Family Violence OVERVIEW OF SOCIAL STRUCTURE AND ITS INFLUENCE ON THE FAMILY MACRO VS. MICRO Societal Analogy FAMILY IS THE CENTER AND THE SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS SURROUND THE FAMILY: Education, Law, Politics, Military, Religion, Economics, Mass Media, Medicine Institutional Analysis: Each Color Represents an Institution (External and Internal Analysis of Family and Family Violence) Individuals: Make Up Families FAMILIES: THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE UGLY Holly Sklar and the Ideology of Blaming the Victim William Ryan  How does the structure of our society impact individuals?  How are those individuals then impact a family?  Why is important to know the design of a society?  Why is it necessary to know all the moving pieces so that a holistic understanding of violence is understood, family violence, in particular?  Why is institutional violence accepted and what are the ramifications of this violence (legal, political, military, economic)  Critical insight is necessary and required so that the lens that you look through gives you an accurate narrative.  The dynamics of power and privilege MUST be examined.  Why is the Sociological Imagination imperative? Violence  How is violence perpetuated in society through culture and does this have an impact on people or can you just live in an environment and not be affected?  We make this argument when explaining the deviance of children or family members, but we are remiss to talk about this or even make the connection at a societal level.  How do we solve it?  The larger question is who are “we” as a society. Once we figure that out then maybe we can understand the foundation that we have built and the consequences of that foundation and ideology that sustains it. Opening Vignette  She died in September by the ugliest means, weighing an unthinkable 18 pounds, half what a 4-year-old ought to. She withered in poverty in a home in Brooklyn where the authorities said she had been drugged and often bound to a toddler bed by her mother, having realized a bare thimble’s worth of living . . . Marchella weighed 1 pound 4 ounces when she was born, prematurely, on April 3, 2006. A relative recalls thinking she was about the size of a one-liter Pepsi bottle. A twin sister, born first, died. Her name was Miracle.  —N. R. Kleinfield and Mosi Secret, “A Bleak Life, Cut Short at 4, Harrowing from the Start,” New York Times, May 8, 2011 Objectives  Our primary objective in writing this book is to examine the state of violence in families in the United States at the beginning of the twenty-first century.  In this book, we examine through a sociological lens the most important issues that researchers, policymakers, social service providers, and families themselves face.  These issues, which are central to the academic discussions of family, include child abuse, both physical and sexual; elder abuse; intimate partner violence (IPV); and violence in subgroups, such as among gay and lesbian families and families in the military.  Also included is a discussion on the role that social institutions and structures— such as the economy, religion, the military, and college campuses (fraternities and sports groups in particular)—play in structuring family violence. Objectives Continued  Variations across family groups, including differences across race and ethnicity, social class, and sexuality.  All of this is done using a straightforward approach to these issues, many of which have reached the level of crises of epic proportions in families yet remain largely ignored. CULTURAL NORMS  Ideologies set in place before we are born and have become ”normalized” whether good or bad, immoral or moral. (Eg. Race/Gender)  Cultural Legality or Acceptance doesn’t make something right or moral. Violence against inmates in prison or how we have stereotyped some as dangerous and deadly.  Cultural norms—what we learn such as the rigid expectation that men be the primary breadwinners in their families—create ground that is fertile for intimate partner violence.  When men feel their masculinity is threatened they often respond with violence.  Connection with the economic system.  The structure of the economy itself, whereby men of color, in particular, face hiring and wage discrimination and men in certain sectors—such as manufacturing—face high levels of layoffs in times, such as the years of the Great Recession (2007–2009), when the overall economy is in recession, making it difficult for these men and their families to achieve and maintain financial success.  This inability to achieve success as a breadwinner may result in intimate partner violence that unfolds over many years—even decades in some families. Cultural Norms  Acceptable Violence/Dominance-Sports for example: football, boxing, etc.  Institutionalized violence beyond the military is looked at and include violence on college campuses, which is located primarily in two institutions: fraternities and sports teams. These institutions share certain features that facilitate gender-based violence: they are highly sex-segregated, they have a “fraternal” quality that privileges loyalty to the organization over the individual’s identity, and they have internal systems of justice that by and large protect perpetrators and fail to hold them accountable, so that they are free to continue engaging in sexual and intimate partner violence.  These ”individuals” become part of family one day and may mimic these behaviors.  In all of the major religions across the globe, and indeed in the United States, religious doctrines—holy books and official decrees—as well as the beliefs of religious leaders reinforce the notion that men are to be the heads of households and both women and children are supposed to be submissive to them. This ideology contributes to the cultural beliefs about masculinity and femininity, which, as we noted above, lay the groundwork for intimate partner violence as well as child abuse. Abuse  The darkest secret of family violence is sexual abuse. More than a quarter of young girls report that they have been sexually abused by someone they are related to—most often their mother’s boyfriend or another male relative—and one in seven boys reports the same (Steese etal. 2006; Tjaden and Thoennes 2000).  The impact of sexual abuse, especially when the victims are children, is severe, long-lasting, and often nothing short of devastating (Hattery 2009; Kaiser Family Foundation 2003; Tresniowski 2011).  Imagine if kept a secret how this can devastate the lives of children who then become adults. Intimate Partner Violence (IPV)  The most common time for intimate partner violence homicide to occur is after a battered woman has already physically separated from her abusive partner. And intimate partner violence is equally present in cohabiting relationships and legal marriages.  Poverty Impacts: Money is a major point of contention in any household. Couples fight about money—how to spend it, whose responsibility it is to bring it into the household, and so forth.  Parents and their children fight about money—how much allowance should be paid for how many chores, whether one will have access to a car when turning sixteen and what kind of car that should be, and so forth.  Often when we think of violence, we think only of physical abuse: hitting, kicking, slapping, beating, and so forth. Yet central to any discussion of family violence are acceptance and recognition of the fact that much of the abuse that occurs in families is emotional and psychological as well as physical. Relationships: Healthy or Traumatic  Relationships must be reshaped and re-understood in our society.  Relationships based on mutual respect, honor, adoration, support, stability, encouragement, sharing, treasuring, understanding and a team like camaraderie must be developed.  Power should not be misused or abused.  Privilege should be shared.  Selfishness must go and a selfless attitude must take precedence with two way reciprocation.  Relationships must be nourished, cherished, and protected.  Healthy communication and time spent developing the relationship is important.  Investment in anything will be bring great results and mitigate family violence. POSSIBLE PATHWAYS TO FAMILY VIOLENCE SOCIOLOGY 144 NO EDUCATION/ MISEDUCATION UNEMPLOYMENT SOCIALLY NEGLECTED NEIGHBORHOODS SUBURBS/GHETTO CREATION BY LAWS/POLICIES/ STRUCTURE FEDERAL GOV’T. FAMILY VIOLENCE SYSTEMATIC RACISM ABUSIVE EXPERIENCE POVERTY MISUSE OF RELIGIOUS PRINCIPLES SOCIALIZATION GENDER AGE (Youthfulness/Immature) LACK OF PROPER PREPARATION (Knowledge, understanding, wisdom, training, practice, self-esteem, role modeling, mentor)
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