Domestic Violence in Family
Content
1.0
Introduction
Domestic violence offence means a personal violence offence committed by a person against another person with whom the person who commits the offence has or has had a domestic relationship. The dynamics underlying domestic and family violence can be best described
as an abuse of power, perpetrated mainly by men, in a relationship and after separating from a relationship. It amounts to a pattern of behavior, which involves escalating levels of emotional abuse, intimidation, physical abuse and violent behavior in order to gain or maintain control over the partner. It frequently involves various forms of sexual acts committed against the partner without their consent.
Domestic and family violence is also any behavior or pattern of behavior that unlawfully restricts the freedom, self-determination, movement or actions of the other person, with whom they have a relationship. The most common forms of domestic and family violence involve emotional and psychological abuse and do not always include behavior that results in physical violence. This can result in a longer lasting impact on the victim with symptomatic related anxiety, trauma and depression. This can often lead to other medical symptoms requiring frequent attendance to General Practitioners. Long term effects on victims may result in a dependence on alcohol or prescription drugs in an attempt to cope with the situation. Recognizing the underlying issue and the abuse is the start to stopping the abuse. A 2004 study by the NSW Bureau of Crime, Statistics and Research (BOCSAR), showed that in NSW, 80.4% of offenders of domestic assault incidents reported to the police were men. The statistics for partner relationships show that males assaulted 95% of female victims. Therefore the language used throughout the Policy generally refers to men as the offenders of domestic and family violence, and women as the victims. It is acknowledged however that police encounter victims and offenders of both genders. While the overwhelming majority of AVO applications are made by women against their male partners, or ex-partners, this does not preclude domestic and family violence occurring within same sex or other domestic relationships; including where domestic and family violence occurs between family members, as well as where children are the offenders. Generally speaking however, victims of domestic and family violence who report to police are usually female, while offenders are usually male.
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In most circumstances, the perpetrator is male and the main contributing factor for their abusive behavior is the perception in their mind that they have a right of power over the victim. This perception of power over the victim represents a major factor in the perpetrator‟s capability to commit abusive and criminal behavior. The perpetrator generally believes they can control the life of their partner by the use of emotional manipulation and threats. The pattern of abusive behavior usually develops and escalates over time with periodic episodes of extremes of that behavior, resulting in physical assault. The violence can also occur as a single act of a significant abusive behavior that causes the partner to fear personal harm and fear for their future safety. The mental state of perpetrators is also of critical importance. Suicidal tendencies or fantasy with suicide needs to be taken seriously.
The most common form of domestic and family violence occurs within families consisting of married and de-facto relationships, intimate partners, ex-partners and frequently extends to the abuse of their children and parents. It also occurs in the form of parental abuse of children, older children abusing siblings and parents, as well as abuse of family elders. Domestic and family violence can also occur in same sex relationships where an imbalance of power and control develops between partners. In some cases, the identification of the perpetrator can be difficult to determine due to the dynamics of the specific relationship. Police follow the same procedures in responding to same sex domestic violence incidents as they do in responding to other domestic and family violence incidents.
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2.0
Literature Review
The family as a social institution and its basic unit will remain the basic for any society`s concern regarding happiness, liberty, equality and prosperity for all its members and the community it belongs to. But the problem regarding domestic violence still exist up to this day. Family as a group of people by marriage or adoption who live together in a commom household Coleman and Cressey (1993: 110). From an Islamic perspective, the family is a unit of the compound nature of social. This family compound includes not only parents and children but also grandparents, descendents, sibling and relatives. From time to time, these households group can be separated from other households but at the same time it is embodied in a family bond. In many ways this bond has variety of bilateral relations (Mahmood, 1997). Definition of family is different from an Islamic perspective with western perspective. From western perspective, it contains at least two people living together by blood, whether marriage or adoption. Family is made up of couples who are not married but living together and may also have children (Robins, 1996). The area of domestic violence research is a rather young endeavor and a literature review on domestic violence can contain a vast amount of new research. However, the amount of data available is relatively small given the severity and intensity of this social problem. Although domestic violence may include various types of combinations of victims, the majority of the literature review that discusses it limits its focus on violence against women committed by men within the context of marriage, or in other words, spousal violence. However, in much of the recent literature, there are references to this type of violence as “partner violence.” Interestingly, it also includes violence between intimate couples who are not necessarily married or who are the opposite gender. According to (Rouse, 2004) domestic violence is defines as any hurtful or unwanted behavior perpetrated upon an individual by an intimate or prior intimate which normally is characterized by physical, psychological and emotional abuse. Domestic violence is based on the victim offender relationship in the form of marriage, family ties, romantic relationship or a former marriage. It include violence and abuse within same sex relationship, violence by women against men as well as violence and abuse perpetrated by one family member against another (Tice, 2004). The increasing in crime and violence to the high level, the Malaysian society focused on the role of family in shaping and guiding the behavior of violent crime
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among
teenagers
(Mc Cord, 1991: Tolan & Loeber, 1993; Tolan, Guerra, Kendall, 1995).
Family violence is not a new phenomenon it has probably existed since the beginning of time. Only in modern times, however, have societies begun to recognize violence against family members as a social problem. Most family violence occurs behind closed doors. It is often hidden, unnoticed, or ignored. It stands to reason that the more society encourages and condones some forms of violence as legitimate, the more illegitimate violence will occur (Ola Barnett, Cindy L. Miller-Perrin, Family Violence Across the Lifespan, 2005).
