Criminal Justice and Domestic Violence - Essay Example

Although spousal abuse takes place in a 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).
The social environment is one of the predictive factors. Bowen reports that findings published by the 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.

The 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 childbearing 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 receiving spousal abuse at a certain point.
The social status of a woman is also a good indicator of whether she has domestic abuse issues or not. Women holding influential positions in society do not receive spousal abuse as their counterparts with low societal profiles (Preidt, para3-4).

The Bristol studies, as Bowen reports, have also shown that domestic abuse affects women from poor family backgrounds more than ones from 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 their 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 in spousal abuse.

A history of depression in the partners can also indicate the possibility of abuse since it affects human capacity in many areas of life. If the woman or the man has a history of depression, he/she shall likely take it to their new home. Depression brings about an emotional imbalance that the other partner may not be comfortable with, which can result in violence and misunderstanding (Bowen, para3-4). Read More