Introduction
Domestic violence has proven to be a significant problem in public health which is predominantly perpetrated against women in the society. Domestic violence in families occurs as a result of spousal abuses when an individual in an intimate relationship and marriage assumes a dominant role and tries to control the other partner. This could be through the use of domestic abuse like intentional emotional, psychological, sexual or physical abuse. Despite the fact that domestic violence in the current society is happening to anyone the problem has been excused, denied or overlooked by many people and even the victims of the abuse. Psychological domestic abuse has been especially excused by the majority of members in the society compared to physical force. Many people have lived in the domestic violence families accepts the vice due to fears imposed on them by their partners or even due to fear of exposing their family issues to the public. Anger and gender roles in the society have contributed significantly to the issues of domestic violence in the society. Anger as a result of economic downturns and challenges plays a vital role in many of the families that suffer physical and psychological domestic violence. Similarly, gender roles that assume men as dominant individuals in the families have played a major role in heightening the rate of domestic violence in the society (Yamawaki, Ochoa-Shipp, Pulsipher, Harlos, & Swindler, 2012).
Gender Roles Effects on Domestic Violence
The society stereotypes concerning gender and enforced adherence to it have contributed significantly to the continued experiences of domestic violence. The society has brought about teachings that are intended to bring up girl child as a nice, passive, smile, accommodating, taking good care of the others and also be sensitive to other people’s needs. In addition to the teachings, society appears to punish female genders that do not adhere to the set rules of being passive and submissive to male’s gender. The punishment experienced by girls due to the failure of adhering includes ridicule, assaults, sexual harassments, physical violence, poor grading at schools and social ostracism. The punishments result in girls with time learning the price of speaking out, autonomy and independence. Individual females in most situations have these lessons softened or are more in a stringent manner enforced by their family members either extended or neighborhoods, and in school by their teachers but the message put across by the society remains constant (Yamawaki et al., 2012).
The discussion of gender roles and stereotyping in most cases indicates that male gender is expected to be tough as per the teachings of the society, they are also not supposed to cry, be verbal or air in public their strong feelings. However in most cases this stereotyping attitude does not result in domestic violence. Many men contrary are highly expressive, persuasive and are skilled at identifying and even expressing their feelings in public. The concept of entitlement that is brought about by the gender roles is associated with most of domestic violence experienced in the society. Men according to the teachings of social roles modeling and even media are supposed to receive utmost attention and services of women. According to the gender roles, men should not request for these services since they are entitled to them and women, on the other hand, should offer them without questioning (Yamawaki et al., 2012).
Gender roles entitle women to the duties of listening, supporting and enhancing their partner’s status with other men. Women are also obliged to fulfill men’s sexual needs, and take good care of their children. In many traditions beliefs among different communities, women roles include those of preparing meals for their families, cleaning and maintaining the household. Gender roles have resulted in the creation of dynamics within the intimate relationships that position women as submissive parties and men as holders of powers and carrying out the roles of making family decisions. The roles bestowed on the two parties in the intimate relations between genders have been ultimately detrimental to the health of women in many families. In many cases especially of abusive relationships, when women fail to live up to these roles of gender which are unrealistic and with strict expectations, they experience battery from their husband, and finally violence in the family crops up (Yamawaki et al., 2012).
Gender roles have been deeply and thoroughly worked in by some men and women to an extent that it has been very difficult to uncover the degree to which violence behaviors have been influenced by socialization. There are many men in the society who are struggling and fighting conscientiously to divest in the selfish and unrealistic benefits offered to them by the society due to their gender. These roles are deeply ingrained in many men and women so that it is difficult to uncover the extent to which behavior has been influenced by socialization. Gender roles are insidious and pervasive to the level that many men and women in the society do not know or realize the seriousness to which they affect and inform their behaviors. In the society, there are males gender individuals who have chosen non-violence and have been actively contributing towards achieving equality between both genders participating in intimate relationships. The active men who are participating against inequality consistently involve women to challenge continuously domestic violence that arises from privileges that men enjoy as articulated in their gender roles (Yamawaki et al., 2012).