Hull and Burke (1991) reported results suggesting that males who had perpetrated serious levels of sexual abuse expressed more negative attitudes toward women than those who had not. Perpetrators also supported traditional sex roles, with women having primary responsibility for child rearing and housekeeping. Other typical opinions of these batterers were that the husband should have greater authority in the home than the wife and that women's social, political and economic rights should be more limited than those of her husband. Hull and Burke (1991) also found that women who had been victims expressed similarly negative views toward their own gender. Domestic violence not only affect the women in family. The study conducted by Szikla (1990) indicated that 40% to 60% of parents who abuse their partners also abuse their children. Thus children who are exposed from such violence may have nightmares, insomnia, bed wetting, anxiety and depression while other perform poorly or behave aggressively in scholl due to development and social problems (Szikla, 1990). Davenport & Davenport (1996) indicated that the impact of domestic violence to children includes emotional, behavioral and development impairments simply from witnessing. Moreover, Navin (2002) stated that the separation among parent will not necessarily mean that children will not experience anymore the traumatic effect of domestic violence are usually undermined by the abusive parents through verbal and emotional discouragements in the presence of the children and some deliberately use the children as weapons after separation to punish the victims or persuade them for reconciliation Kalmuss & Strauss (2004).
Unfortunately, family violence is not at all uncommon possibly because of the very fact that families spend so much time together and have so many emotional . But for these same reasons, and because our family impacts our potential as human beings so fundamentally, family violence may be the most harmful form of violence humans can encounter. Family
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Violence Across the Lifespan, Pepperdine University‟s Ola Barnett, Cindy L. Miller-Perrin and Robert D. Perrin point out that nearly all children have occasionally pushed, hit or shoved a sibling. Therefore, if all such aggression were defined as family violence, the term would become almost meaningless. On the other hand, some forms of psychological abuse that do not cause overt physical injury may have severe and pervasive human consequences. “In the end, then,” conclude the researchers, “we need a definition of family violence that is narrow enough to avoid labeling every family potentially violent and broad enough to include the concept of nonphysical violence.”
Whilst in general men are far less likely to be victims of domestic violence perpetrated by women, and usually experience less severe violence, this does not mean that there are not some men who are seriously affected (Kimmel 2002, Humphreys & Thiara 2003). These men deserve equal compassion and intervention (Kimmel 2002). They may face significant obstacles in increasing their safety and recovering from trauma because of disbelieving or stereotyped responses from their families, communities and official agencies (Viano 1996). This lack of acknowledgement and the absence of services dedicated to assisting male victims may exacerbate a sense of invisibility and isolation (Humphreys & Thiara 2003).
3.0
Statement of Problem
Systemic research usually begins with a problem. Selecting and formulating problems is one of the most important aspects of doing research in any problem. For our topic, the statement of the problems is about the domestic violence in family. The single most influential factor of domestic violence in society is the continuation of a generational cycle of abuse and/or a history of abuse in the family of origin. Children who grow up in an environment where control is maintained through verbal threats and intimidation and conflicts escalate into physical violence, are more likely to resort to the same methods of abuse as adults. There are, however, a number of predictors that may lead to domestic violence.
An environment where violence is either taught, by example, or accepted as "normal" will imprint upon a child's psyche. A young boy may see his father come home from work drunk and angry, screaming at his mother. He watches his mother attempt to
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please and placate his father's drunken behavior. The young boy is being taught that violence gets results. He is developing his own ideas about what makes a man.
Domestic violence is often linked to poor self-esteem. A child growing up in a violent home is likely to have very little self-worth. He may be engaged in a pattern of negative self-talk. “If I were any good, my father wouldn‟t beat me. I‟ll never amount to anything.” As a young man, his frustration and isolation may grow and, along with it, a hidden anger due to his feelings of helplessness. Anger is a major source of fuel that will fan the flames of domestic violence.
Drug and/or alcohol abuse may be a precursor to domestic violence. Substance abuse leads to out-of-control behavior. The number one commonality within the dynamics of most alcoholic families is poor emotional health. This leads to secondary anger, which is an ineffective substitute for dealing honestly with emotions.
Domestic violence is more frequent where individuals experience loss of physical health and/or wage-earning power. It peaks during the Christmas season as husbands, fathers, and single parents face the pressures of paying bill collectors and buying Christmas gifts. The frustration of the inability to "make ends meet" increases conflicts in the home. Feelings of helpless mount. Anger flares. In the face of inadequate coping mechanisms, violence erupts in the home and everyone loses.
Simply put, domestic violence is the absence of what the Bible refers to as living peaceably with all men (Romans 12:18b, KJV). The first act of domestic violence recorded in the Bible is that of Cain, who killed his brother Abel, out of jealousy.
Not long ago, what happened within the home was considered to be a private, family matter and was excluded from scrutiny by the public. During the last two decades, there has been an increase in awareness of the seriousness of child abuse and neglect, spouse/partner abuse, and elder abuse not only as critical societal problems but as crimes. As a result, there has been an increase in the use of the criminal process in addressing family and domestic violence. National incidence reports and research studies reveal the dramatic increase in family violence and the increasing tendency to respond to the problem not only as crime within the family but also as the prevention of crime outside the family.
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The Department of Justice focus on the family violence problem increased with the 1984 report of the Attorney General's Task Force on Family Violence. The Task Force stated: "A great proportion of those who assault both strangers and loved ones were raised themselves in violent households. This is learned behavior. To tolerate family violence is to allow the seeds of violence to be sown into the next generation." A justice focus on family violence is thus one that concerns violence prevention as well as a just outcome in individual cases.
4.0
Objective of the Research
1. To discuss about the effect of violence in family 2. To discuss how to solve the problems 3. To discuss about why this happened 4. To discuss who involved more in domestic violence among family
5.0
Methodology
What the study is about and the type of data is needed
This study is about the domestic violence in family especially in Malaysia society. Due to that some statistic data is needed where they can be found at Ministry of Women, family and Community Development and Jabatan kebajikan Masyarakat. What kind of statistic are they actually? They are the statistics of domestic violence in Malaysia but actually not all the victims came and report to the government about this domestic violence. They more prefer to keep silent to avoid another problem. According to
statistics, during the first nine months of this 2006, a total cases of domestic violence reported is 2.441 cases compared than 3,101 in 2004 and 3.093 in 2005. "Of the 3.093 cases reported last year, Selangor recorded the highest number with 845 cases followed
by Kedah (338), Johor (320), Penang (272), Negeri Sembilan (253) and Sarawak (234).
