Category: Domestic violence

Introduction

Generally, domestic violence is critical global concern. Even though women are the most affected group, this vice causes overwhelming problems to most families and social institution. In some cases, children have also been victimized by domestic violence. Most institutions are faced with serious challenges in responding to this issue within communities.

Usually, the impacts of domestic violence can be easily recognized among the victims (Faramarzi, Esmailzadeh, & Mosavi, 2005). This is a considerable provision in the context of family cohesion and viable coexistence. Domestic violence takes place in all ethnic communities, races, ages, and even within different religious groupings. It is not only a social issue but also an economic and health distress.

Thus, different communities and institutions (through the help of social institutions) are advancing policies/strategies that will avert the provisions of domestic violence. According to Malik and Lindahl (1998), domestic violence is defined as an array of forced and assaultive actions. It involves physical, sexual, and oral attacks against a partner or a member of the family. In addition, mental as well as financial attacks are also classified as domestic violence.

Thus, the vice is not categorically restricted to physical violence. However, it is a persistent and systematic use of manipulation, extortion, fear, and physical harms. The perpetrators apply certain approach or a combination of various methods to impart pressure and dominance over their spouses.

However, according to sociologists, proper knowledge of dominance and power plays in relationships can help perpetrators to stop domestic violence. This essay seeks to find out how an individual can apply awareness of dominance as well as power plays in relations to end domestic violence.

How to use the knowledge of dominance and power plays in relationships to end domestic violence

Domestic violence creates disparities between men and women. In addition, it tries to propagate the relegation of women in the society. To be able to effectively deal with this problem, institutions, and organizations against domestic should first understand its background.

Then, they should provide support to the victims by applying both preventive and legal practices. All nations should try as much as possible to fight discrimination against women in every aspect of life, and to offer them assurance of same prospects enjoyed by men. The subject of domestic violence has developed a critical concern within the European countries and beyond. Currently, these nations are undergoing through decisive social-economic reforms.

Evidently, loss of employment, part-time jobs, indiscretion in making payments, and social misfits are critical roots of domestic violence. They lead to frustrations and stress that might cause the alleged violence. In some cases, the consequence of this incorporates increased addiction to alcohol, various kinds of violence, despair, and frustration.

There are several approaches that individuals can adopt to help them desist from domestic violence. These are based on the knowledge of dominance and power plays especially in relationships. The first one is to encourage people (through learning programs) to take up their social responsibilities and to lessen or avoid domestic violence cases.

This is a considerable provision in the context of peace and harmony. In every society, both men and women have social responsibilities that should not be ignored when addressing issues of domestic violence. In relationships, both partners have the obligation to show love and care towards their partners.

When such responsibilities are disregarded, the subject of power and dominance sets in. One partner might feel that he or she should be in charge of the family hence manipulating the other partner. In most cases, such provisions result into domestic violence in relationships. Educational programs should focus on gender equality as well as teaching on non-violent conducts. This should be started during early stages and teachers of domestic violence issues should be well versed with vast information on violence and gender fairness.

According to psychologists, the problem of domestic violence is based on the fact that one partner needs to be in control of the other. As such, appropriate method of assisting individuals to stop domestic violence should focus on helping the perpetrators to relinquish their ill-motivated control over others, and also accept to share powers with their partners.

In most cases, the perpetrators are impulsive and demonstrate lower self-esteem (Lopez, Chesney-Lind, & Foley, 2012). Another significant factor in solving domestic violence problems is communication between partners. Spouses should be encouraged to dialogue on the issues that lead to domestic violence (Guerrero, Andersen, &Afifi, 2011). Actually, counseling can only be an effective intervention if it is done jointly with the two partners.

During such counseling sessions, teachings should focus on power sharing as well as thwarting the negative influences of dominating another partner. In addition, teaching should focus on changing the mindset of people who have been impacted by the culture. This is a substantial provision in the context of family cohesion and practicable coexistence

According to most social theories, domestic violence is rooted in the problem of social organizations as well as cultural customs and ethics that endorses or encourages the usage of violence by men against their women spouses. Rather, education and intervention should emphasize on enlightening men about these social and cultural ethics. Additionally, attempt should be made to incorporate them with more stress on non-violence and gender equality in relationships.

According some sociologists, domestic violence can also be caused by poor family structures. Here, issues that contribute much include social communications of families as well as social seclusion of families. Thus, while seeking ways of helping clients to leave domestic violence, proper communication skills aimed at solving conflicts in intimate relations and establishing good family relations should be encouraged among couples.

Creating national awareness is another means of using the knowledge of dominance and power to help in averting domestic violence. This can be done by launching awareness campaigns over the media aimed at encouraging citizens to be calm and friendly. The media should be fortified to cover domestic violence issues on a regular basis.

This is a considerable provision in the context of public awareness, family cohesion, and viable coexistence. Besides being objective, the media should not be biased in such matters. This will not only help in eradicating the mindset of dominance and power in relationships but will also help couples to appreciate the significance of their partnership (Matthews, 2000).

Research shows that domestic violence is strengthened by cultural norms and principles that are frequently talked about through the media as well as other social organizations that encourage it. In most cases, the violence of the offenders is encouraged further by the silence of the peers, members of the family, or other members of the society including the clergy and social service providers.

This makes the perpetrator believe that his or her actions are justified. Therefore, averting this act in the society should also involve the society through the media. The concerned media should try to discourage gender inequality (Bentley, Galliher, & Ferguson, 2007).

Conclusion

In conclusion, domestic violence is very harmful as it destroys excellent family relations and creates inconsiderable mental torment on the victims. Domestic violence is a diverse problem and occurs in all ages, cultural societies, races and different organizations. It is a problem deeply rooted in the belief of dominance and power to control and manipulate the other partner.

Currently, different nations and institutions are striving to avert this problem in the society. In this context, the involved parties should be able to understand the major causes of domestic violence before strategizing to curb its provisions. In this context, it is vital for every couple to determine the best approach to solve this problem.

However, knowledge of dominance and power plays in relationships, if properly used, can help to avert domestic violence in the society. Some of the ways viable in using the concerned knowledge include; encouraging couples to share power in relationships, heartening couples to take their responsibilities, as well as conducting campaigns against domestic violence. In addition, encouraging good family relations through proper communication is also important.

Therefore, much emphasis should be laid on dialogue to solve domestic conflicts rather than resorting to violence means. The media should be prepared to cover domestic violence issues on a regular basis. This is a considerable provision in the context of public awareness, family cohesion, and viable coexistence.

References

Bentley, G., Galliher, V. & Ferguson, J. (2007). Associations among Aspects of Interpersonal Power and Relationship Functioning in Adolescent Romantic Couples. Sex Roles 57(7-8), 483-495. DOI: 10.1007/s11199-007-9280-7

Faramarzi, M., Esmailzadeh, S., & Mosavi, S. (2005). A Comparison of Abused and Non-Abused Womens Definitions of Domestic Violence and Attitudes to Acceptance of Male Dominance. European Journal of Obstetrics& Gynecology & Reproductive Biology, 122(2), 225-231. DOI: 10.1016/j.ejogrb.2004.11.047

Guerrero, L., Andersen, A. & Afifi, A. (2011). Close Encounters: Communication in Relationships (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Lopez, V., Chesney-Lind, M. & Foley, J. (2012). Relationship Power, Control, and Dating Violence among Latina Girls. Violence against Women, 18(6), 681-690. DOI: 10.1177/1077801212454112

Malik, M. & Lindahl, M. (1998). Aggression and Dominance. The Roles of Power and Culture in Domestic Violence. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice. 5(4), 409-423.

Matthews, A. (2000). Generic Violence Prevention and Gendered Violence: Getting the Message to Mainstream Audiences. Violence against Women, 6(3), 311-331. DOI: 10.1177/10778010022181868

Introduction

Domestic abuse, otherwise known as spousal abuse, battering, or even domestic violence, includes expressions of certain patterns of behaviors that are abusive towards ones partner in a relationship involving marriage, cohabitation, dating, or a familial affair.

Domestic violence is acerbated in a number of ways including assaults, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, economic deprivation, domineering, and intimidation among other forms of personal oppression. However, it is also crucial to note that domestic violence is not constrained to actions entailing physical and emotional abuse.

It also implies criminal coercion, unlawful imprisonment, and kidnapping. The main reason why domestic violence is acerbated towards a person is principally to acquire a total control of the person. To achieve this goal, abusers deploy tactics of instilling fear, shame, and guilt coupled with intimidation to wear down their targets physically and emotionally.

One of the fundamental characteristics of domestic violence is that it does not discriminate various people in the society. It occurs among heterosexual partners, homosexual partners, and among people of varying ages, economic status, and even across all ethnic backgrounds.

While women in majority of the situations are found to be the major victims of domestic violence, men also are abused domestically especially emotionally and verbally while not negating physically in some instances.

Nevertheless, whatever the source of domestic violence, be it from a woman, a teenager, or a man, the behavior is very unacceptable within a society. Unfortunately, domestic violence is still prevalent among various societies.

From this perspective, from a broad approach, the paper finds out if the economical status of families may be connected to domestic violence.

It also seeks to investigate why, and if ones, childhood may be linked to domestic violence. On the other hand, from an operational approach, the paper scrutinizes how, and if, poverty plays a role in domestic abuse.

Economic Status of Families and Domestic abuse

Among the many forms of domestic abuse, economic abuse is one of the ways of enabling one person to domineer against another person. It takes place whenever intimate persons take control over other persons to limit their accessibility to economic resources.

Essentially, the abusing partners deploy strategies for making sure that their partners have limited accessibility to economic resources. By doing this, the abused partner is incapacitated from having the ability to support him/herself financially.

The aftermath is to ensure that the victim is fully dependent on the perpetrator economically in terms of obtaining education, finding employment, maintaining or advancing their careers, and acquiring assets (Williams 161).

