Attitudes toward domestic violence in the Czech Republic and in the United States of America

violence in the Czech Republic and the United States of America. It surveys professional and public approaches to the domestic violence - the theoretic conceptions, reflection of this topic by the legal system, by nongovernmental organizations and by the public opinion. Consequently it brings the comparison of the perception of the domestic violence in the Czech Republic and the USA. Although domestic violence is not a new phenomenon at all, it was explicitly first labeled by the women's movement in the USA in 1960s or 1970s and later on in other Western countries. In the Czech Republic a discussion on this topic was initiated only in the 1990s. This diploma thesis shows first that for the researchers the domestic violence is not a simple problem to deal with. This can be ilustrated by different definitions, theories and approaches to this issue as well as by the specific difficulties accompanying empirical research. There is no clear conception of domestic violence in the legal systems of particular countries - more or less efficacious devices co-exist there, but it is possible to say that the best way of dealing with domestic violece is still to be found. In the mirror of public opinion we can see that some of the myths and stereotypical views still persist (especially in some countries). In spite of this..