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For this study, we decided to use both type of data which are primary and secondary data. Primary data obtains directly from the respondents. From this primary data we have done an interview with a respondent among Tanjung Malim‟s society. Secondary data have been collected from books, magazine, newspapers, via internet and etc. We also prepared some questionnaires to be given to the Tanjung Malim‟s society.
Why the study is being made
This study is being made for some reasons. We already knew how serious domestic violence could possibly affect in society. Domestic violence can be describes as an illness for the kids grow and effect the women who did not marry yet. They will feel fear to marry. A lot of social problems happened nowadays are from teenagers who has problem and stress from home. Perhaps there are no harmonies in their family anymore which then turn them to bad people. This study is actually being made to identify the actual effect of domestic violence in our society. Society in other word means teenagers. Young people who someday will lead our country to the better future. Our dreams are so high. Our expectations are beyond the will. How will they become useful person if they can lead their own life today? They tend to choose wrong path to settle down their feeling whenever they are facing some difficulties.
Family is the right person who can always be lend on. All of us begin to start to know how priceless love is with our family. Parents and siblings used to be the closest person in our life. But somehow, the destiny changed. Family became unsecure and traumatic. Children feel have gap in the family. They feel scared of their own family. That lovely family we used to live in now gone. There are always some violence to mother and children. What to do? It seems like father does not love his family anymore. He does not as friendly as another father in the world. Teenagers are usually the most sensitive person. They are in the state looking out for lots of attentions from others. But since their father keep abuse, do violence to his children and wife, there are no more chances to get close as a family because they will always feel unsecure with their own family. Due to this, teenagers begin to step out from family‟s life. They entered into new wide communications with friends searching out for some peace. There would be no wrong if they choose a good friend but it would be such trouble if they join a type of friend whose also involve with other problems. What happened today is a lot of teenagers choose the wrong path in handling their problems. They usually found in a lot of
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social problems which then destroy their future. They get involve in bully, vandalism, drug addict, robbery and etc.
Where a necessary data can be found
Each necessary data have been collected via internet. From the internet we have found some statistics about the percentage of domestic violence in Malaysia. For an example we have found the statistic of domestic violence in Malaysia from http://www.kpwkm.gov.my. Besides that, we also found out our data by doing some questionnaires and interviews from the police officer and married women among Tanjung Malim‟s society.
Where or in what areas the study or research will be carried out Among Tanjung Malim‟s community there are a lot of persons and police officer gave us a good co operations.
When or what period of time the study will include
We have started our research since last month where as it began with some short discussion on how to find the right statistics about this topic. All this while, we also tried to search out all the information about the effect of domestic violence in library. Furthermore, there were some efforts on gave away 20 papers of questionnaires for the respondents from few community from few different gender and age. There are two section in the questionnaires. Section A is about demography that is include age, gender and status. Section B is the section that more about opinion in domestic violence. We divide to two gender, that are 10 questionnaires to male and another ten to female.
What basis of selection will be using
We actually decided to choose few persons who involved in domestic violence. We would ask them about their opinion about domestic violence that happen to them and how it affects their family. But, we cannot do that because it is hard to find them and also the police officer said that we should not ask them directly because mostly it is hard to give cooperation
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about this. So, we decide to pick any family in Tanjung Malim‟s community to ask their opinion about this study and how to prevent it. This is because we knew that domestic violence not only effect the family but also effect the society and hope there are the best solution for this violence.
What techniques of gathering data will be adopt
We used both methods which are primary and secondary data. Since that, we have provided some techniques on data collection like questionnaires, interviews, some report from books, journals and some information via the internet.
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6.0
Discussion
Sex Male Female
Number 10 10
Table 1: Sex of the respondents The population that we have chosen is Tanjung Malim‟s community. Twenty of this sample have been chosen to be the respondents. They are divided by 2 groups due to their sex. They are 10 male and10 female.
Status Married Single Widowed Male 4 3 3
Number Female 3 5 2
Table 2: Status of the respondents We have chosen the respondents from various statuses that are those who are already got married, single and also the widows. Four of the male are married, three are single and the rest three are widows. Otherwise, of all the female, half of them are single, three of them are married and the two else are widowed.
Age 21-25 26-30 31-35 Male 3 5 2
Number Female 4 4 2
Table 3: Age of the respondents The twenty respondents chosen are of the average of age of 21 to 35 years old. There are 7 respondents are below the average of 21 to 25. They are 3 male and 4 female. From 26 to 30, we got 5 male and 4 female which gives the total of 7 respondents after all. While the rest of them are aged 31 to 35 which give the same division that are 2 male and two female.
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Results from the questionnaire:
1. Who most often commit domestic violence?
Sex of respondents Answers Father Mother Wife Husband
Female 3 (15%) 1 (5%) 1 (5%) 5 (25%)
Male 4 (20%) 2 (10%) 2 (10%) 2 (10%)
Total 7 (35%) 3 (15%) 3 (15%) 7 (35%)
Table 4: Results of the question 1 Among all of the respondents, 7 of them agree that father is most often commits domestic violence. They are 3 female and 4 male. The same sum of the respondents that are 5 female and 2 male also agree that husband is most often doing this. One of the female and 2 of the male agree that mother often commits this violence. The total of them come out to be 3. The total of the respondents who answered wife as the person who often commits domestic violence are 3 which come from 1 female and 2 male.
2. There are studies showing woman are actually more involved in physical abuse of children. Is this true?
Sex of respondents Answers Yes No
Female 4 (20%) 6 (30%)
Male 5 (25%) 5 (25%)
Total 9 (45%) 11 (55%)
Table 5: Results of the respondents 45% of the respondents say that woman involved in physical abuse of children. 20% of the respondents are female and the rest percentages are male. In term of numbering, there are 4 female and 5 male agree of this. While 55% of the respondents do not agree that woman are more involved in physical abuse of children. They are respectively 6 female and 5 male which gives the percentages of 30% and 25%.