Alternatively, the abused partner may be given some tolerances by the perpetrator who closely supervises how he or she expends the finances and or may also use the victims financial resources without being accorded consent with the chief intent of creating financial debts on the part of the victim (Krishnan 137).

The perpetrator may also make sure that all the savings belonging to the victims are used in totality so that the victim has limited accessibility to financial resources.

From the dimension of economic domestic abuse, risks for domestic violence may result from a change of economic status of either spouse. The argument here is that there exists a relationship between economic status of family and domestic violence.

For instance, Krishnan et al. argue that changes in spousal economic status are associated with subsequent changes in violence risks (139). Basing their study on the Indian context, the authors claim that women increase their risks of being subjected to domestic violence by 80 percent when their economic status changes from unemployment to employment.

On the other hand, when men lose their jobs, they are 1.7 times likely to encounter domestic violence perpetrated by their wives (Krishnan et al. 141). In a study conducted in Malaysia by Awang and Hariharan, it is found out that the income status of survivors of domestic violence is a key determinant of domestic violence (459).

Therefore, economic factors are critical in examining the factors that may create prevalence of domestic violence among families in various societies. Arguably, the central concern of this argument is that domestic violence may be attributed to economic factors.

However, it is also arguable that domestic violence may lead to deterioration of the parties involved in the violence economically. Precisely, until recently, it was unclear whether victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking were eligible for unemployment insurance if they were fired or forced to quit their jobs because of the violence (Runge 16).

Consequently, in the states where the law has not been amended to give people opportunities to benefit from unemployment benefits when such people are laid off because of reasons related to domestic violence, battering acts as a means of worsening the economic status of the victims.

Research on the impacts of domestic violence on the ability of women to work such as the one conducted by Audra and Shannon shows that women who are abused have lesser probabilities of choosing to work than women who have not experienced domestic violence (1119).

This implies that battering influences the capacity of women to look for means of bettering their economic status. This has the impacts of making them even more dependent on the perpetrators of domestic violence. In this context, economic independency is a subtle mechanism of reducing the risk of exposure to domestic violence among women.

On the other hand, women who suffer divorce due to domestic violence exhibit an unemployment rate of 20% below that of non abused divorced women (Audra and Shannon 1120). From these findings, it sounds subtle to argue that working women have lesser probabilities of experiencing domestic violence.

Therefore, the hiked economic status for women resulting from the state of being employed is a key determiner of their exposure to domestic violence.

This argument is amplified by Audra and Shannons findings, &out of the sample of women that were abused in the past, 9.4% of women who are currently not working are abused whereas only 8.9% (3.48% out of 39.2% married women abused in the past) of women who are currently working are abused (1120).

The findings indicate that unemployment among women may result to a cycle of exposure to domestic violence. This follows because, the more women are exposed to domestic violence and the more likely they refrain from looking for employment, the higher the probability of being abused.

Since employment is directly correlated with the economic status of individual, the argument provides substantive grounds to infer that a relationship exists between domestic violence and economic status of families.

Link between Childhood and Domestic Violence

Numerous scholars have investigated the impacts of peoples exposure on domestic violence on childhood based on the capacity of such people to result into abusing their partners in adulthood.

For instance, Audra and Shannon argue that men who have experienced domestic abuse during their childhood have higher chances of abusing their wives (1119). This experience comes from seeing their fathers abuse their mothers. Nevertheless, employment status also plays central roles in making men abuse their wives.

For instance, Audra and Shannon argue, abusive husbands are also more likely to have experienced unemployment in the past 12 months and are much less likely to have a university education than non abusive spouse (1119).

Education is one of the ways of ensuring that societies are fully aware of the rights of all individuals including the right for not being abused domestically. However, based on the findings of Audra and Shannon, childhood experiences in battering seems like a force that is so strong that it out powers educational knowledge on battering.

The contribution of the experiences of children rendering them resolve to intimate partner violence is also noted by Mbilinyi et al. who claim that cognition of domestic violence in childhood has the ability to make people normalize domestic violence in adulthood (171).

Amid the above claim, it is also important to consider other counterarguments for the link between childhood exposure to domestic violence and their likelihoods of resulting to engaging in violence activities themselves in adulthood.

In this dimension, several scholars encounter mixed findings on the link particularly on incorporation of dimensions such as utilization of contextual barriers in their studies. Such barriers include social economic status and community violence.

Nevertheless, Mbilinyi et al. maintain that childhood domestic violence is an indicator and a factor that may help in predicting indulgence in adulthood domestic violence (183).

During perpetration of domestic violence acts, children are always caught in between the warring parties. Consequently, they develop certain psychological and behavioral attitudes towards either party. Sometimes, in this interaction process, children end up being physically abused once they intervene in defense of the weaker party.

Murrell et al. support this line of argument by further informing, Many women are abused by intimate partners, millions of children witness such acts, and many of these children are physically abused (523). Many of such children possess higher chances of portraying violent behaviors during their adulthood.

Hence, exposures to domestic violence in the family of origin may act as a subsequent factor that may result to the victimization of ones partner. Kerley et al. reinforce this argument by claiming, this relationship holds not only for direct exposure (experiencing violence), but also for indirect exposure (witnessing violence against a parent or sibling) (337).

Arguably, peoples indulgence in domestic violence following exposure to environments dominated by perpetration of battering may be seen as being caused by intergenerational transmission of battering behavior.

However, it is critical to note that there is scholarly evidence that the issue of children witnessing or experiencing violent acts being perpetrated to one of their parents by the other parent has probabilities of making such children practice similar behaviors towards their partners later in adulthood.

However, the extent to which their violent acts measures up to the threshold of their experiences remains unclear. Therefore, it remains questionable whether other factors such as social economic status serve to increase the abusive behaviors experienced during childhood or these factors act as independent factors that lead to the portrayal of the abusive behaviors.

Role of Poverty in Domestic Violence

Poverty and battering are essentially interwoven. This implies that any endeavor to run away from an abusive relationship may expose the victim to some economic challenges, which are often too hard to accept as the status quo.

Precisely, any attempt to vacate from one place to another in the quest to escape domestic violence would imply losing housing, jobs, accessibility to ones partner income, and childcare while also not negating quality health care.

This argument is amplified Evans who argues that, in Australia, there continues to be a higher prevalence of domestic violence, and more severe physical injury sustained as a result of domestic violence among population groups living with poverty (36).

In this perspective, where one partner is not economically endowed, chances are that, for her or him to continue with normal life economically, he or she needs to endure domestic violence. The severity of poverty in resulting to exaggeration of acerbating violent acts is exemplified by legislation and other state policies.

This follows because the policies and the legislation on domestic violence only provide mechanisms of isolation of the victim from the perpetrator without providing for or guaranteeing long-term financial security to the victim.

On the other hand, anti-poverty schemes primarily focus on hiking the accessibility to economic resources without paying attention to and inculcating measures to ensure that an abusive partner does not harm the job of the victim.

Poverty exposes women who are battered to minimal options. For those women who have low incomes, they have a high probability of being subjected to discrimination, which has the overall results of reducing their financial security and their safety.

For example, some property owners may shun away from renting their houses to women whose rents have been subsidized by their governments. Consequently, it sounds plausible to argue that women who live in low-income neighborhoods are likely to have low economic opportunities and accessibility to employment.

Hence, they are more likely to experience battering without escaping away from it. Directly congruent with this argument, Williams further argues that women with low incomes may be compelled to seek emergency housing whether they reside in domestic violence or homeless shelters (143).

Thus, poverty is critical in making victims of domestic violence to continue persevering maltreatments acerbated by their partners. Mogford supports this argument by further arguing, The effects of a womans status on her likelihood of experiencing abuse depend on the social realm within which status operates (835).

Additionally, the author confirms the prior arguments that poverty and domestic violence are intertwined especially in the context of rural areas. Arguably, poverty results to battering due to increased relationship and familial stresses, which have the utmost consequences of posing a limitation to the victims capacity to depart from an abusive partner.

For many demographic social groups, nonmetropolitan poverty is normally higher than metropolitan poverty. This truncates into making the survivors of domestic violence living in rural areas have limited means of transportation.

Consequently, this makes them unable to free from abusive partners to seek refuge in their friends and or families homes located far away from their rural dwellings. The argument here is that poverty leads to making the victims of domestic abuse persevere domestic violence acts perpetrated to them by their partners.

Annotated Bibliography

Audra, Bowlus, and Shannon Seitz. Domestic Violence, Employment, and Divorce. International Economic Review.

The article argues that women are normally caught in between a cycle of domestic violence akin to factors related to the likelihoods of seeking employment having priory experienced domestic violence acerbated to them by their husbands.

Additionally, a model for domestic violence is approximated with the objective of determining which party in marriage abuses the other one coupled with determining the manner in which women respond to abuses via divorce and unemployment.

It is asserted, Employment before the occurrence of abuse is a significant deterrent (Audra, and Shannon 1113). Additionally, the articles claim that mens indulgence in domestic abuse may be predicted by their encounters of domestic abuse in childhood.

Awang, Halimah, and Sharon Hariharan. Determinants of Domestic Violence: Evidence from Malaysia. Journal of Family Violence.

This article scrutinizes the factors that may determine the occurrence of domestic violence in Malaysian context. Its analysis restricts itself to impacts of marital capital and demographic factors on households and the manner in which these factors relate with domestic violence.

In making its inferences, the study utilized empirical evidence garnered from case files of Malaysian womens aid organization. The results indicate that three factors determine domestic violence. These are income status, number of children, and age of the perpetrator.

Evans, Susan. Beyond Gender: Class, Poverty and Domestic Violence. Australian Social Work.

Evans argues that it is crucial to understand clearly the relationship that exists between poverty as a form of marginalization and domestic violence. In the Australasian context, the author further suggests that poverty is a central contributor for continued perseverance for people to live with abusive partners.

