What is Domestic Violence?

Domestic violence can be defined as, “a pattern of abusive behavior in any

relationship that is used by one partner to gain or maintain power and control over
another intimate partner”

Emotional abuse is undermining an individual’s sense of self-worth and/or self-

esteem. This may include, but is not limited to constant criticism, diminishing one’s
abilities, name-calling, or damaging one’s relationship with his or her children. It may
also include humiliating the victim either privately or publically, controlling what the
victim can and cannot do, and deliberately doing something to make the victim feel
diminished or embarrassed.
Economic abuse is making or attempting to make an individual financially dependent
by maintaining total control over financial resources, withholding one’s access to
money, or forbidding one’s attendance at school or employment
Psychological abuse is causing fear by intimidation; threatening physical harm to
self, partner, children, or partner’s family or friends; destruction of pets and
property; and forcing isolation from family, friends, or school and/or work.
All forms of domestic violence have one common purpose: to gain and maintain
control over the victim.

 On average each year, women experienced 572,032 violent victimizations at

the hands of an intimate, compared to 48,983 incidents committed against men.
 Violence by an intimate partner accounts for about 21% of violent crime
experienced by women and about 2 % of the violence experienced by men.
 Women who leave their batterers are at 75% greater risk of severe injury or
death than those who stay.

Each agency and jurisdiction within the United States has its own standard operating
procedures in regards to responding and handling domestic violence calls.

 Battered Woman Syndrome (BWS) is “a pattern of signs and symptoms, such

as fear and a perceived inability to escape, appearing in women who are
 physically and mentally abused over an extended period by a husband or other
dominant individual.”
 Posttraumatic Stress Disorder can be defined as, “A condition of persistent
mental and emotional stress occurring as a result of injury or severe
psychological shock, typically involving disturbance of sleep and constant
vivid recall of the experience, with dulled responses to others and to the outside
world.

Domestic violence has been controversial because of the taboo nature of the
subject. Many people choose not to discuss domestic violence for a variety of
reasons. Some may feel uncomfortable discussing the topic, while others may not
even realize the severity of the occurrence of domestic violence.

Purpose of this study:

This study will be a significant endeavor for the enhancement of strategies of coping
and implementing resources to be available for domestic violence victims. This study
will enable us to determine exactly how society views domestic violence effects on
individuals, and if a person’s gender, race, age or socioeconomic class influences that
view, what society considers to be domestic violence, and if society agrees more
effort should be put forth in educating the general public about domestic violence
and how to help victims and prevent future incidences from occurring.
Primary research will be conducted using anonymous surveys to collect quantitative
data. There are several key assumption and limitations being considered. The validity
of the results will be taken into consideration. Considering the taboo nature of the
topic of domestic violence, the validity of the respondent’s answers will be
questioned.

Hypothesis to be Tested

 Americans view domestic violence negatively, regardless of gender, race, age,

or socioeconomic status.
Domestic violence can be defined as, “a pattern of abusive behavior in any
relationship that is used by one partner to gain or maintain power and control over
another intimate partner”

Domestic violence can happen to anyone regardless of race, age, sexual orientation,
religion, or gender. Domestic violence does not care about socioeconomic background
or education level. It can occur in both opposite-sex or same-sex relationships, and
can happen to intimate partners who are married, living together, or dating.

Physical abuse is hitting, slapping, shoving, grabbing, pinching, biting, hair-

pulling, etc.

Sexual abuse is coercing or attempting to coerce any sexual contact or behavior

without consent. Sexual abuse also includes, but is certainly not limited to marital
rape, attacks on sexual parts of the body, forcing sex after physical violence has
occurred, or treating one in a sexually demeaning manner.

Emotional abuse is undermining an individual’s sense of self-worth and/or self-

esteem. This may include, but is not limited to constant criticism, diminishing one’s
abilities, name-calling, or damaging one’s relationship with his or her children. It may
also include humiliating the victim either privately or publically, controlling what the
victim can and cannot do, and deliberately doing something to make the victim feel
diminished or embarrassed.

Economic abuse is making or attempting to make an individual financially dependent

by maintaining total control over financial resources, withholding one’s access to
money, or forbidding one’s attendance at school or employment.

Social control can be the main reason victims feel restricted from escaping the
relationship. They may be prevented from access to services meant to help them,
strained relationships with authority figures such as healthcare providers and
employers, and isolation from family, friends, and other supportive individuals.

Psychological abuse is causing fear by intimidation; threatening physical harm to self,

partner, children, or partner’s family or friends; destruction of pets and property; and
forcing isolation from family, friends, or school and/or work.
All forms of domestic violence have one common purpose: to gain and maintain
control over the victim.

 Every nine seconds in the US a woman is assaulted or beaten.

 Domestic violence is the leading cause of injury to women, more than car
accidents, muggings, and rapes combined.
 Every day in the US, more than three women are murdered by their husbands
or boyfriends.
 Nearly one in five teenage girls who have been in a relationship said a
boyfriend threatened violence or self-harm if presented with a breakup.