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3. Are you involved in domestic violence?
Sex of respondents Answers Yes No
Female 3 (15%) 7 (35%)
Male 2 (10%) 8 (40%)
Total 5 (25%) 15 (75%)
Table 6: Results of the respondents 25% of the respondents admitted that they are involved in domestic violence. 15% of this percentage are female and 10% of it are male which are 3 and 2 of female and male respectively. While the rest of the respondents do not involved in this violence. They are 75% of them all which 35% of it are female and the rest 40% are male.
4. Is domestic violence really a major problem in our society?
Sex of respondents Answers Yes No
Female 2 (10%) 8 (40%)
Male 0 10 (50%)
Total 2 (10%) 18 (90%)
Table 7: Results of the respondents Majority of the respondents do not agree that domestic violence is a major problem in our society. They are of 90% which is 18 of them. This sum comes out from all male and 8 female. While the rest 10%, whose agree that domestic violence is a major problem in our society are all female. 5. Haven‟t men always hit women?
Sex of respondents Answers Yes No
Female 3 (15%) 7 (35%)
Male 1 (5%) 9 (45%)
Total 4 (20%) 16 (80%)
Table 8: Results of the respondents
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Most of the respondents who are male and female disagree that men always hit women. The numbers of them are 7 female and 9 male. From that, we can conclude that 80% of the respondents disagree with the question. However 20% of them who is 3 female and 1 male agree with it.
6. Is battering or domestic violence only gives physical effect?
Sex of respondents Answers Yes No
Female 3 (15%) 7 (35%)
Male 3 (15%) 7 (35%)
Total 6 (30%) 14 (70%)
Table 9: Results of the respondents 3 male and 3 female which is 30% of the respondents say „Yes‟ for battering or domestic violence only gives physical effect. While the rest 70%, give the opposite answer. Both female and male cumulate 35% each of saying „No‟.
7. What is the main factor to domestic violence?
Sex of respondents Answers Stress Family problem Economic problem Force marriage Step children
Female 2 (10%) 3 (15%) 1 (5%) 2 (10%) 2 (10%)
Male 3 (15%) 1 (5%) 2 (10%) 1 (5%) 3 (15%)
Total 5 (25%) 4 (20%) 3 (15%) 3 (15%) 5 (25%)
Table 10: Result of the questionnaire We have listed five factors of domestic violence. 25% of the respondents answer „stresses‟ for the main factor of this violence. 10% of it are female, while 15% more are male. There are 20% of the respondents which 15% of it are female and 5% else are male, who agreed that family problem is the main cause of domestic violence. Economic problem and force marriage respectively cumulate 15% of the respondents. While the rest, 25% more goes to step children. 10% of it are female and 15% are male ticked this answer as their choice.
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8. What is the major effect of domestic violence?
Sex of respondents Answers Mental illness Divorce Traumatic
Female 4 (20%) 3 (15%) 3 (15%)
Male 3 (15%) 2 (10%) 5 (25%)
Total 7 (35%) 5 (25%) 8 (40%)
Table 11: Results of respondents There are 35% of the respondents said that mental illness would be the major effect of the domestic violence. This percentage can be divided to be 20% female and 15% male. While, 25% of the respondent choose divorce as the major effect. 15% of them are female and the rest are male. 40% respondents agree that traumatic is the major effect of domestic violence. 25% from it are male, while the rest are female.
9. What is the best solution to solve domestic violence?
Sex of respondents Answers Police report Heavier penalty
Female 3 (15%) 7 (35%)
Male 4 (20%) 6 (30%)
Total 7 (35%) 13 (65%)
Table 12: Results of the respondents Compare to doing police report, most of the respondents prefer to choose heavier penalty as the solution to domestic violence. 65% of the respondents agreed to this which 35% of the percentages are female and the left 30% are male. While 35% of the respondents choose police report as the solution.
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6.0
Conclusion
In conclusion, by the analysis the result among all of the respondents about who must often commit the domestic violence. The respondents believe that the most often commits domestic violence is father or husband. For this result, we know the people who often commit domestic violence by men. Moreover, the majority of the respondents do not agree that domestic violence is a major problem in our society. In this case, the respondents know that the major problem in our society is not domestic violence but social problem.
In other side, we have listed five factors of domestic violence. The factors of domestic violence are stress, family problem, economic problem, force marriage and step children. The result what we get is stress and step children have a main factors of domestic violence. We know that when we stress, we can not handle our mental in right way. That why, stress can make or main factors domestic violence. Furthermore, the respondents know the major effect of domestic violence is that traumatic. The traumatic have connected in our mental. Therefore, we should take care or manage our mental in other that; we cannot involve in domestic violence.
As we know, domestic violence affects the family of husband, wife, mother, father, and children themselves. Therefore, this situation do not have to occur in families because it gives a lot of negative effects on the family itself. Among the measures to solve this problem is we should teach and educate people about domestic violence. This can be most effective by educating young people to help them understand that violence is never an acceptable behavior. We believe the educating about seriousness of domestic violence can save many people out there. Secondly, we should promote domestic violence awareness. When people become aware of the statistics and effects domestic violence has on lives and communities, it keeps the issue alive and important. Thirdly, we always speak out against domestic violence. Talking about the seriousness of domestic violence amongst friends, family and other community members also helps to keep the importance out there.
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Finally, we should report suspicions of domestic violence to the proper authorities. Domestic violence is still a very secret crime, and it often sits silently within any given home in any given neighbor. Sometimes, it takes that one person to make that call and report the suspicion to help a person out of a situation they may not be able to get out of on their own. We as members of society should be concerned about the problems that happen around us. These social problems such as domestic violence within the family, baby dumping, free sex and other social issues will be reduced in the community. By the individual, parents, communities and governments must work together in addressing this problem.