Therefore, the article proposes that necessary efforts for preventing domestic violence needs to encompass the manner in which poverty interlocks with class (economic class) and other factors such as social identities that define the experiences of people in domestic abuses.

Kerley, Kent, et al. Exposure to Family Violence in Childhood and Intimate Partner Perpetration or Victimization in Adulthood: Exploring Intergenerational Transmission in Urban Thailand. Journal of Family Violence.

The article uses a sample size of 816 Bangkok women who are married to carry out an analysis of the impacts of their exposure on domestic violence on their capacity to perpetrate victimization and domestic violence on their partners in adulthood.

In the words of the authors, their results indicated, there are indeed long-term and significant effects of childhood exposure to family violence on the likelihood of Thai womens psychological and physical intimate partner perpetration (Kerley et al. 337). More importantly, the article claims that there is a direct correlation between childhood exposures to domestic violence and adult battering.

Krishnan, Suneeta, et al. Do changes in spousal employment status lead to domestic violence? Insights from a prospective study in Bangalore, India. Social Science & Medicine.

The authors of this article carried out study on the prevalence of domestic violence on changes in employment status of families in India. The study was conducted between 2005 and 2006. It used data generated from 744 married women belonging to the age group of 16 to 25 years.

The study used regression models to examine the prospective association between womens employment status, their perceptions of their husbands employment stability, and domestic violence (Krishnan et al 136).

Results indicated that womens chances of encountering domestic violence increased by 80 percent when their employment status changed from unemployment to unemployment. On the other hand, for the control group (men), chances of encountering domestic violence increase by 1.7 times when their status changed from employed to unemployed.

Mbilinyi, Lyungai, et al. Childhood Domestic Violence Exposure among a Community Sample of Adult Perpetrators: What Mediates the Connection? Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma.

This article scrutinizes the existing evidence on the association of domestic violence experiences in childhood with intimate partner violence or simply domestic violence in adulthood. In the study, 124 male adjudicated perpetrators of domestic violence who were non-treatment seeking were examined. The results evidenced that exposure to childhood violence leads to the normalization of IPV.

Mogford, Elizabeth. When Status Hurts: Dimensions of Womens Status and Domestic Abuse in Rural Northern India. Violence against Women.

In this article, a multiple regression analysis is conducted to determine the correlation between domestic abuse and status of women in a rural dwelling (Uttar) in India. The data used is obtained from national family health survey, which was conducted between 1998 to 1999.

The results show, the effects of a womans status on her likelihood of experiencing abuse depend on the social realm within which status operates (Mogford 835). Here, status is a measure of the perception of an individual economic status.

Murrell, Amy, et al. Characteristics of Domestic Violence Offenders: Associations with Childhood Exposure to Violence. Journal of Family Violence.

The authors of the article studied 1099 male adults who had differing extents of exposure to violent experiences in childhood domestically. The chief aim of the research was to examine differences in generality, frequency, and severity of violent offenses, nonviolent criminal behavior, and psychopathology within a battering population (Murrell et al. 523).

The results indicate that men who had experiences of witnessing domestic violence in their childhood engaged more frequently in battering. Additionally, males who were abused in their childhood were also likely to abuse their children while also likely to participate in general violence in adulthood.

Runge, Robin. The Legal Response to the Employment Needs of Domestic Violence Victims: An Update. Human Rights.

This article discusses various legal provisions relating to the needs of people experiencing battering. Other concerns that are given central consideration are the workers compensation when they leave work due to family violence reasons and insurance benefits accorded to persons rendered unemployed due to domestic violence.

The article holds that where these benefits are denied, persons afflicted by domestic violence may end up getting impaired economically by subjection into violent acts by their partners.

Williams, Jean. Domestic Violence and Poverty: The Narratives of Homeless Women. A Journal of Women Studies.

This article investigates the possible factors that may help in explaining the status of women who are homeless and their capacity to experience domestic violence. A particular emphasis is paid to scarcity of low-cost housing as a key contributor for women to continue persevering domestic violence.

This sway, the article establishes a magnificent connection between homelessness and experience of domestic violence among Arizona women.

The article claims, Women interviewed emphasize the impact of divorce, battering, and other family disruptions in combination with economic insecurity and primary responsibility for their children on their paths to homelessness (Williams 143). Therefore, perception of financial insecurity impaired by poverty makes women tolerate maltreatment.

Works Cited

Audra, Bowlus, and Shannon Seitz. Domestic Violence, Employment, and Divorce. International Economic Review, vol. 47, no. 4, 2006, pp. 1113-1149.

Awang, Halimah, and Sharon Hariharan. Determinants of Domestic Violence: Evidence from Malaysia. Journal of Family Violence, vol. 26, no. 6, 2011, pp. 459-464.

Evans, Susan. Beyond Gender: Class, Poverty and Domestic Violence. Australian Social Work, vol. 58, no. 1, 2005, pp. 36-43.

Kerley, Kent, et al. Exposure to Family Violence in Childhood and Intimate Partner Perpetration or Victimization in Adulthood: Exploring Intergenerational Transmission in Urban Thailand. Journal of Family Violence, vol. 25, no. 3, 2010, pp. 337-347.

Krishnan, Suneeta, et al. Do changes in spousal employment status lead to domestic violence? Insights from a prospective study in Bangalore, India. Social Science & Medicine, vol. 70, no. 1, 2010, pp. 136-143.

Mbilinyi, Lyungai, et al. Childhood Domestic Violence Exposure among a Community Sample of Adult Perpetrators: What Mediates the Connection? Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma, vol. 21, no. 2, 2012, pp. 171-187.

Mogford, Elizabeth. When Status Hurts: Dimensions of Womens Status and Domestic Abuse in Rural Northern India. Violence against Women, vol. 17, no. 7, 2011, pp. 835-857.

Murrell, Amy, et al. Characteristics of Domestic Violence Offenders: Associations with Childhood Exposure to Violence. Journal of Family Violence, vol. 22, no. 7, 2007, pp. 523-532.

Runge, Robin. The Legal Response to the Employment Needs of Domestic Violence Victims: An Update. Human Rights, vol. 37, no. 3, 2010, pp. 13-23.

Williams, Jean. Domestic Violence and Poverty: The Narratives of Homeless Women. A Journal of Women Studies, vol. 19, no. 2, 1998, pp. 143-165.

Summary of the article

The article, Domestic violence dangers mount with economic, seasonal pressures by Ortiz Elias reviews the effects of economic downturn on domestic violence since it propels seasonal pressures in the family. The author identifies financial conflict as a major cause of domestic violence especially during the cold season when cases of sexual abuse are reported as highest.

The economic conflict is highest during cold weather since such families cannot afford proper shelter and may resort to sexual abuse to counter the cold weather. The author concludes that investment and consultative approach to economic conflicts may reduce domestic violence by a large proportion since these families will be in a position to afford better shelter (Ortiz, 2013).

The dependent and independent variables

The independent variable in this article is the economic stress-reduction intervention as a strategy for reducing domestic violence contributed by economic conflicts. The two dependent variables include cold weather and a measure of coping behaviors from sexual abuse. These variables are believed to be able to prompt the family to explore the experiences and meanings of stress and stress management.

Theory and significance

Significant changes in the familys normal stress levels may occur due to intervention and practice. A life crisis might escalate the stress response and negate the intervention effect. Conversely, crisis resolution might reduce the response to stress.

As proposed by the loss of control theory, the family must take a leading role in reduction and prevention of domestic violence. It is through this approach that a better understanding of the sequel of domestic violence can be obtained including coping strategies and stress management efficacy.

The loss of control theory is more significant than the learned helplessness theory since it recognizes the cognitive element in the intervention and control mechanisms when handling cases of sexual abuse as a result of domestic violence.

Besides, this theory focuses on empowerment in the family unit to create harmony. Empowerment focuses on social, economic, and spiritual strength of the individual who may be the victim or perpetrator of domestic violence. As a matter of fact, empowerment is a vast concept that should not be concentrated upon women affairs since the victim and the perpetrator should be reading from the same page.

Analysis

As suggested by the article, addressing feminine issues in domestic violence surrounding feminist theorist should be complete and reflective of the roles and acculturation as adopted by the society expected to embrace gender equality to minimize domestic violence. For such reason, supportive intervention should be provided to vulnerable and marginalized women in order to address their needs.

Through application of informative learning, women and men are put in a position to understand and appropriate the need for stress management (Ortiz, 2013). Through this, it is relatively possible to control violence in the family unit and manage the process without having to create conflict in the intervention mechanisms.

Empowering women and gender equality are vital to the attainment of minimal cases of domestic violence since they are always the victim in most instances. Therefore, policies which fail to address gender inequality also fail to support women to enhance important development activities in their societies.

As a matter of fact, resolution for this financial problem should be in the form of measures adopted to promote and empower both women and men. Some have criticized the idea of empowering women alone since it contributes to gender inequality instead of promoting equality (Ortiz, 2013).

Conclusion

This article has successfully addressed the financial reasons for occurrence of domestic violence in the modern society. However, the article is not convincing enough on how domestic violence is related to changing seasons.

Reference

Ortiz, E. (2013). Domestic violence dangers mount with economic, seasonal pressures Web.

Introduction

The article knowledge and attitudes of nurses regarding domestic violence and their effect on the identification of battered women is authored by Merav Ben Natan and Idit Rais and published in the 2010 publication of Journal of Trauma Nursing, volume 17 issue 2 from page 112 to 117.

Natan and Rais (2010) address question of identifying battered women by examining how knowledgeable nurses are in the issue and their attitudes towards women who present with cases of domestic violence.

The authors conducted their study among 100 nurses in Israel and they concluded that most nurses have knowledge about domestic violence and the need to screen for such cases but unfortunately this is not always reflected in practice.