The gender roles have intimidated women through the teachings that they are only valuable to the society if they are participating in a heterosexual relationship, and they continuously continue to bring rise to the newborns. The pressure they experience from the society to maintain family has been the norm for many cultures and hence have a grievous experience in case they lose their families. Gender roles taught women and developed believe that they should fully responsible for their family and should be committed irrevocably to ensuring that family’s health and wellbeing is on the right track always. This adds to the gender role victimizing women as being supposed to nature, care and self-sacrifice for the well-being of their families. The beliefs work against women who have been trapped by violent male counterparts. Despite the pressures of women to be submissive and self-sacrifice for the good of their family, the society has labeled women who have adhered to these gender roles as masochistic or codependent and continuously blames them for staying in such relationships. In most cases, some battered women stay in violent relationships due to the impression put forward concerning gender roles and also because they also hail from a historically disenfranchised population (Yamawaki et al., 2012).
Domestic violence is not a unique situation for one gender although studies, police reports, and statistics has proven that it has been an issue of men causing harm to women in their attempts to have power over women. The attention that has been given to domestic violence has been in many cases males gender harming their counterparts of the female gender. Domestic violence has been an enormous problem and is quite prevailing with studies showing that the minimum of 25% of women in the society is victims of domestic violence that results from gender roles. Men in the society are assumed to be masculine and as a result, most of the domestic violence results from men in a heterosexual relationship, that is about 90% of the violence reported. The gender roles have also resulted into most abused men failing to report their abusive partners in case they are victimized by females (Yamawaki et al., 2012).
Gender norms and relations have significantly contributed to domestic violence against girls and women in the community levels and society. Men have created beliefs and attitudes that when a man slaps a woman it is not a major issue, and it is accepted. When a woman slaps a man, it is a sign of weakness on the part of a man. The majority of male gender agrees with sexist, patriarchal or sexuality aggressive and hostile attitudes towards their female counterpart that has been a key indicator of use of violence against women resulting in physical abuses. Men who differ from patriarchal and hostile norms that are gender related have very minimal chances of using violence against their intimate partners in their relationships. As a result, they do not result in domestic violence especially when solving their family issues (Yamawaki et al., 2012).
Attitudes that support violence results to physical abuses and they are supported by wider social norms concerning gender and sexuality. In many cases, violence has been a normal part of sexual intimate and family relations among many communities. The study among the youth has indicated that sexual harassment is pervasive, and aggressiveness among male gender is expected and normal phenomenon. The society has injected a lot of pressure among young male genders to behave in sexually aggressive ways while at the same time girls are continuously objectified and obliged to accommodate their male counterpart’s needs and desires. This has brought into a view male gender as a powerful being when compared to female even at their tender age. When the young male gender becomes of age, they in many cases already developed mentality that they should be aggressive and female gender should be submissive. In case they don’t receive such response and treatment from their intimate partners in their relations, they result in violence that could cause physical abuses and hence result in domestic violence. It is encouraged that all male gender participates fully and assumes a major role in challenging domestic violence that results from gender superiority and powers given to men in the society (Yamawaki et al., 2012).
Effects of Anger On Domestic Violence
Domestic violence has been a subject of commentaries and a vice that affects many people as a result of acting out of emotions. Anger is an emotion that can be expressed in a form of violent behavior. Many studies have concluded that most offenders of domestic violence worldwide are men especially the young male adults and adults between the ages of 35-50 years. The research has also found out that about 63% of all boys, ages between 11 to 20 years who commit murder, kill the man who was abusing their mother during their young age. The boys either observed their mother’s experiences, batters, emotional changes and fear when those men arrived in their residence areas (Graham, Bernards, Flynn, Tremblay, & Wells, 2012).
There are different arguments that have been linked with the reason men express their excessive anger to their intimate partner resulting in physical abuses. Excessive anger in most cases is not controllable, and most individuals act without thinking since they have been in control of their emotions. One of the major reasons that support male persona actions of expressing excessive anger to their intimate partners is to maintain power and control in their relationship. Male genders desire to acquire and possess powers over their partners to be able to control and command them when they fail to meet their desires. Male gender in controlling their intimate partners, they exercise restraint or offer direction that their relationship would take (Graham et al., 2012).