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Introduction
Domestic violence offence means a personal violence offence committed by a person against another person with whom the person who commits the offence has or has had a domestic relationship. The dynamics underlying domestic and family violence can be best described
as an abuse of power, perpetrated mainly by men, in a relationship and after separating from a relationship. It amounts to a pattern of behavior, which involves escalating levels of emotional abuse, intimidation, physical abuse and violent behavior in order to gain or maintain control over the partner. It frequently involves various forms of sexual acts committed against the partner without their consent.
Domestic and family violence is also any behavior or pattern of behavior that unlawfully restricts the freedom, self-determination, movement or actions of the other person, with whom they have a relationship. The most common forms of domestic and family violence involve emotional and psychological abuse and do not always include behavior that results in physical violence. This can result in a longer lasting impact on the victim with symptomatic related anxiety, trauma and depression. This can often lead to other medical symptoms requiring frequent attendance to General Practitioners. Long term effects on victims may result in a dependence on alcohol or prescription drugs in an attempt to cope with the situation. Recognizing the underlying issue and the abuse is the start to stopping the abuse. A 2004 study by the NSW Bureau of Crime, Statistics and Research (BOCSAR), showed that in NSW, 80.4% of offenders of domestic assault incidents reported to the police were men. The statistics for partner relationships show that males assaulted 95% of female victims. Therefore the language used throughout the Policy generally refers to men as the offenders of domestic and family violence, and women as the victims. It is acknowledged however that police encounter victims and offenders of both genders. While the overwhelming majority of AVO applications are made by women against their male partners, or ex-partners, this does not preclude domestic and family violence occurring within same sex or other domestic relationships; including where domestic and family violence occurs between family members, as well as where children are the offenders. Generally speaking however, victims of domestic and family violence who report to police are usually female, while offenders are usually male.
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In most circumstances, the perpetrator is male and the main contributing factor for their abusive behavior is the perception in their mind that they have a right of power over the victim. This perception of power over the victim represents a major factor in the perpetrator‟s capability to commit abusive and criminal behavior. The perpetrator generally believes they can control the life of their partner by the use of emotional manipulation and threats. The pattern of abusive behavior usually develops and escalates over time with periodic episodes of extremes of that behavior, resulting in physical assault. The violence can also occur as a single act of a significant abusive behavior that causes the partner to fear personal harm and fear for their future safety. The mental state of perpetrators is also of critical importance. Suicidal tendencies or fantasy with suicide needs to be taken seriously.
The most common form of domestic and family violence occurs within families consisting of married and de-facto relationships, intimate partners, ex-partners and frequently extends to the abuse of their children and parents. It also occurs in the form of parental abuse of children, older children abusing siblings and parents, as well as abuse of family elders. Domestic and family violence can also occur in same sex relationships where an imbalance of power and control develops between partners. In some cases, the identification of the perpetrator can be difficult to determine due to the dynamics of the specific relationship. Police follow the same procedures in responding to same sex domestic violence incidents as they do in responding to other domestic and family violence incidents.
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2.0
Literature Review
The family as a social institution and its basic unit will remain the basic for any society`s concern regarding happiness, liberty, equality and prosperity for all its members and the community it belongs to. But the problem regarding domestic violence still exist up to this day. Family as a group of people by marriage or adoption who live together in a commom household Coleman and Cressey (1993: 110). From an Islamic perspective, the family is a unit of the compound nature of social. This family compound includes not only parents and children but also grandparents, descendents, sibling and relatives. From time to time, these households group can be separated from other households but at the same time it is embodied in a family bond. In many ways this bond has variety of bilateral relations (Mahmood, 1997). Definition of family is different from an Islamic perspective with western perspective. From western perspective, it contains at least two people living together by blood, whether marriage or adoption. Family is made up of couples who are not married but living together and may also have children (Robins, 1996). The area of domestic violence research is a rather young endeavor and a literature review on domestic violence can contain a vast amount of new research. However, the amount of data available is relatively small given the severity and intensity of this social problem. Although domestic violence may include various types of combinations of victims, the majority of the literature review that discusses it limits its focus on violence against women committed by men within the context of marriage, or in other words, spousal violence. However, in much of the recent literature, there are references to this type of violence as “partner violence.” Interestingly, it also includes violence between intimate couples who are not necessarily married or who are the opposite gender. According to (Rouse, 2004) domestic violence is defines as any hurtful or unwanted behavior perpetrated upon an individual by an intimate or prior intimate which normally is characterized by physical, psychological and emotional abuse. Domestic violence is based on the victim offender relationship in the form of marriage, family ties, romantic relationship or a former marriage. It include violence and abuse within same sex relationship, violence by women against men as well as violence and abuse perpetrated by one family member against another (Tice, 2004). The increasing in crime and violence to the high level, the Malaysian society focused on the role of family in shaping and guiding the behavior of violent crime
Page | 3
among
teenagers
(Mc Cord, 1991: Tolan & Loeber, 1993; Tolan, Guerra, Kendall, 1995).
Family violence is not a new phenomenon it has probably existed since the beginning of time. Only in modern times, however, have societies begun to recognize violence against family members as a social problem. Most family violence occurs behind closed doors. It is often hidden, unnoticed, or ignored. It stands to reason that the more society encourages and condones some forms of violence as legitimate, the more illegitimate violence will occur (Ola Barnett, Cindy L. Miller-Perrin, Family Violence Across the Lifespan, 2005).