Ethics

The article by Natan and Rais (2010) is a quantitative article based on its research design, including the aspect of collecting first-hand data and use of statistical procedures (Pearson and Spearman correlation) in analysis of the data before making various conclusions.

The article is described as descriptive quantitative since the data that is collected is more descriptive than quantitative, whether demographic data or data on attitude and knowledge.

In addition, it is clear that the study seeks to establish existence of relationships between independent variables (nurse knowledge, department routines, and attitudes, Natan & Rais 2010, p. 112) and the dependent variable (identifying battered women) and quantifying the same.

The conduction of this research was upon approval by an institutional review board (IRB) as indicated by the authors that questionnaires were only administered upon a go ahead from an institutional ethics committee.

In conducting this research, the authors sought the consent of the prospective participants (nurses) where the purpose of the study was explained to participants and confidentiality of information to be collected was reassured. Moreover, the nurses were left free to make a decision of not participating or even dropping off from the study if they deemed good not to continue with the study.

It is possible, although not stated, that some nurses may have questioned a lot regarding what the information gathered from them was intended for with fears that it may be used against them. However the researchers were able to convince the nurses of confidentiality and purpose of the study.

Beneficence is all about doing something with the aim of benefiting others. This principle is clearly demonstrated in this study with the authors focusing on how nurses handle battered women and even their awareness on how to handle battered women, all in the aim of helping nurses to address the problems of battered women more effectively.

There is no doubt that the biggest gainers in this study are women (victims of domestic violence) since nurses would utilize the results of this study in equipping themselves better in screening and attending to battered women more effectively.

Justice in medical ethics entails being fair and making sure that every human being remains dignified and his/her rights respected. This is best demonstrated by attending to the needs of those who are more vulnerable with the same magnitude as those who are less vulnerable would be handled.

Natan and Rais (2010) essentially address the woes of a generally vulnerable group, battered women. It is evident that women hardly report domestic violence voluntarily but they do so if a nurse assesses them. This makes them more vulnerable to continued battering and its consequences when it is no addressed.

This study however addresses this issue by bringing into light the competence of nurses in assessing and handling battered women. The findings of this study can be used to put more effective systems of addressing cases of battered women, which is essentially an act of justice.

The principle of respect for persons appears to be adhered to in this study as there is no instance of coercion either at commencement or in the course of the study. Moreover, the fact that the researchers sought a go ahead from an IRB is evidence that there was willingness to adhere to respect for informed decision making from the participants, which is central in research dealing with human subjects.

Overall, it is clear that there are more benefits in this study than any potential risk. In fact there are almost no risks since the study is merely seeking opinions and attitudes and not taking biological samples from the subjects.

The researchers can be said to respect participants autonomy and they adhere to the principle of non-maleficence as no harm is seen to be inflicted on the participants. The study is also lawful and in fact it addresses issues that are in line with the Act for Preventing Domestic Violence in Israel.

Research Problem

The research problem in this study is that it is impossible to tell how widespread cases of domestic violence are in Israel due to difficulty in identifying battered women. That not withstanding, nurses have been identified as among the best avenues for identifying battered women since such women tend to be more open if a nurse assesses them.

It therefore becomes convincing to assess how knowledgeable nurses are in the area of assessing and helping battered as well as the attitudes of the nurses on the same. I believe that this conducting this study would shed light into the areas where nurses need to be equipped in positive identification of battered women and subsequently addressing their needs appropriately.

The hypothesis is not directional since the authors do not seem to speculate that the number of domestic violence cases is high or low due to problems in identifying battered women. Instead, the authors state that the the prevalence is unknown.

Perhaps the hypothesis is more of causal-directional than directional i.e. the unknown prevalence of domestic violence in Israel is hypothetically attributed to hardships in identifying battered women.

The independent variables in this research include nurse knowledge i.e. training on violence, departmental routines, nurse attitudes towards battered women and intentions and actual behavior of nurses whereas the dependent variable is identifying battered women since it is affected by nurse knowledge, departmental norms as well as attitudes and intentions/behaviors of nurses.

One of the extraneous variables in this study is the experience (more so in years of practice) of nurses since this may affect attitudes of the nurses towards battered women as well as their ability to identify a battered woman.

The definition of attitudes of nurses towards battered women is a good example of conceptual definition with an operational definition. These are not measurable in the study but they are described and their relationship with the dependent variable established.

Review of Literature

The authors of this study reviewed 17 articles as part of their literature review. It is unfortunate that a good majority of the literature was not recent since most (10 references) were more than five years old. In fact some references (7 references) were dated as old as 1990s with only a few articles being published in or later than 2005 (7 references). Apparently, 17 references can be considered few for a research worth publication.

However, it is evident that there is paucity of literature on this subject and in fact the available literature is somewhat outdated. It is therefore reasonable to have 17 references for this research. Some of the primary sources included in this study are the study by Moore, Zoccaro and Parsons (1998), Kim and Motsei (2002) and the study by Chrisofides and Silo (2005).

Secondary sources include Nelson, Nygren, Mclnerey and Klein (2004), The Act of Preventing Domestic Violence (1991) and the study by Ben David L (2008).

It is clear that the populations and types of studies in the studies are compatible with this study since they cover nurses and social workers knowledge in assessing domestic violence, barriers in screening for domestic violence as well as perceptions of nurses regarding patients who have been battered among other relevant issues. None of the sources provided an opposing idea but instead all of them were in support of the study.

A commendable thing is that the review of literature flowed well such that the gap in the issue of problems in assessing domestic violence (battered women) is brought out well and the need to conduct the study justified.

Framework

The theory/framework of this study is based on nursing theory whereby a client-nurse relationship is deemed as important in effective nurse practice. As such, ability of nurses to assess battered women is a step forward in addressing the problems of this group of patients. This therefore makes the conceptual model very relevant not only to nursing but also to nursing research.

As earlier noted, the concepts of the model are making a solid nurse-client relationship as a way of establishing a therapeutic relationship. In addition, the aspect of empowering nurses as a tool to positive diagnosis and treatment is emphasized.

The provided theory clearly explains the phenomenon as eventually it becomes possible to acknowledge the gap in knowledge and need for research in nurses knowledge on identifying and handling domestic violence cases.

Design

This study followed a descriptive quantitative research design. This is because the study seeks to identify relationships between the dependent variable and the independent variables with no need for the direction of causality. Moreover, the participants (nurses) are only assessed once. The sample is also quite large (120), although not very large, and this is characteristic of a descriptive research.

These characteristics prove important in answering the research question since first-hand information on how nurses perceive and handle the problem of battered women and relationships are identified. The main threat to internal validity is nurses experience in nursing practice and assessment of battered women since this is an extraneous variable.

Non-random sampling on the other hand introduces bias and compromises external validity. The fact that participants were aware of what the researchers were looking for in the study may have influenced their reaction/responses thus compromising external validity. The authors decision to use a non-parametric statistical analysis was an effort to deal with non-normally distributed data due to non-random sampling.

Sampling

Natan and Rais (2010) used convenience sampling which is a non-random sampling technique as evidenced by issuance of questionnaires from a predetermined group of nurses from selected hospitals and communities. It would have been more appropriate to use random sampling as it would have eliminated bias and strengthened internal validity.

Sample characteristics are well described and such characteristics include gender, age, education level, and ethnicity/nationality. This generalizability of this study is limited due to use of a non-random sampling method and a relatively small sample, considering this is a descriptive study which requires large samples.

No attrition, retention or strategies are mentioned in the sampling process while recruitment was done for central Israel community and hospital nurses only.

Data collection

The instrument used for this study is clearly stated as questionnaires but the rationale for the selection of questionnaires is not provided. The data collection method is however appropriate for this study since questionnaires ere effective in obtaining perceptions, attitudes and beliefs of participants concerning a particular issue.

All the data collection procedures were similar for all subjects and both closed and open-ended questions were used with interval scales (Likert scale of strongly disagree to strongly agree), nominal scale (Yes/No questions) as well as ratio scales (number of violence incidences) being used.

Control

To test the validity of the content, experts (nurses) in the area of domestic violence were utilized whereas reliability was tested using Cronbach alpha during the pilot study. The Chronbachs alpha was reported as.85 which is a good reliability value since it was above the recommended value of.80. These were the best options of testing validity (best done by experts in the field) and reliability.

The authors did not mention the strengths and weakness of the instrument reliability in the limitations section. The validity of the questionnaires is however questioned as exemplified by inability to differentiate attitudes from beliefs among participants. The questionnaires may have had a weakness of having leading questions, especially the close-ended questions thus compromising reliability.

Statistical analysis

Natan and Rais (2010) have used descriptive analysis of data, Pearson correlation as well as Spearman correlation tests. While Pearson correlation is a parametric test, Spearman correlation is the non-parametric counterpart of Pearson correlation. The authors used these two tests since they are very helpful in establishing relationships between variables, which is central to this study.

Moreover, a combination of a parametric and a non-parametric test was just in case the data was not normally distributed due to non-random sampling. The null hypothesis for this study may have been that there is no relationship between problems in identifying battered women and nurses knowledge, departmental routines and attitudes on the identification of battered women.

The null hypothesis is however rejection since significant relationships between the independent variables and the dependent variables were established. The fact that the correlations (r_p or r_s) were always found to have a p value less than.05 is a clear evidence of statistical significance of the relationships.

For instance, there is a statistically significant relationship between the nurses having an intention to ask the patient about domestic violence and the actual questioning, r_s =.42, p <.01.

Reference

Natan, M. B. and Rais, I. (2010). Knowledge and attitudes of nurses regarding domestic violence and their effect on the identification of battered women. Journal of Trauma Nursing, 17(2): 112-117.

Introduction

Various military strategies have been employed in war zones and at same time numerous weapons have been used. However, one weapon exists that is possessed by men and often used in war zones. Men have used their bodies and more specifically their manhood as one of the weapons employed in battlefields during war for a long time in war confrontations (Clifford and The Foreign Policy Association, 2008).

