a lot of the readings i’ve been doing in my domestic violence class have been discussing the classification of abusers into those who committed wrongdoings because of individual or character flaws and those who did so out of a kind of socialization technique. many times the two are not taken into consideration as a unit.
most men who are domestic violence perpetrators abuse their spouses/girlfriends do so when they feel a loss of power; i.e. “she didn’t have my shirt ironed like i wanted so i had to make sure she knew what she did wrong”. the prospect of losing privilege is a large motivator to violence or negative responses for many affluent white men (oklahoma city bombing, columbine, claims that women who choose careers are destroying the sanctity of family). the rates of domestic violence has increased substantially in the united states since the recession has hit, even as there was a 15-year decline immediately beforehand. there needs to be more of a focus on violence as a function of power and a means to gain it back instead of just express it.
there have been considerations that the increase in domestic violence can at least in part be attributed to the social mobility of women and strides for equality made since the women’s movement; meaning, men are trying to keep women in what they see as their rightful place by using violent tactics to make up for the threat to their superiority.