Hull and Burke (1991) reported results suggesting that males who had perpetrated serious levels of sexual abuse expressed more negative attitudes toward women than those who had not. Perpetrators also supported traditional sex roles, with women having primary responsibility for child rearing and housekeeping. Other typical opinions of these batterers were that the husband should have greater authority in the home than the wife and that women's social, political and economic rights should be more limited than those of her husband. Hull and Burke (1991) also found that women who had been victims expressed similarly negative views toward their own gender. Domestic violence not only affect the women in family. The study conducted by Szikla (1990) indicated that 40% to 60% of parents who abuse their partners also abuse their children. Thus children who are exposed from such violence may have nightmares, insomnia, bed wetting, anxiety and depression while other perform poorly or behave aggressively in scholl due to development and social problems (Szikla, 1990). Davenport & Davenport (1996) indicated that the impact of domestic violence to children includes emotional, behavioral and development impairments simply from witnessing. Moreover, Navin (2002) stated that the separation among parent will not necessarily mean that children will not experience anymore the traumatic effect of domestic violence are usually undermined by the abusive parents through verbal and emotional discouragements in the presence of the children and some deliberately use the children as weapons after separation to punish the victims or persuade them for reconciliation Kalmuss & Strauss (2004).
Unfortunately, family violence is not at all uncommon possibly because of the very fact that families spend so much time together and have so many emotional . But for these same reasons, and because our family impacts our potential as human beings so fundamentally, family violence may be the most harmful form of violence humans can encounter. Family
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Violence Across the Lifespan, Pepperdine University‟s Ola Barnett, Cindy L. Miller-Perrin and Robert D. Perrin point out that nearly all children have occasionally pushed, hit or shoved a sibling. Therefore, if all such aggression were defined as family violence, the term would become almost meaningless. On the other hand, some forms of psychological abuse that do not cause overt physical injury may have severe and pervasive human consequences. “In the end, then,” conclude the researchers, “we need a definition of family violence that is narrow enough to avoid labeling every family potentially violent and broad enough to include the concept of nonphysical violence.”
Whilst in general men are far less likely to be victims of domestic violence perpetrated by women, and usually experience less severe violence, this does not mean that there are not some men who are seriously affected (Kimmel 2002, Humphreys & Thiara 2003). These men deserve equal compassion and intervention (Kimmel 2002). They may face significant obstacles in increasing their safety and recovering from trauma because of disbelieving or stereotyped responses from their families, communities and official agencies (Viano 1996). This lack of acknowledgement and the absence of services dedicated to assisting male victims may exacerbate a sense of invisibility and isolation (Humphreys & Thiara 2003).
3.0
Statement of Problem
Systemic research usually begins with a problem. Selecting and formulating problems is one of the most important aspects of doing research in any problem. For our topic, the statement of the problems is about the domestic violence in family. The single most influential factor of domestic violence in society is the continuation of a generational cycle of abuse and/or a history of abuse in the family of origin. Children who grow up in an environment where control is maintained through verbal threats and intimidation and conflicts escalate into physical violence, are more likely to resort to the same methods of abuse as adults. There are, however, a number of predictors that may lead to domestic violence.
An environment where violence is either taught, by example, or accepted as "normal" will imprint upon a child's psyche. A young boy may see his father come home from work drunk and angry, screaming at his mother. He watches his mother attempt to
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please and placate his father's drunken behavior. The young boy is being taught that violence gets results. He is developing his own ideas about what makes a man.
Domestic violence is often linked to poor self-esteem. A child growing up in a violent home is likely to have very little self-worth. He may be engaged in a pattern of negative self-talk. “If I were any good, my father wouldn‟t beat me. I‟ll never amount to anything.” As a young man, his frustration and isolation may grow and, along with it, a hidden anger due to his feelings of helplessness. Anger is a major source of fuel that will fan the flames of domestic violence.
Drug and/or alcohol abuse may be a precursor to domestic violence. Substance abuse leads to out-of-control behavior. The number one commonality within the dynamics of most alcoholic families is poor emotional health. This leads to secondary anger, which is an ineffective substitute for dealing honestly with emotions.
Domestic violence is more frequent where individuals experience loss of physical health and/or wage-earning power. It peaks during the Christmas season as husbands, fathers, and single parents face the pressures of paying bill collectors and buying Christmas gifts. The frustration of the inability to "make ends meet" increases conflicts in the home. Feelings of helpless mount. Anger flares. In the face of inadequate coping mechanisms, violence erupts in the home and everyone loses.
Simply put, domestic violence is the absence of what the Bible refers to as living peaceably with all men (Romans 12:18b, KJV). The first act of domestic violence recorded in the Bible is that of Cain, who killed his brother Abel, out of jealousy.
Not long ago, what happened within the home was considered to be a private, family matter and was excluded from scrutiny by the public. During the last two decades, there has been an increase in awareness of the seriousness of child abuse and neglect, spouse/partner abuse, and elder abuse not only as critical societal problems but as crimes. As a result, there has been an increase in the use of the criminal process in addressing family and domestic violence. National incidence reports and research studies reveal the dramatic increase in family violence and the increasing tendency to respond to the problem not only as crime within the family but also as the prevention of crime outside the family.
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The Department of Justice focus on the family violence problem increased with the 1984 report of the Attorney General's Task Force on Family Violence. The Task Force stated: "A great proportion of those who assault both strangers and loved ones were raised themselves in violent households. This is learned behavior. To tolerate family violence is to allow the seeds of violence to be sown into the next generation." A justice focus on family violence is thus one that concerns violence prevention as well as a just outcome in individual cases.
4.0
Objective of the Research
1. To discuss about the effect of violence in family 2. To discuss how to solve the problems 3. To discuss about why this happened 4. To discuss who involved more in domestic violence among family
5.0
Methodology
What the study is about and the type of data is needed
This study is about the domestic violence in family especially in Malaysia society. Due to that some statistic data is needed where they can be found at Ministry of Women, family and Community Development and Jabatan kebajikan Masyarakat. What kind of statistic are they actually? They are the statistics of domestic violence in Malaysia but actually not all the victims came and report to the government about this domestic violence. They more prefer to keep silent to avoid another problem. According to
statistics, during the first nine months of this 2006, a total cases of domestic violence reported is 2.441 cases compared than 3,101 in 2004 and 3.093 in 2005. "Of the 3.093 cases reported last year, Selangor recorded the highest number with 845 cases followed
by Kedah (338), Johor (320), Penang (272), Negeri Sembilan (253) and Sarawak (234).