Rape, as a weapon of war has been utilized as a military strategy usually employed for punitive purposes or just for enjoyment for both sides of military confrontation. However, as more literatures explain on the international law on illegalizing rape, other literatures have exploited in deep the social, economical and psychological impact of rape on the individual, community and nation at large.

Nevertheless, more information is still needed on the social issues that act as motivation for war rape to flourish despite its international outlaw. Thus, the research will look at social motivators of war rape.

Rape as a War Weapon

According to Howard (2001) and Turshen (2000), rape in war zones normally takes place on captured women, children, and men among population under attack (cited in Anderson, 2005). Being a weapon of war, rape has been illegalized in international law and this can be evidenced from international convections.

For example, Geneva Convection outlaws rape and regards the act as violation of the Universal Human Rights Declaration that identify humans rights to life, security, equality, equal protection, freedom from torture and degrading treatment (cited in Anderson, 2005).

The use of rape as a weapon can be described as one of the most violent and humiliating offences that can be directed to people perceived to be enemies (Clifford and The Foreign Policy Association, 2008). As a weapon of war, effects of rape do not stop at the victim but runs down in the entire family, village, and community (Clifford and The Foreign Policy Association, 2008).

Social Aspects That Motivate Rape as a War Weapon

Patriarchy and Gender-Biased Society

High concentration of societies experiencing wars is in the developing and third world countries. One peculiar element in these societies is the male-dominant society in which women are considered voiceless and mere objects (Allan, 2007).

Women feelings, needs, and personality are all disregarded and in most cases, women become victims and tools of men satisfaction. Women in war zones are regarded as tools for men to access and utilize for pleasure without being reprimanded by the society (Allan, 2007).

As such, women largely are valued in terms of their ability to satisfy mens needs and desires and more so, to support self-images of men and punishment on the part of men is almost non-existence (Allan, 2007). As a long as such system exists, victims of rape are neither spared and hence are likely to receive harsh treatment from men.

Culture of Stigmatization

Many cultures in less developed societies still require a woman to be pure and any instances of impurity then such woman is victimized and even ostracized. There is still strong customs regarding virginity, sex, and sexuality in war tone zones and women raped are unlikely to receive sympathy from the society (Amnesty International, 2004).

In overall, society does everything to create a culture of silence and ignorance, always putting a blind eye on the plight of victims. In fact raped victims suffer from shame and are stigmatized by family members, couples and community at large (Amnesty International, 2004).

Even despite of all evidence showing women rape cases happened at their inability to defend themselves; in most cases, they are regarded to be unclean, and unfaithful hence subjected to punishment by the society (Oxfam International, 2004).

Rape as a weapon for the enemy

Majority of cultures in war zones still accept and regard rape to be a weapon of war that an enemy should be punished with. In such cases, weak societal punitive measures exists and in fact perpetrators are in some instances rewarded for their good job in punishing the enemy (Anderson, 2005).

Rape as a weapon of war, has been used by many communities as a tool of ethnic cleansing where different cultures perceive and regard rape as a way of either totally dealing with enemy (Anderson, 2005). In this way, rape is seen to play the role of destroying both the culture and the spirit of the men through torturing the women (Anderson, 2005).

Society acceptance of rape as a war culture

Cultures in war-prone zones have accepted rape as a war culture in that, it is necessary if objectives of the war are to be achieved. In such way, women are regarded to be the prime targets of military actions as a way of advancing the course of war, punishing the enemies, or accelerating war.

In such ways, communities have established loose systems that can regard such rapes as illegal. As a result, rape of women is carried out unpunished even with existence of punitive systems (Oxfam International, 2004).

Challenges Faced by International Worker

The biggest challenge for the international worker has to do with operating in an environment that is not supportive, harsh and not ready to change the cultural inclination towards women violence through sex.

In such an environment, the workers efforts and progress are limited by loosely established structures and systems to identify, prosecute and punish perpetrators of rape and also government is unwilling to provide support and necessary help. Moreover, the worker operates in an insecure environment where his or her efforts may result in the loose of life.

Conclusion

Violence against women persists in many societies especially in developing and less developed countries. Rape in war is rampant as evidenced in Darfur, where women have become victims. Efforts to deal with this still receive blocks from cultural, social, and political factors.

However, what can be said is that with international law in place, there is need for collaborative efforts to ensure awareness at community level is realized in attempt to change cultural perception regarding rape victims of war.

References

Allan, J. (2007). The Gender Knot. New Delhi: Pearson Education India. Web.

Amnesty International. (2004). Sudan, Darful rape as a weapon of war: Sexual violence and its consequences. International Secretariat, United Kingdom. (Attached notes).

Anderson, A. B. (2005). Reproductive health: women and mens shared responsibility. MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning. Web.

Clifford, C. and The Foreign Policy Association. (2008). Rape as a weapon of war and its long-term effects on victims and society. 7th Global Conference on Violence and the Context of Hostility, Budapest: Hungary. Web.

Oxfam International. (2004). Towards ending violence against women in South Asia. Oxfam Briefing Paper. Web.

Domestic violence in gay or lesbian relationships is a serious matter since the rates of domestic violence in such relationships are almost equivalent to domestic violence in heterosexual relationships. Same-gendered couples usually experience domestic violence in various forms, and they have to tackle different difficulties when accessing help services (Ristock, 2002, p.50).

Research in the United States indicates that about twenty-five to fifty percent of gay/lesbians has experienced physically abusive close relationships (Alexander, 2002). These findings indicate that domestic violence in same-gendered relationships is a crucial issue that should be given increased attention. However, despite the increased rate of domestic violence, most gay/lesbian victims are usually reluctant to report such cases to the authorities.

There are a number of reasons why people in same-sex relationships fail to report domestic violence cases to the police. The first reason can be attributed to homophobia and heterosexism (Chan, 2005, p.2). Homophobia refers to the irrational fear and abhorrence accorded to those in same-sex relationships, while heterosexism refers to the employment of heterosexuality as the prevailing and institutionalized type of sexual identity for the purpose of gaining supremacy and privilege over a person or a group of people. Abusive partners are able to make use of homophobia or heterosexism as a means of preventing their partners from seeking help from the authorities.

This type of abuse can involve outing or intimidating to out their partner to close associates such as friends, family, police, church, or employer, informing their partner that he or she risks losing custody of the children as a result of being outed, and informing a partner that the authorities will not be able to help since the legal system is homophobic. The abused partner may also fail to seek services when his or her partner informs him or her that such abusive behavior is a normal occurrence in gay/lesbian relationships. The abused can be convinced that he or she does not adequately comprehend sexual practices among same-sex couples due to heterosexism (Renzetti & Miley, 1996).

In the case of same-sex couples living with HIV or AIDS, there are usually related and particular types of abuse that can prevent them from reporting abusive relationships (Island & Letellier, 1991, p.250). Even though HIV or AIDS can also have devastating effects on opposite-gendered couples, for same-gendered couples, this may be accompanied by the intimidation of being outed by their abusive partner because of homophobia. Even though HIV or AIDS does not lead to domestic violence, it can be one of the factors for abuse.

For example, the lack of resistance in giving in to unprotected sex in the context of sexual assault, and threatening to reveal the HIV status of a partner if reported. HIV status in gay/lesbian relationships is able to affect a persons decision making regarding staying in abusive relationships and not reporting cases of abuse to the authority. Victims of same-gender domestic violence afflicted by HIV/AIDS may think that there is nobody who can assist them, except their abusive partners. They may feel that reporting the matter to the authorities is a sign of betrayal to their trusted gay or lesbian community.

Homophobic violence against same-sex couples is a crucial societal problem in most developed countries. Most of them often encounter verbal abuse in public places due to their sexual orientation, threatened with violence, or are physically abused. Moreover, apart from the separating effects formed through homophobia and prejudice, same-sex couples are usually isolated from their close family members and friends (Kaschak, 2001).

In these ways, homophobia adds to the possibility of domestic violence taking place without incurring any negative results since it isolates the abused partner and thwarts his or her efforts of accessing resources. These resources may include family members, friends, social services, and authorities. Additionally, the failure to report abuse cases in gay/lesbian relationships may also be strengthened by the fear that accepting it may add to communal homophobia and augment to discrimination against same-gender couples (Pitt, 2000).

There are a number of misconceptions that can contribute to the silence around domestic violence in same-sex relationships (McCue, 2008; Lehmann, 2010). It has been misconceived that the occurrence of gay male domestic violence is reasonable since they are both men who are most of the time susceptible to violence. On the other hand, lesbian domestic violence does not take place because women are less susceptible to violence.

There is a false impression that same-gendered domestic violence does not have the same effects as compared to violence involving opposite-gendered couples. Another misconception is that since the spouses are of the same sex, it is a situation of mutual abuse, where every one of them is perpetrating and receiving equally. Finally, it has been misconceived that the person behind the abuse must be a man, and the abused must be a woman in imitation to opposite-gendered relationships.

Misconceptions such as the ones mentioned, which are components of homophobic assumptions, are able to make the victims even more isolated and more fearful of accessing services. This is because they masquerade the realities of abuse in same-gendered relationships and make the life of the abused individual to be at increased risk. The abused may feel reluctant to report such cases. They may harbor the fear of being arrested or fear that the violence may be regarded as a case of mutual battering.

If gay/lesbians had experienced homophobia in the past, it means that they are less likely to give reports to the police. In the case of gay or lesbian individuals from diverse cultural backgrounds, the silence can be attributed to the history of poor attention by the service providers. This poor relationship is able to present additional barriers that prevent them from accessing support services. Same-sex couples from indigenous and ethnic communities may have other reasons for their refusal to disclose abusive partners. They may feel sidelined because of their color, culture, or language, and these can make them be reluctant to access support services.

