The Causes of Wife Abuse - Sociological Explanations Of Abuse

Richard Gelles, the chair of Child Welfare and Family Violence and interim dean of the University of Pennsylvania School of Social Work, thinks it is risky to place too much emphasis on a psychological explanation of abuse. He contended that the picture of a mentally deranged, violent abuser focuses attention on only the most extreme cases of abuse, stereotyped as a psychotic offender and an innocent victim. According to Gelles, only about 10% of abusive incidents are caused by mental illness. The rest, he asserted, cannot be explained by a psychological model. Gelles said a more complete understanding of the causes of abuse may be gained from an examination of sociological models.

General Systems Theory

The general systems theory views violence as a system rather than as a result of individual mental disturbance. It describes a system of violence that operates at the individual level, the family level, and at a societal level.

Straus developed eight concepts to illustrate the general systems theory:

• Violence between family members has many causes and roots, and personality, stress, and conflicts are only some of the causes of domestic violence.
• More family violence occurs than is reported.
• Most family violence is either denied or ignored.
• Stereotyped family-violence imagery is learned in early childhood from other family members.
• The family-violence stereotypes are continually reaffirmed through ordinary social interactions and the mass media.
• Violent acts by violent persons may generate positive feedback; that is, these acts may produce desired results.
• Use of violence, when contrary to family norms, creates additional conflict.
• Persons who are labeled violent may be encouraged to play out a violent role, either to live up to the expectations of others or to fulfill their own self-concepts of being violent or dangerous.

The Resource Theory

The second theory in sociological models is known as the resource theory. According to this theory, the more resources—social, personal, and economic—a person can command, the more force he or she can potentially call on. The individual who is rich in terms of these resources has less need to use force in an open manner. In contrast, a person with little education, low job prestige and income, or poor interpersonal skills may use violence to compensate for a real or perceived lack of resources and to maintain dominance.

The Exchange/Social Control Theory

The exchange/social control theory argues that violence can be explained by the principle of costs and rewards. The private nature of the family, the reluctance of social institutions to intervene, and the low risk of other interventions reduce the risk of negative consequences from abuse. This theory maintains that cultural sanction and approval of violence increase the potential rewards for violence.

The Subculture of Violence Theory

The fourth theory posits that there is a subculture of violence in which some groups within society hold values that permit, and even encourage, the use of violence. This theory is offered as an explanation of why some segments of society and some cultures are more violent than others. This theory is perhaps the most widely accepted theory of violence.

Feminist Theory

Feminist theories of violence against women emphasize that societal patriarchal structures of gender-based inequalities of power are at the root of the problem. The violence, rather than being an individual psychological problem, is instead an expression of male domination of females. Violence against women, in the feminist view, includes a variety of "control tactics" meant to control women.

Structure of Interpersonal Relationships Theory

A more recent theory argued that several key structural features of relationships are conducive to domestic violence. It was presented by Donald Black in "Making Sociological Sense Out of Trends in Intimate Partner Violence" (Violence against Women, vol. 10, June 2004). Black, like Gelles, argued that many of the insights of other theories need to be integrated into a more comprehensive theory of the impact of the structure of relationships on domestic violence. He argued that key risk factors of domestic violence included 1) social isolation of the couple, 2) separate peer support networks, 3) inequality between partners, 4) lack of relational distance, or a high degree of intimacy within a couple, 5) the centralization of authority—in other words, patriarchal dominance within a family, and 6) exposure to violence and violent networks.