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For this study, we decided to use both type of data which are primary and secondary data. Primary data obtains directly from the respondents. From this primary data we have done an interview with a respondent among Tanjung Malim‟s society. Secondary data have been collected from books, magazine, newspapers, via internet and etc. We also prepared some questionnaires to be given to the Tanjung Malim‟s society.
Why the study is being made
This study is being made for some reasons. We already knew how serious domestic violence could possibly affect in society. Domestic violence can be describes as an illness for the kids grow and effect the women who did not marry yet. They will feel fear to marry. A lot of social problems happened nowadays are from teenagers who has problem and stress from home. Perhaps there are no harmonies in their family anymore which then turn them to bad people. This study is actually being made to identify the actual effect of domestic violence in our society. Society in other word means teenagers. Young people who someday will lead our country to the better future. Our dreams are so high. Our expectations are beyond the will. How will they become useful person if they can lead their own life today? They tend to choose wrong path to settle down their feeling whenever they are facing some difficulties.
Family is the right person who can always be lend on. All of us begin to start to know how priceless love is with our family. Parents and siblings used to be the closest person in our life. But somehow, the destiny changed. Family became unsecure and traumatic. Children feel have gap in the family. They feel scared of their own family. That lovely family we used to live in now gone. There are always some violence to mother and children. What to do? It seems like father does not love his family anymore. He does not as friendly as another father in the world. Teenagers are usually the most sensitive person. They are in the state looking out for lots of attentions from others. But since their father keep abuse, do violence to his children and wife, there are no more chances to get close as a family because they will always feel unsecure with their own family. Due to this, teenagers begin to step out from family‟s life. They entered into new wide communications with friends searching out for some peace. There would be no wrong if they choose a good friend but it would be such trouble if they join a type of friend whose also involve with other problems. What happened today is a lot of teenagers choose the wrong path in handling their problems. They usually found in a lot of
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social problems which then destroy their future. They get involve in bully, vandalism, drug addict, robbery and etc.
Where a necessary data can be found
Each necessary data have been collected via internet. From the internet we have found some statistics about the percentage of domestic violence in Malaysia. For an example we have found the statistic of domestic violence in Malaysia from http://www.kpwkm.gov.my. Besides that, we also found out our data by doing some questionnaires and interviews from the police officer and married women among Tanjung Malim‟s society.
Where or in what areas the study or research will be carried out Among Tanjung Malim‟s community there are a lot of persons and police officer gave us a good co operations.
When or what period of time the study will include
We have started our research since last month where as it began with some short discussion on how to find the right statistics about this topic. All this while, we also tried to search out all the information about the effect of domestic violence in library. Furthermore, there were some efforts on gave away 20 papers of questionnaires for the respondents from few community from few different gender and age. There are two section in the questionnaires. Section A is about demography that is include age, gender and status. Section B is the section that more about opinion in domestic violence. We divide to two gender, that are 10 questionnaires to male and another ten to female.
What basis of selection will be using
We actually decided to choose few persons who involved in domestic violence. We would ask them about their opinion about domestic violence that happen to them and how it affects their family. But, we cannot do that because it is hard to find them and also the police officer said that we should not ask them directly because mostly it is hard to give cooperation
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about this. So, we decide to pick any family in Tanjung Malim‟s community to ask their opinion about this study and how to prevent it. This is because we knew that domestic violence not only effect the family but also effect the society and hope there are the best solution for this violence.
What techniques of gathering data will be adopt
We used both methods which are primary and secondary data. Since that, we have provided some techniques on data collection like questionnaires, interviews, some report from books, journals and some information via the internet.
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6.0
Discussion
Sex Male Female
Number 10 10
Table 1: Sex of the respondents The population that we have chosen is Tanjung Malim‟s community. Twenty of this sample have been chosen to be the respondents. They are divided by 2 groups due to their sex. They are 10 male and10 female.
Status Married Single Widowed Male 4 3 3
Number Female 3 5 2
Table 2: Status of the respondents We have chosen the respondents from various statuses that are those who are already got married, single and also the widows. Four of the male are married, three are single and the rest three are widows. Otherwise, of all the female, half of them are single, three of them are married and the two else are widowed.
Age 21-25 26-30 31-35 Male 3 5 2
Number Female 4 4 2
Table 3: Age of the respondents The twenty respondents chosen are of the average of age of 21 to 35 years old. There are 7 respondents are below the average of 21 to 25. They are 3 male and 4 female. From 26 to 30, we got 5 male and 4 female which gives the total of 7 respondents after all. While the rest of them are aged 31 to 35 which give the same division that are 2 male and two female.
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Results from the questionnaire:
1. Who most often commit domestic violence?
Sex of respondents Answers Father Mother Wife Husband
Female 3 (15%) 1 (5%) 1 (5%) 5 (25%)
Male 4 (20%) 2 (10%) 2 (10%) 2 (10%)
Total 7 (35%) 3 (15%) 3 (15%) 7 (35%)
Table 4: Results of the question 1 Among all of the respondents, 7 of them agree that father is most often commits domestic violence. They are 3 female and 4 male. The same sum of the respondents that are 5 female and 2 male also agree that husband is most often doing this. One of the female and 2 of the male agree that mother often commits this violence. The total of them come out to be 3. The total of the respondents who answered wife as the person who often commits domestic violence are 3 which come from 1 female and 2 male.
2. There are studies showing woman are actually more involved in physical abuse of children. Is this true?
Sex of respondents Answers Yes No
Female 4 (20%) 6 (30%)
Male 5 (25%) 5 (25%)
Total 9 (45%) 11 (55%)
Table 5: Results of the respondents 45% of the respondents say that woman involved in physical abuse of children. 20% of the respondents are female and the rest percentages are male. In term of numbering, there are 4 female and 5 male agree of this. While 55% of the respondents do not agree that woman are more involved in physical abuse of children. They are respectively 6 female and 5 male which gives the percentages of 30% and 25%.