In conclusion, for proper response in cases of same-sex domestic violence, a number of fundamental issues need to be addressed so as to enable the victims, who usually suffer in silence, to seek assistance from various support services. These include the role of heterosexism and homophobia as barriers in accessing helpful resources as well as the availability and suitability of the various support services. The lesbians and the gay men should also be empowered so as to eradicate the fear that they are likely to be isolated if they report the abusive partner to the police.

Reference List

Alexander, C. J. (2002). Violence in gay and lesbian relationships. Journal of Gay & Lesbian Social Services, 14(1), 95-98.

Chan, C. (2005). Domestic violence in gay and lesbian relationships. Australian Domestic and Family Violence Clearinghouse. Web.

Island, D., & Letellier, P. (1991). Men who beat the men who love them: battered gay men and domestic violence. New York: The Haworth Press.

Kaschak, E. (2001). Intimate betrayal: domestic violence in lesbian relationships. New York: The Haworth Press.

Lehmann, C. (2010). Domestic violence overlooked in same-sex couples. American Psychiatric Association. Web.

McCue, M. L. (2008). Domestic violence: a reference handbook. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO.

Pitt, E. L. (2000). Domestic violence in gay and lesbian relationships. Journal of the gay and lesbian medical association, 4 (4), 195-199.

Renzetti, C. M., & Miley, C.H. (1996). Violence in gay and lesbian domestic partnerships. New York: The Haworth Press.

Ristock, J. L. (2002). No more secrets: violence in lesbian relationships. New York: Routledge.

Introduction

Domestic violence is a problem, which plagues developed as well as under developed countries through out the world. Despite the fact that on average the literacy rate and the rate of civilization in the world has been increasing in the past few decades, the statistics for domestic violence have been increasing on an exponential level. The precise incidence of domestic violence in America is difficult to determine for several reasons: it often goes unreported, even on surveys; there is no nationwide organization that gathers information from local police departments about the number of substantiated reports and calls; and there is disagreement about what should be included in the definition of domestic violence.

One study estimated that more than 3% (approximately 1.8 million) of women were severely assaulted by male partners or cohabitants over the course of a year, while other studies indicate the percentage of women experiencing dating violence, including sexual assault, physical violence, or verbal and emotional abuse, ranges as high as 65%. (Newton, 2001)

Domestic violence management is the growing segment in organizational management. For all domestic violence organizations, information becomes the raw material of leadership work. The daily activities of managers involve the processing of information. In order to arrive at decisions within domestic violence organizations, managers interpret the external environment, co-ordinate internal activities. With the introduction of new communication technologies the basic economic laws of information processing are changing (Moore, 200).

The ability to unbundle information from its physical carrier is having an impact on the trade-off between richness and reach Richness refers to the amount of information that can be transferred and its ability in changing human understanding  for example, voice mail is less rich than face-to-face communication, since it does not allow for visual cues. The increasing standardization of communication technology, and more specifically its use, is changing the quantity, quality and means of production and distribution of information.

Thesis In the next five years, I will need strong communication tools, excellent knowledge of information technologies and communication technologies which penetrate the world of business and everyday life.

Vision

Awareness of the crime has resulted in numerous cases being brought to light and the victims being salvages. In this context the domestic violence organizations play a major role in the society. Shelters provide temporary place of residence to domestic violence and abuse victims, while providing them assistance in transitioning to a better life. For children they specifically provide education as well as play based psychological therapies, while for the men, the domestic violence agencies provide programs based on workshop and groups therapy sessions, whereby the abusers are made aware of their actions, while educating them on being more responsible and caring for their families.

In five years, two of the most important factors leading to such a communication environment within domestic violence organizations are the spread of new communication technologies and the exploding information base available through these. Although most domestic violence organizational members are aware that information is essential within a business context, the appropriate use of new communication technology to manage the business context remains a challenge. Despite the fact that new communication technologies may threaten productivity, there are a number of positive impacts that have to be recognized (Ahmed et al 2001).

Since communication technology is a strategic enabler of one of the most basic tasks within domestic violence organizations, namely information processing, it has to be viewed as a unique technological tool for domestic violence organizations. This uniqueness implies that communication technology not only has an impact on domestic violence organizations, but transcends all organizational activities. Although the technological impact perspective provides insights into the determining aspects of technology, the actions of humans in developing, accepting and changing technology have largely been ignored by this group of researchers (Moore, 200).

The emergent perspective posits that the use and consequences of communication technology are a result of complex social interactions between the institutional framework and the actions of individuals. Because of the dynamics of organizational settings, the frequently changing preferences of individuals and the adapting organizational context, neither the intentions of managers nor the technological environment within the organization can fully predict the outcome of communication technology employment within domestic violence organizations (Ahmed et al 2001).

The interplay of time, objectives, given institutional frameworks, individual preferences and choice processes are the central concepts of the emergent perspective. The increase in electronic communication will not offset the decrease in face-to-face communication. As visual displays through new communication technology increase, groups replace face-to-face communication with new technology to interrelate time and task activities so that the different knowledge workers perceptions of tasks and the activities they are likely to perform correspond.

A risk in reducing face-to-face interaction lies in providing fewer opportunities for casual conversation, which allows individuals to assess a persons communication trustworthiness in social settings. It is therefore, important to encourage knowledge workers to treat opportunities for casual contact as an important part of their work. In five years, new communication technology may lead to a partial increase in communication linkages, particularly an increase of electronic communication. Another explanatory factor for the increase in participation could be the reduction of status influence through the use of computer-mediated communication (Macdonald and Oettinger 2002).

This can have two effects on communication within domestic violence organizations. The increase in participation by organizational members could lead to delays and stalemates, as an increase in the number of individuals may neither contribute to decision quality nor to decision acceptance. It could, however, also lead to greater commitment by organizational members in pursuing a particular course of action.

The role of the director would encompass creating a brand image and position of the organization in the society in terms of the support and aid it provides, while depicting the organization as a progressive company which helps the victims builds new lives for them. The director in this case would have to forge contacts and relationships with the state and government organizations who deal with law enforcement and regulation in the region.

Moreover beneficiaries and benefactors need to be contacted by the director who is responsible for arranging funds and finances for the organization on a strategic level to support the aid and assistance programs for the victims of domestic violence.It is important to take into account that the world will change and innovative and virtual communication technology will have an impact on lateral communication in a limited number of situations (Macdonald and Oettinger 2002).

For brainstorming tasks, communication technology increases participation in decision-making, yet for consensus tasks, participation in decision-making decreases. Communication technology has an inconclusive effect on conflict resolution. The biggest impact of communication technology is in situations where organizational members have to exchange information across time and space. In this context, communication technology can lead to a less formalized organization (Ahmed et al 2001).

Assessment

The main skills I will need in five years will be influenced by the richness of a medium is defined by

1. the ability to provide rapid feedback;
2. the ability to communicate multiple cues;
3. the ability to convey personal feelings; and
4. the ability to use natural language (Macdonald and Oettinger 2002).

Based on these four features, the authors developed a scale whereby face-to-face communication is the richest medium, followed by telephone, personal written text (letters or memos), formal written text (documents or bulletins), and formal numeric text (data). In general, oral media are believed to be richer than written media, since they provide for immediate feedback and convey multiple cues (Ahmed et al 2001).

Global computer and media networking carries risks, even if these risks are easily exaggerated. Television networks are conduits through which foreign interests can wage psychological warfare using a mix of traditional propaganda, manipulation of truth by human and technical means, and even the exploitation of micromedia (e.g., specialized cable channels, mailing lists, or Web sites) to set one part of a target population against another. The increased use of communication technology reduces the costs of communication, since the technologies are frequently less time-consuming (Owens and Wilson 2006).

Another aspect is the increased connection between people and machines, leading potentially to widespread access of information to people in domestic violence organizations caused by the rise in communication bandwidth, with more information moving simultaneously to different people in a combination of text, voice and graphics. The integration of various computing technologies allows information to be stored so that organizational members can retrieve the information from the collective database. Since the environment and social interactions vary between domestic violence organizations, media selection varies between organizational contexts (Laudon and Laudon 2005).

In five years, it will be crucial to management information at the fastest possible rates. The urgency of the task associated with communication is another important criteria in media choice. Urgent tasks are more likely to lead to a response with media that have a real-time, synchronous response capability. Electronic mail is an example of a medium that qualifies when an urgent response is required.

Empirical studies have found that, for urgent tasks, knowledge workers are willing to trade-off rich media, since it is more important to complete the task than to acknowledge the need for social presence. In these situations, new communication technologies are expected to rank higher than old communication media (Laudon and Laudon 2005).

Goals

I need to master good knowledge and skills including managerial skills and computer literacy skills. In situations of high uncertainty, I will have to use and adapt to new technology, particularly voice mail and electronic mail, for information distribution and the creation of awareness within the organization. For information acquisition and synthesis, I would prefer to use traditional rich media, particularly face-to-face meetings and telephone. In situations of high ambiguity I would prefer to use rich media to acquire information, distribute information, create awareness about information in the organization, or synthesize information.

Electronic mail is, viewed as the medium of second choice for information distribution (Laudon and Laudon 2005). Creating awareness in the organization is achieved through face-to-face meetings, telephone, voice mail and electronic mail. For information synthesis, managers will show the clearest preference for rich media. In situations of high task urgency, I would generally prefer to use rich media when possible, yet when the communication partner is not available voice mail and electronic mail would be used in order to complete the task. The uniqueness of this research lies in the investigation of a multitude of media for different information-processing tasks (Owens and Wilson 2006).