Excessive anger when allowed to take control of a person’s behavior results to violence especially in the families. The reason behind violence would be that sooner or later the bullying partners might end up losing their grip on others and as a result, they would probably be tempted to enforce their demands and wills through the use of physical dominance. Physical dominance is the end results of excessive anger that have cost many families that experience and are victims of domestic violence. Men losses a lot of money paid for legal fees as a result of expressing their excessive anger to their partners in a relationship. Men also fail to maintain their important relationships because the majority of female gender in the current society are not willing and ready to bear with the brutality behaviors of their male counterparts in an intimate relationship. In many situations, men often use powers to destroy rather than construct, and the results are that they either cause harm to other people, or they end up hurting themselves (Graham et al., 2012).
Poor communication has also been a major reason men get angry and express their anger in a violent manner. Men in many situations find themselves assuming and not paying attention to their partner’s suggestions and opinions when handling family issues. Similarly, male gender due to society beliefs and norms may find themselves being uncomfortable when intending to share with their partner the feelings that could be bothering them. They, for this reason, fail to express their feelings in a respectful and civilized way. The results are misunderstanding since their female counterparts fail to comprehend and hence fulfill the motives of their partners. The misunderstanding would result in the escalated anger since males often indulge in analysis and logic, rather than feeling and the expression of their emotions. The heightened anger would probably be expressed to their partners resulting in violent behaviors and physical abuses (Graham et al., 2012).
Machismo syndrome has also played a major role in domestic violence, especially against women. This is a condition where men develop a mind attitude of reverting to expressing their anger to avoid exposing their weaknesses. The condition of machismo syndrome acts against men, and they avoid expressing and displaying their emotions like sadness feelings and depressions. Men, as a result, express their waves of anger to their partners in a relationship and with time it results in physical abuses. The vice of anger adds to accelerating expressions of the level of violence behaviors towards their female partners. Macho men have been portrayed to be angry and hence express violent behaviors in many situations (Graham et al., 2012).
Another reason that could result in anger among the male gender is the adrenaline rush. Some men find adrenaline rush enjoyable because it gives them a short-term pleasant sensation that is accompanied by a given degree of power during that moment. The biological response to emergency situations and preparedness causes the body to escalate stress levels. This stress in most cases results in the development of anger habit. Anger habit in different situations implies the use of excessive anger to solve every difficult problem and issues. Male gender fails to realize that if excessive anger is applied to solve difficult situations repeatedly it would probably develop into a bad habit. As a result, male fails to make conscious choices and instead continue using habitual behavioral patterns and end up reflecting these fits of anger to their partners when solving difficult family issues. The effects are that end up abusing their partners physically and hence causes violence in the relationship. To facilitate and enable reduction of domestic violence in a relationship, the perpetrators are supposed to socialize and avoid fears of expressing their emotions like, sadness. This would enable partners in an intimate relationship to build a relation that is based on equality rather than competing for power and control (Graham et al., 2012).
Conclusion
Domestic violence is a vice that has affected many families worldwide in a negative way. It has mostly being practiced by men towards their female partners in an intimate relationship. The reason behind most of domestic violence has been resulting from gender norms and beliefs that have entitled men aggressive gender while women are supposed to be submissive to their male counterparts in an intimate relationship. Another cause of domestic violence results from men applying excessive anger to solve family problems that develop to be a bad violent habit. Additionally, domestic violence has been accelerated by the need for men to possess controlling and commanding powers over their partners in intimate relationships.
References
Graham, K., Bernards, S., Flynn, A., Tremblay, P. F., & Wells, S. (2012). Does the Relationship Between Depression and Intimate Partner Aggression Vary by Gender, Victim–Perpetrator Role, and Aggression Severity?. Violence and victims, 27(5), 730-743.
Yamawaki, N., Ochoa-Shipp, M., Pulsipher, C., Harlos, A., & Swindler, S. (2012). Perceptions of Domestic Violence The Effects of Domestic Violence Myths, Victim’s Relationship With Her Abuser, and the Decision to Return to Her Abuser. Journal of interpersonal violence, 27(16), 3195-3212.