 On average each year, women experienced 572,032 violent victimizations at

the hands of an intimate, compared to 48,983 incidents committed against men.
 Violence by an intimate partner accounts for about 21% of violent crime
experienced by women and about 2 % of the violence experienced by men.
 Women who leave their batterers are at 75% greater risk of severe injury or
death than those who stay.

Each agency and jurisdiction within the United States has its own standard operating
procedures in regards to responding and handling domestic violence calls.

Some domestic violence victims experience resilience. Resilience can be defined as,
“an ability to recover from or easily adjust to a misfortune or change.”

 Battered Woman Syndrome (BWS) is “a pattern of signs and symptoms, such

as fear and a perceived inability to escape, appearing in women who are
physically and mentally abused over an extended period by a husband or other
dominant individual.”
 Posttraumatic Stress Disorder can be defined as, “A condition of persistent
mental and emotional stress occurring as a result of injury or severe
psychological shock, typically involving disturbance of sleep and constant
vivid recall of the experience, with dulled responses to others and to the outside
world.”

Domestic violence has been controversial because of the taboo nature of the subject.
Many people choose not to discuss domestic violence for a variety of reasons. Some
may feel uncomfortable discussing the topic, while others may not even realize the
severity of the occurrence of domestic violence.

The purpose of this study is to explore society’s views on domestic violence, and to
indentify if an individual’s gender, race, age, or socioeconomic status has any
influence over their view of domestic violence. Once we have a deeper understanding
of how society views domestic violence, we will be able to implement better
education of domestic violence to the general public, and create better resources for
victims of domestic violence.

This study will be a significant endeavor for the enhancement of strategies of coping
and implementing resources to be available for domestic violence victims. This study
will enable us to determine exactly how society views domestic violence effects on
individuals, and if a person’s gender, race, age or socioeconomic class influences that
view, what society considers to be domestic violence, and if society agrees more
effort should be put forth in educating the general public about domestic violence and
how to help victims and prevent future incidences from occurring.

Primary research will be conducted using anonymous surveys to collect quantitative

data. There are several key assumption and limitations being considered. The validity
of the results will be taken into consideration. Considering the taboo nature of the
topic of domestic violence, the validity of the respondent’s answers will be
questioned.

The capital city of each of the fifty states will be where the surveys are distributed.

Hypothesis to be Tested

 Americans view domestic violence negatively, regardless of gender, race, age,

or socioeconomic status.

 data matrix derived from descriptive statistics

 analysis of variance
 T-test
 multivariate analysis

Those analyses will ultimately enable extensive analyses to be performed and

interpreted, creating the best understanding of how society views domestic violence,
and if an individual’s demographics have any influence on that view. A deeper
understanding of these views will enable better implementation of domestic violence
education and better resources for the victims.

What is Domestic Violence?

How Does Society View It?

Domestic violence can be physical, sexual, emotional, economic, social control, or
psychological actions or threats of actions that influence another person

Proposed Title: Domestic Violence: A Study of differences in Irish and Nigerian Patterns

Background

It is a common observation that, in different countries, women is the main victim of domestic
violence and men, in general, are involved in abusing women in the society, both domestically and
outside the homes. In the scenario of domestic violence, there is a special argument related to
Ireland. Women in the country are allowed to hurt men according to the law; however, in practice
and according to various researches the case was entirely different. Same is the case with African
countries, that women are abused on a broader scale as compared to men; though the patterns of
abuses and domestic violence vary according to the country (Marcelino, 2009).

This paper aims to identify these differences. According to a research conducted by the Northern
Office Ireland in 2007, 13 per cent of the victims were abused domestically, and out of these abused
people the percentage of females was relatively higher than males.

As reported by the research: “Female victims were more than three times as likely as male victims to
classify their worst incident as a crime, 54% and 17% respectively” (Northern Ireland Office, 2007).
Apart from this, ratio of domestic violence in African countries is much higher than the percentages
of all regions of Ireland combined. In Zambia, 33% of women in the age group of 20-24 years are 35
percent, in Kenya this percentage is 43 percent, and, in Ethiopia, this percentage reaches 59 percent
(Population Council, 2008). According to a report of Amnesty international, approximately one third,
in exceptional cases, two third of women face some form of psychological, sexual or physical
violence from their intimate partners, and in cases where girls are forced for early marriages, fathers
are the ones who carryout acts of violence (Amnesty UNICEF, 2005).

Purpose Statement

The objective of this study is to identify the differences among the patterns of domestic violence
based on gender in Ireland and Nigeria. This study will be beneficial for governmental agencies and
policy makers in order to modify the existing policies and systems related to domestic violence.

General Research Question

The general research questions for this study include:

What are the major differences in the patterns of domestic violence done in Nigeria and Ireland?

What kind of behavioural consequences occur in people who face domestic violence?
Research Approach