Technology may change the marginal costs of retrieving embodied information and thereby facilitate the exchange between two domestic violence organizations. When domestic violence organizations are interdependent they need to retrieve and transfer embodied information and control for opportunism. Rather than reducing interdependence, domestic violence organizations should retrieve and transfer embodied information, which leads to more problem-solving between organizational members. Communication technology can support the establishment of cooperative arrangements by helping to bring organizational members together to solve problems (Kucza and Komi-Sirvio 2001).

A typical example where this becomes useful is for joint research and development cooperations. Essentially, technology will enable domestic violence organizations to be structured independent of geography, where people are grouped together within one unit for the purpose of supervision and co-ordination. My goals is to be ready to new technologies and be able to adapt to new environments and situations which are difficult to predict and foreshadow.

The main challenge is that technology links knowledge across spatial and temporal boundaries, and thereby redefines the traditional boundaries of domestic violence organizations. The increasing use of communication technology will be found to lead to a decrease in firm size, a decrease in vertical integration, an increase in diversification particularly in related diversification, and an increase in cooperative activities (Kucza and Komi-Sirvio 2001).

In this age of technology, individuals who contribute value by acquiring, distributing and interpreting information are knowledge workers. They use communication technology, such as electronic mail, to acquire information from the outside, distribute information and interpret information that has been distributed through a wide range of communication technologies (Kucza and Komi-Sirvio 2001). As knowledge workers become more accustomed to the use of communication technology, their demand for the use of it increases, and the tasks that are completed based on communication technology change. By increasing the number of knowledge links, the potential for distributing knowledge throughout the organization is enlarged (Owens and Wilson 2006).

Strategies

The main strategies which help me to achieve my goals are training, theoretical knowledge and creativity. As time passes, rational choices will develop for new communication technologies, since participants are interdependent, therefore adopting more intimate and socially rational behavior. Knowledge about areas where efficient communication technology is employed will become part of the organizational patterns of use  for example, new technologies maybe better suited than short-turn meetings to longitudinal interaction (Kucza and Komi-Sirvio 2001).

The benefits of communication technologies have to develop over time when organizational members are working in long-term associations, such as in teams. Individuals have to make use of the technology in order to realize its benefits. In summary, as new communication technologies are adopted, media use patterns will change. Eventually, old communication technologies are likely to be substituted for new communication technologies when the perceived benefits are realized by the users.

It can thus be concluded that training programs influence computer anxiety directly and increase an individuals knowledge about computers, thus reducing anxiety and creating a positive attitude towards computer-based communication technologies. Training increases confidence in a persons ability to master and use communication technology for work purposes. Since attitudes are linked directly to use, training programs provide a good starting point in ensuring the success of communication technology implementation (Dennings, 200).

Creativity is a critical element of domestic violence work because making adaptations to communication technology use become increasingly difficult as the technology becomes embedded and routinized within a given user environment. An opportunity to rethink the implementation of a new technology arises when a disruptive event such as a change in Director of domestic violence organization, a change in project requirements, the breakdown of the technology itself, or an outside event, occurs. These events can lead to advances in communication-technology implementation for the purpose of learning at later periods (Owens and Wilson 2006).

For example, if the technology has already found its place in the organization, a change in Director of domestic violence organization threatens to disrupt the habits and procedures, and thus presents a window of opportunity for making adaptations. Since these windows occur episodically, triggered by discrepant events or new discoveries on the part of the user, Director has to encourage adaptation of the technology by framing the interruptions as noteworthy. Rather than ignoring these instances, managers have to make a conscious effort in actively using the opportunities from disruptions to enable the use of communication technology as learning tool (Moore, 2001; Data-Driven-Decision Making 2004).

Conclusion

Creating the willingness to use communication technology effectively for the purpose of acquiring, distributing, interpreting and storing information involves designing incentive systems. For a Director, these incentive systems should reward individuals and teams who use communication technology for the purpose of developing the organizational knowledge base. Measurement instruments which may serve this goal are performance evaluations (Dennings, 200).

By incorporating the extent to which individuals use communication technology for the purpose of developing the organizational knowledge base into the performance evaluation instrument, individuals and groups are likely to actually develop knowledge (Moore, 200). This raises substantial questions for the theoretical understanding of domestic violence organizations, since information is at the core of co-ordination within domestic violence organizations. With an increased number of communication technologies available and the expanded complexity within domestic violence organizations, their management becomes an increasingly difficult task.

References

1. Ahmed, A.M., Chopoorian, J.A., Khalil, O.E.M., Witherell, R. (2001). Mind Your Business by Mining Your Data. SAM Advanced Management Journal, 66 (2), 45.
2. Data-Driven-Decision Making. (2004). T.H E Journal (Technological Horizons In Education), 31, 32.
3. Dennings, P.I. (2001). The Invisible Future: The Seamless Integration Of Technology Into Everyday Life. McGraw-Hill Companies; 1st edition.
4. Kucza, T. Komi-Sirvio, S. (2001). Utilising Knowledge Management in Software Process Improvement  The Creation of a Knowledge Management Process Model. ICE.
5. Laudon, K. C. & Laudon, J. P. (2005). Management Information Systems: Managing the Digital Firm, 9th Edition.
6. Macdonald, M.S., Oettinger, A.G. (2002). Information Overload: Managing Intelligence Technologies. Harvard International Review 24 (1): 44.
7. Moore, C. (2001). Tapping knowledge, InfoWorld. Framingham.
8. Owens, I. Wilson, T. (2006). Information and Business Performance: A Study of Information Systems and Services in High Performing Companies. Bowker-Saur.

Domestic violence experienced by women in families all over the world is a controversial social problem the causes of which are closely associated with definite psychological questions. That is why the issue of domestic violence is actively discussed not only in specialized research articles on psychology but also in articles from many popular newspapers and magazines because of the questions urgency and its controversial character. It is important to concentrate on the validity of statements that can be presented in popular and scholarly resources in relation to their practical appropriateness for the further discussion of the research question in detail. According to Cozby, validity can be faced, construct, convergent, concurrent, and criterion-oriented in relation to its type (Cozby, 2004). Statements and arguments on the topic of domestic violence experienced by women, which are proposed in popular and peer-reviewed articles, can be discussed from the perspective of their validity and usefulness for academic research. Peer-reviewed articles on the topic of domestic violence are more useful for the research because they follow the principle of construct validity and provide supported conclusions when articles from popular magazines do not present the necessary support for arguments, and these statements cannot be discussed as credible.

The article Domestic Violence among the Wealthy Hides behind Veil of Silence presented in Newsweek discusses the issue of violence and abusive behaviours towards women. One of the main arguments of the article is the statement that spouses are inclined to continue following their abusive behaviours even realizing the sufferings of women (Shapiro, 2013). Despite the fact the author of the article discusses a controversial problem of domestic violence against women based on the data from recent researches and focusing on such causes for violence as the problematic economic state of the family, the article lacks sufficient theoretical background for discussing the problem because of its purpose to draw the audiences attention to the issue depending on emotions, but not on facts. That is why, the articles statements and arguments are based on examples from the lives of famous persons and words of famous psychologists on the topic (Shapiro, 2013). The focus of the article is domestic violence in the lives of wealthy people as a counterargument to the idea that violence at home is typical for poor families because of their financial hardship. It is possible to speak about face validity in relation to the content and arguments presented in the article because provided conclusions and statistics are superficial (Cozby, 2004).

The discussion of domestic violence in the above-mentioned article is triggered by a situation of killing the girlfriend of Oscar Pistorius in South Africa. The next article 3 Women a Day Killed by a Partner in South Africa presented in Time aims to provide a more general discussion of the social situation in South Africa and possible psychological causes for domestic violence. The provided statistics on domestic violence in South Africa intend to evoke definite peoples emotions, but not to provide the results of studies in detail. Moreover, the data and statistical results are often generalized. Thus, it is stated in the article that there are few places for South African girls to be safe: many are raped in their homes by a relative or family friend; many are raped at school, often by teachers; only a quarter are raped by someone they do not know (Faul, 2013). Using such words as few, many, and often, the author generalizes the data, but does not present the real numbers. The presented facts cannot be discussed as relevant and reliable to be used in research on the topic. The article depends on the principle of face validity when the articles results and conclusions cannot be fully supported or guaranteed.

The article Men Who Hate Women provided in Newsweek also underlines a problem of domestic violence. The article starts with a discussion of the definite case related to the young Italian woman. The problems associated with the case are analyzed with references to a psychological component of the problem provided in the largest part of the article. Many Italian women experience abuse during problematic periods of their family relationships when men cannot admit the fact of their love storys end (Nadeau, 2013). Although the article cannot be discussed as a scholarly source, the details presented in it are rather useful to see the problem from a new perspective. However, accents are made on drawing the publics attention to the problem, but not on the detailed discussion of all the possible causes and consequences associated with the issue. From this point, all the mentioned articles published in popular magazines can be discussed only in relation to face validity.

However, psychological causes for being violent in spouse relations and effects of domestic violence on the womens psychological state are discussed in the works by Peters, Shackelford, and Buss and by Iverson and Bauer. In their article, Peters, Shackelford, and Buss focus on the origins of domestic violence from the evolutionary approach (Peters, Shackelford, & Buss, 2002). The researchers pay attention to the fact that the rate of domestic violence decreases in correlation to an increase in womens age. Thus, there is a direct connection between female sexuality, womens reproductive age, and rate of the abusive behaviours in families. The researchers hypothesis is supported with references to the conducted study including 3,969 participants cases (Peters, Shackelford, & Buss, 2002). Therefore, it is possible to refer to the construct validity of the research because the researchs findings are factual and realistic, and they are supported with credible data (Cozby, 2004, p. 80). In their turn, Iverson and Bauer focused on examining physical health effects associated with the psychological pressure and violence at home experienced by women. The researchers found that representatives of ethnic minorities suffered more from the abusive behaviours of their spouses. The results were derived based on the survey conducted (Iverson & Bauer, 2013). The articles content can be also discussed from the point of construct validity along with the work by Peters, Shackelford, and Buss.

