Analyzing a Major Issue - Assignment Example

Due to the expansive and otherwise broad definition that has been given, it is possible for the Whereas other forms of violence in society are oftentimes the work of an outside or otherwise unknown force, law enforcement began to notice the prevalence of this form of violence and denoted a specific label with regards to differentiating it from the various other sorts of crime that exist within the system. As a means of seeking to lower the incidence of such violence within society, there are a number of factors that can and should be employed from a perspective of social work (Gibbons, 2011).

The first of these is to increase awareness and perception of the issue. Only by increasing awareness and perception can it be hoped that a higher percentage of domestic violence cases are reported to proper law enforcement authorities to investigate and prosecute as they see fit. Major changes to the way the legal system came to engage with domestic violence came to be exhibited not long after the feminist movement began to gain traction in the late 1960s and 1970s. However, even as “domestic abuse” came to be categorized as a separate type of violence with stiffer penalties as compared to the analogous assault and battery charge, the history of the way in which domestic violence has been defined and understood dates back far longer than the recent past few decades.

As far back as 1641, individual municipalities throughout the colonies began to adopt statutes that forbade husbands from “striping” their wives. This served as the first example for the way in which early legislation was placed on the books and forbade the practice; at least in theory. Similarly, changes in the 1850s, at the state level of Tennessee, specifically forbade any physical violence directed at a spouse for any reason; something that was unique and groundbreaking at that time. By the