Sociology of Families (SOCI 371) Lecture Notes PDF

SOCIOLOGY OF FAMILIES (SOCI 371) DR. GBENGA ADEJARE  Background Violence is prevalent in human society Sociologists study family violence from the collective structural viewpoint rather than individual pathological beh...

SOCIOLOGY OF FAMILIES (SOCI 371) DR. GBENGA ADEJARE  Background Violence is prevalent in human society Sociologists study family violence from the collective structural viewpoint rather than individual pathological behaviour or trait Violence can be micro or macro in scope The perspectives for studying violence in family are multilayered 2  Background cont’d Family violence is fraught with different nomenclatures. Domestic violence, intimate partner violence, gender-based violence, spousal abuse, and family violence Violence and abuse are mostly used interchangeably Gender neutral terms, such as gender-based violence, recently used The COVID-19 global pandemic which required sheltering-at-home increased the risk of violence in families Violence is most likely to take place inside the family home Abuse between spouses or common-law partners is often referred to as domestic violence Domestic Violence Also known as intimate partner violence, domestic violence is defined by the United Nations as “a pattern of behavior in any relationship that is used to gain or maintain power and control over an intimate partner” Globally, women are more vulnerable to domestic violence than their male counterpart Although men are also victims of domestic violence, the majority of victims are women The broad definition of domestic violence takes into consideration the history of patriarchy, the social context, and political economy of power relations. Domestic Violence cont’d It ranges from physical, sexual, emotional, economic abuse to psychological actions or inactions or threats. Irrespective of age, gender, race, class or faith, anyone can fall victim of domestic violence. Children sometimes fall victim of domestic violence Feminists argue that the root of domestic violence lies in issues of power and control Theoretical Perspectives on Domestic Violence Systems theory Feminist theory Social learning Psychiatric/personality theory Social situation/stress and coping Systems Theory of Family Violence Straus (1973) was the first to attempt explaining family violence using systems theory. The theory suggest that: Family violence is the norm, rather than the exception The system itself produces violence, which is a feedback from series of interactions Positive feedback amplifies violence while negative feedback reduces chances of violence in the family Socialization, time spent together and levels of stress within the family account for the potency of violence in the family Feminist Perspective When we look at sexual violence perpetrated by men against women, for instance, it becomes apparent that male dominance is the main cause of violence in the family Beyond gender, race, class, and sexual orientation and their intersections are also implicated. Different structures of inequality may overlap and either magnify or change particular women’s experiences of domestic violence depending on the context under consideration Social Learning Perspective This theory is based on the assumption that people learn violent and abusive behaviours from their social environment Sometimes acts of violence are used to try to solve conflict and sometimes violence and abuse permeate family interactions Individuals observe and learn from the daily interactions within the family Ten percent of Canadians report having witnessed violence committed by a parent, step-parent or guardian as a child and that proportion rises to 21% for Indigenous people Children who observe domestic violence between their parents or who experience violence at the hands of a parent or sibling learn from these experiences Psychiatric/Personality Perspective The best known researcher associated with this theory is Donald Dutton Domestic violence is quite popular in public discourse Individual personalities have a role to play in explanations concerning the causes of domestic violence Personal problems arise in every individual’s life and are influenced by social structures outside of the family Social Situation/Stress and Coping Perspective It is a theoretical framework that incorporates both individual personalities and social structures Poverty is not necessarily a cause of violence and abuse but it certainly is a social source of stress on families and individuals Other sources of social stress are racism, class discrimination and other forms of inequalities which are often associated with low incomes Prevalence of Domestic Violence Canada was the first country to conduct a national survey dedicated to determining the prevalence of different forms of violence against women and their impacts The Canadian Violence Against Women Survey (CVAWS) was developed by Statistics Canada in collaboration with stakeholders CVAWS was only conducted once Prevalence of Domestic Violence, cont’d Since 1993 prevalence rates for domestic violence in Canada have been determined using a combination of data from Statistics Canada’s General Social Survey (GSS) on Victimization and crime data from police The rates of domestic violence for women and men in Canada have remained relatively steady through subsequent GSSs on Victimization The majority of the men and women who experienced domestic violence in 2013 (70 per cent) did not report it to the police Prevalence of Domestic Violence cont’d In 2017, the federal government introduced It’s Time: Canada’s Strategy to Prevent and Address Gender-Based Violence which includes the establishment of a national gender-based violence knowledge centre and new survey programs The first Survey on Safety in Public and Private Spaces (SSPPS) was conducted in 2018 Domestic Violence amongst Vulnerable Families Vulnerable families such as Indigenous and new immigrants face more domestic violence Indigenous women are two to four times as likely as non-Indigenous women to report experiencing physical or sexual violence Immigrant families face difference socio-economic, cultural, and adjustment stress that can create domestic violence situation Domestic Violence Amongst Vulnerable Families cont’d In some cases, domestic violence pervades entire First Nations communities and has been described as a symptom of intergenerational post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) Given the unique vulnerabilities of immigrant women to domestic violence, it is important to keep in mind three points: Immigrants are non-homogenous Culture does not cause domestic violence but rather shapes and mediates it Culture is dynamic and changes over time due to a variety of social and economic factors Domestic Violence Amongst Vulnerable Families cont’d Qualitative research with immigrant women in the Maritime region of Canada has shown that many immigrant families experience gender role shifts in the years following arrival Immigrant women report increased autonomy There is also pressure among immigrants not to publically expose family problems Immigrant women often feel enormous responsibility for the success of their marriages Understanding the particular vulnerabilities to domestic violence for families who belong to sub-groups within the Canadian population is essential proper intervention Intervention Strategies Community coordinated response Three intervention strategies: The shelter movement The criminal justice response Action-oriented research on family violence The options of calling the police or seeking safety in a shelter are just two of the most well-known intervention strategies utilized by women in the aftermath of domestic violence These options are not necessarily the most effective in many cases of domestic violence especially for minority groups Conclusion Abusive relationships within families are complex Episodes of violence are interspersed with words of love Identifying oneself as a victim of violence is very difficult because of the implications of this admission for the entire family Perpetrators and victims often have personal histories in which they saw their fathers abusing their mothers Traditional domestic violence interventions have improved over the year