The problem of domestic violence. Private violence and Public Policy

Introduction. The domestic life of domestic tyrants is one of the things which it is the most imperative on the law to interfere with. John Stuart Mill, Principles of Political Economy. The violence which husbands inflict on their wives is different from other sorts of violence in that it normally takes place in a particular location and within a particular set of social relations. It takes place in a setting which we perceive as a safe haven in a heartless world, and within a relationship which for many people is a source of happiness and security. The discrepancy between the violence and the setting within which it takes place both makes it harder to harder to understand the problem and makes it harder to help those who are the victims. Who are the victims of domestic violence? They are most often women: wives, cohabitees, girlfriends, daughters and mothers. The aggressors are most often men: husbands, boyfriends, fathers and sons. The rarity of battered men is hardly surprising given the history of heterosexual relationships, the power disparity which has existed between men and women, the socialisation of the sexes and the physical disadvantages of women. In this thesis, I shall try to present an objective, comprehensive theoretical overview of the problem of domestic violence. In Chapter Two, “Conceptualising family violence”, I shall try and demonstrate this. In defining the types of problems we face, theoretical frameworks define where we should look if we want to make sense of violence, and hence where we should intervene if we want to stop it