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3. Are you involved in domestic violence?
Sex of respondents Answers Yes No
Female 3 (15%) 7 (35%)
Male 2 (10%) 8 (40%)
Total 5 (25%) 15 (75%)
Table 6: Results of the respondents 25% of the respondents admitted that they are involved in domestic violence. 15% of this percentage are female and 10% of it are male which are 3 and 2 of female and male respectively. While the rest of the respondents do not involved in this violence. They are 75% of them all which 35% of it are female and the rest 40% are male.
4. Is domestic violence really a major problem in our society?
Sex of respondents Answers Yes No
Female 2 (10%) 8 (40%)
Male 0 10 (50%)
Total 2 (10%) 18 (90%)
Table 7: Results of the respondents Majority of the respondents do not agree that domestic violence is a major problem in our society. They are of 90% which is 18 of them. This sum comes out from all male and 8 female. While the rest 10%, whose agree that domestic violence is a major problem in our society are all female. 5. Haven‟t men always hit women?
Sex of respondents Answers Yes No
Female 3 (15%) 7 (35%)
Male 1 (5%) 9 (45%)
Total 4 (20%) 16 (80%)
Table 8: Results of the respondents
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Most of the respondents who are male and female disagree that men always hit women. The numbers of them are 7 female and 9 male. From that, we can conclude that 80% of the respondents disagree with the question. However 20% of them who is 3 female and 1 male agree with it.
6. Is battering or domestic violence only gives physical effect?
Sex of respondents Answers Yes No
Female 3 (15%) 7 (35%)
Male 3 (15%) 7 (35%)
Total 6 (30%) 14 (70%)
Table 9: Results of the respondents 3 male and 3 female which is 30% of the respondents say „Yes‟ for battering or domestic violence only gives physical effect. While the rest 70%, give the opposite answer. Both female and male cumulate 35% each of saying „No‟.
7. What is the main factor to domestic violence?
Sex of respondents Answers Stress Family problem Economic problem Force marriage Step children
Female 2 (10%) 3 (15%) 1 (5%) 2 (10%) 2 (10%)
Male 3 (15%) 1 (5%) 2 (10%) 1 (5%) 3 (15%)
Total 5 (25%) 4 (20%) 3 (15%) 3 (15%) 5 (25%)
Table 10: Result of the questionnaire We have listed five factors of domestic violence. 25% of the respondents answer „stresses‟ for the main factor of this violence. 10% of it are female, while 15% more are male. There are 20% of the respondents which 15% of it are female and 5% else are male, who agreed that family problem is the main cause of domestic violence. Economic problem and force marriage respectively cumulate 15% of the respondents. While the rest, 25% more goes to step children. 10% of it are female and 15% are male ticked this answer as their choice.
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8. What is the major effect of domestic violence?
Sex of respondents Answers Mental illness Divorce Traumatic
Female 4 (20%) 3 (15%) 3 (15%)
Male 3 (15%) 2 (10%) 5 (25%)
Total 7 (35%) 5 (25%) 8 (40%)
Table 11: Results of respondents There are 35% of the respondents said that mental illness would be the major effect of the domestic violence. This percentage can be divided to be 20% female and 15% male. While, 25% of the respondent choose divorce as the major effect. 15% of them are female and the rest are male. 40% respondents agree that traumatic is the major effect of domestic violence. 25% from it are male, while the rest are female.
9. What is the best solution to solve domestic violence?
Sex of respondents Answers Police report Heavier penalty
Female 3 (15%) 7 (35%)
Male 4 (20%) 6 (30%)
Total 7 (35%) 13 (65%)
Table 12: Results of the respondents Compare to doing police report, most of the respondents prefer to choose heavier penalty as the solution to domestic violence. 65% of the respondents agreed to this which 35% of the percentages are female and the left 30% are male. While 35% of the respondents choose police report as the solution.
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6.0
Conclusion
In conclusion, by the analysis the result among all of the respondents about who must often commit the domestic violence. The respondents believe that the most often commits domestic violence is father or husband. For this result, we know the people who often commit domestic violence by men. Moreover, the majority of the respondents do not agree that domestic violence is a major problem in our society. In this case, the respondents know that the major problem in our society is not domestic violence but social problem.
In other side, we have listed five factors of domestic violence. The factors of domestic violence are stress, family problem, economic problem, force marriage and step children. The result what we get is stress and step children have a main factors of domestic violence. We know that when we stress, we can not handle our mental in right way. That why, stress can make or main factors domestic violence. Furthermore, the respondents know the major effect of domestic violence is that traumatic. The traumatic have connected in our mental. Therefore, we should take care or manage our mental in other that; we cannot involve in domestic violence.
As we know, domestic violence affects the family of husband, wife, mother, father, and children themselves. Therefore, this situation do not have to occur in families because it gives a lot of negative effects on the family itself. Among the measures to solve this problem is we should teach and educate people about domestic violence. This can be most effective by educating young people to help them understand that violence is never an acceptable behavior. We believe the educating about seriousness of domestic violence can save many people out there. Secondly, we should promote domestic violence awareness. When people become aware of the statistics and effects domestic violence has on lives and communities, it keeps the issue alive and important. Thirdly, we always speak out against domestic violence. Talking about the seriousness of domestic violence amongst friends, family and other community members also helps to keep the importance out there.
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Finally, we should report suspicions of domestic violence to the proper authorities. Domestic violence is still a very secret crime, and it often sits silently within any given home in any given neighbor. Sometimes, it takes that one person to make that call and report the suspicion to help a person out of a situation they may not be able to get out of on their own. We as members of society should be concerned about the problems that happen around us. These social problems such as domestic violence within the family, baby dumping, free sex and other social issues will be reduced in the community. By the individual, parents, communities and governments must work together in addressing this problem.
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