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Criminal justice

Introduction Domestic violence or spousal abuse refers to a behavior of one person in a relationship dominating over the other. They may be married or not married, living together; separated or dating. Some examples of domestic violence are name-calling or putdowns, withholding money, keeping a partner from contacting their family or friends, stopping a partner from getting or keeping a job, actual or threatened physical harm, sexual assault, stalking and intimidation.
Sometimes, violence can amount to crime (Preidt, para1).
Although spousal abuse takes place in secretive environment, it is possible to predict that a person is going to encounter domestic abuse when in a relationship. The following are some of the factors that predict spousal abuse (Bowen, para1-2).
Social environment is one of the predictive factors. Bowen reports that findings published by University of Bristol in 1999 indicated that women who live in the most societal adversity are up to 15 times more likely to be victims of domestic violence when their child is three years. Women living in slums and rural areas are highly vulnerable to spousal abuse.
Age of the woman is another predictor of domestic violence. The number of young women who go through abuse is more than that of old women. Research has shown that women at their prime child bearing age are at more risk that the older ones. Preidt notes that according to the U. S. health department, more than 30% of women screened at the antenatal clinics have confirmed to receive a spousal abuse at a certain point.
Social status of a woman is also a good indicator of whether she has domestic abuse issues or not. Women holding influential positions in the society do not receive spousal abuse as their counterparts with low societal profile (Preidt, para3-4).
The Bristol studies, as Bowen reports, have also shown that domestic abuse affect women from poor family background more than the ones from the affluent families.
In addition, the level of education of the partners affects the relationship. Poorly educated women experience family-based violence. This is worst if there is a gap in education between her and the husband.
Another factor is family size and composition. Some men get married with some expectations from their wives. When these expectations fail to come, they develop a negative image of their wives and start mistreating them. For example, a husband may go into marriage expecting the wife to bear a son. After some years, the wife only gives him daughters. This culminates into spousal abuse.
History of depression on the partners can also indicate possibility of abuse since it affects human capacity in many areas of life. If the woman or the man has a history of depression, it is likely that he/she shall take it to their new home. Depression brings about emotional imbalance that the other partner may not be comfortable with, which can result to violence and misunderstanding (Bowen, para3-4).
The history of criminality of any of the partners is another factor that can help to predict whether there will be a spousal abuse. Research has indicated that people behave in their home more likely in the same way as they behave outside. It is not easy to live a double standard life. If one of the partners is a criminal when outside, he/she shall be the same when inside.
Another predictive measure is alcoholism on the part of one partner. If one of the partners in a marriage is alcoholic, he/she is mostly likely to cause harm either physical or emotional to the other partner. Research has shown that high level of divorce cases are due to irresponsibility of the husbands due to alcoholism (Preidt, para5-6).
Drug abuse affects mental capacity of the user and one can cause injury to the other. When one of the partners is abusing drugs, he is likely to abuse his/her spouse, which can affect the family.
Preidt asserts that scoring developed by medical researchers in the U. S. indicates that the medical history of a woman can help predict future abuse. This system showed that the risk was high among those treated for poisoning, injuries and alcoholism. In the case of men, the risk was highest to those treated for mental health conditions such as psychosis and depression.
Difference in religious and congregational beliefs can also help to predict spousal abuse. Studies have shown that many couples who differ in their beliefs have domestic problems. Religious beliefs and values guide people in their conduct. If the partners share varied values, there is a possibility of conflict between them. This may result in physical and emotional problems (Preidt, para7).
In some traditional beliefs, men are the ‘ kings of their homes’. This tradition allows men to beat up their wives as a way of disciplining them. Men who come from such background are likely to abuse their spouses. The society does not punish them and therefore, they carry on with this behavior.
Conclusion
Today there are so more cases of divorce reported all over the world than any other time in history. Domestic violence leads to divorce. Therefore, it is important to do everything possible to reduce the cases of domestic violence so that we can save marriages and families from collapsing (Bowen, para6).
Works Cited
Bowen, E. (2005): Domestic violence risk during and after pregnancy. Retrieved 30th April, 2009 from: http://www. bristol. ac. uk/alspac/documents/domesticviolence. pdf
Preidt, R., et el. (2009): Doctors May Be Able to Predict Domestic Abuse. Retrieved 30th April, 2009 from: http://www. mentalhelp. net/poc/view_doc. php? type= news&id= 122484&cn= 43

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