being stalked or killed if you leave. There are threats of having your children taken from you. The tactic of isolation prevents any type of social support. Many victims are truly alone.
Social learning theory does explain some of the aspects of domestic abuse and programs like DELTA are helpful, especially in the fight to break the cycle of abuse. However, until there are changes made in traditional thinking, available resources, and attitudes of the government and law enforcement, domestic abuse will continue.
References:
National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. What is Battering. Retrieved from: http://www.ncadv.org/learn/TheProblem.php.