To discuss the question of domestic violence against women in relation to associated psychological factors, it is necessary to refer to the above-mentioned scholarly articles because of their dependence on actual studies within the filed. Although ideas presented in the articles from popular magazines are interesting and rather provocative in their nature, the articles content lacks the necessary support for the statements provided. It is difficult to check the correctness of the data provided in these articles. Moreover, statements of the psychologists mentioned in popular magazines and statistics used cannot be discussed as relevant because of the absence of necessary references. That is why only peer-reviewed articles can lend scholarly support to the research question based on construct validity. On the contrary, relying on face validity is inappropriate for developing any successful academic research.

References

Cozby, P. (2004). Methods in behavioral research. USA: McGraw-Hill.

Faul, M. (2013). 3 Women a Day Killed by a Partner in South Africa. Time. Web.

Iverson, K., & Bauer, M. (2013). Differential associations between partner violence and physical health symptoms among Caucasian and African American help seeking women. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 5(2), 158166.

Nadeau, B. (2013). Men Who Hate Women. Newsweek. Web.

Peters, J., Shackelford, T., & Buss, D. (2002). Understanding domestic violence against women: Using evolutionary psychology to extend the feminist functional analysis. Violence and Victims, 17(2), 255-264.

Shapiro, E. (2013). Domestic Violence among the Wealthy Hides behind Veil of Silence. Newsweek. Web.

Annually, millions of children across the United States are exposed to domestic violence on the part of adults. As a result, they are admitted to domestic violence shelters in order to find safety and opportunities for recovery and development. In their research article, Chanmugam et al. (2015) dwell on the issue of education quality in domestic violence shelters. When exposed to an unprecedently high level of stress, children tend to focus less on academic performance due to such factors as poor socialization, constant mobility, lack of parental and educators supervision, and mental and behavioral challenges (Chanmugam et al., 2015). Moreover, the factor of homelessness presents an increased risk for low academic performance, with risk factors such as lack of interest, social marginalization, and absenteeism. Thus, there is a need to define the domestic violence shelters perspective on the academic performance of their adolescent residents.

Hypothesis

The primary research question of the article may be formulated as follows: How does domestic violence shelter personnel appraise the quality of education provided to the shelter residents? What are the barriers to effective educational patterns among this adolescent group? During the preliminary research on the subject, Chanmugam et al. (2015) established that despite the lack of empirical evidence on the topic, the issues of homelessness and stressful experiences had a certain impact on the students perception of education, emotional preparedness to attend classes, self-esteem, and supervision. As a result, the authors assumed that obtaining the shelter personnels perspective could present meaningful insights into the reality of education for children exposed to domestic violence at home.

Method

In order to meet the objectives of the research, Chanmugam et al. (2015) needed to reach out to the representatives of emergency domestic violence shelters located in the state of Texas well-aware of the shelters and schools collaborative effort to provide holistic education to the residents. Having used the information provided in the Texas Council on Family Violence online directory, the scholars sent introductory research invitations to the representatives of every domestic shelter violence in the state (Chanmugam et al., 2015, p. 408). As a result, 55 shelters responded to the participation request. After collecting the participant sample, Chanmugam et al. (2015) sent online survey forms, information about the research, and participation consent forms to the shelter personnel. Using SurveyMonkey software, the authors made sure that data were collected systematically without violating the participants privacy.

Design of the Study and Analysis of the Data

The present study is a mixed-methods study that incorporated both qualitative and quantitative approaches to the data analysis. The online survey designed for the participants (N=76, 74% response rate, N=55) included both a multiple-choice question and an open-ended question (Chanmugam et al., 2015). The quantitative question addresses the level of respondents satisfaction with the education received by the shelter residents. It was later analyzed with the help of estimating mean and standard deviation analysis of a 5-point Likert scale (Chanmugam et al., 2015). The open-ended question was analyzed using thematic analysis performed by coders. Additionally, quantitative data was collected for the question concerning shelters organization, number of beds, and number of children staying on the premises.

Results and Discussion

The quantitative part of the survey completed by the participants indicated a relatively high level of shelter personnels satisfaction with the education received by children residing in shelters. The mean satisfaction level among the respondents was 4.38, with almost 50% of the employees (N=27) indicating there were very satisfied (Chanmugam et al., 2015, p. 410). The qualitative part of the questionnaire was completed by 48 respondents, and the open-ended questions led to the identification of some of the most common themes in barriers to providing quality educational services (Chanmugam et al., 2015). These themes included transportation, poor awareness of the McKinney-Vento Act, documentation enrollment delays, and the risks of exposure to violence on the school premises. Apart from the aforementioned challenges, the responses were mostly positive, indicating a proper level of communication and education access (Chanmugam et al., 2015). Hence, the study demonstrates that despite a series of barriers, the overall tendency of educational services for children exposed to domestic violence is optimistic.

Integration

Organizational performance, leadership, and competence are rooted in ones psychological experiences as a child. Thus, when it comes to the widespread social issue of early exposure to domestic violence, proper attention to childrens education as a process of social integration is critical. The reintroduction of young people to education and social interaction is key to their psychological and organizational performance in the future. For this reason, considering the relevance of domestic violence and homelessness to the US social context, there is a need to introduce new ways to recovery for the affected young people. The present article assists in presenting comprehensive insights into the current patterns of education in this group.

Reaction

This article is an asset in terms of analyzing the lifestyle specifics of children exposed to domestic violence. With millions of children being affected by this issue every year, a significant part of the young population is at risk of temporarily residing in shelter homes. During this stressful time, it is vital to preserve the connections with the outside world and pursue education in order to facilitate ones mental recovery. Looking into the existing peculiarities of cooperation between domestic violence shelters and educational establishments can help public bodies eliminate barriers to this communication, especially when rural areas are concerned.

Reference

Chanmugam, A., Kemter, A. J., & Goodwin, K. H. (2015). Educational services for children in domestic violence shelters: Perspectives of shelter personnel. Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, 32(5), 405-415. Web.

Vision: To be a director of a domestic violence organization.

Introduction

Domestic violence is a problem that plagues developed as well as underdeveloped countries throughout the world. Despite the fact that on average the literacy rate and the rate of civilization in the world have been increasing in the past few decades, the statistics for domestic violence have been increasing on an exponential level.

The precise incidence of domestic violence in America is difficult to determine for several reasons: it often goes unreported, even on surveys; there is no nationwide organization that gathers information from local police departments about the number of substantiated reports and calls; and there is disagreement about what should be included in the definition of domestic violence. One study estimated that more than 3% (approximately 1.8 million) of women were severely assaulted by male partners or cohabitants over the course of a year, while other studies indicate the percentage of women experiencing dating violence, including sexual assault, physical violence, or verbal and emotional abuse, ranges as high as 65%. (Newton, 2001)

Main text

Awareness of the crime has resulted in numerous cases being brought to light and the victims being salvages. In this context the domestic violence organizations play a major role in the society. Shelters provide temporary places of residence to domestic violence and abuse victims, while providing them assistance in transitioning to a better life. For children they specifically provide education as well as play-based psychological therapies, while for the men, the domestic violence agencies provide programs based on workshop and groups therapy sessions, whereby the abusers are made aware of their actions, while educating them on being more responsible and caring for their families.

The future vision that has been highlighted is to be the director of a domestic violence organization. This organization would be one which works towards the betterment of the underprivileged and abused women and children in the society who are targeted with domestic violence at the hands of their family members.

The responsibility of the director of a domestic violence organization entails to connecting to the people in the species, creating awareness of the issue amongst the people and making the abused realize that they have the right to stand up for themselves and seek shelter when and wherever possible. The organization would be providing assistance and aid to the domestic violence victims in terms of providing them with legislative support to build their case against the abusers while simultaneously providing them shelter, food and training to build their lives as independent people in the society.

The role of the director would encompass creating a brand image and position of the organization in the society in terms of the support and aid it provides, while depicting the organization as a progressive company that helps the victims build new lives for them.

The director in this case would have to forge contacts and relationships with the state and government organizations who deal with law enforcement and regulation in the region. Moreover beneficiaries and benefactors need to be contacted by the director who is responsible for arranging funds and finances for the organization on a strategic level to support the aid and assistance programs for the victims of domestic violence.

In order to become a Director of such an organization, one would need to study sociology, ethics as well as legislature and business-related courses. More specifically a civil services or a sociology major-oriented degree can be pursued which costs $5,000 to $10,000 on a yearly basis pertaining to which cadre of university the program is sought in. Aside from this a MBA or Bachelor and Masters Course in Management of Non-Profit Organizations can also be sought.

The demand for the people to fill such positions in domestic violence organizations is very high as currently many organizations which fight against domestic abuse are operating in the country however they are unable to provide significant results due to vague and confused management. These companies need a thorough and well-defined management which works in a strategic manner, much like the operations of a business, and runs the organization while controlling the operations and developing new arenas for the organization to support the needy in the society.

Summary

The salary of the Directors of anti-domestic violence organizations is very variable. Some directors are philanthropists who have savings, funds and inheritances of their own and do not take monetary reward for their services to the society. Others take a minimum wage to sustain them as they might not have any other source of income. However on the whole the objective of such directors is to fight against domestic violence and abuse in the society. On a realistic note however the annual salary which should be expected for a director of human rights and anti-domestic violence organization ranges from $60,000 to $100,000 and more, depending on the Director, his qualification and the size and reputation of the organization.

References

Domestic Violence in the Workplace Statistics, American Institute on Domestic Violence. 2008. Web.

Finn, J., Domestic Violence Organizations Online Risks, Ethical Dilemmas, and Liability Issues, Violence against Women Online Resources. Web.

Finney, A., (2006), Domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking, Home Office Online Report. Web..

Newton, C.J., (2001), Domestic Violence: An Overview, Mental Health Journal. Web.