Domestic violence : - Research Paper Example

? Domestic violence research paper: of s: Domestic violence can be termed as the hostility and viciousness that occurs within a family unit and relations, especially among people who are required to love, care and protect each other. In addition, these people have a social responsibility to provide and give guidance to each other. Domestic violence is a very dreadful immorality, for it blows apart lives and breaks up the family and community. As a result, there are groups that provide key domestic violence policies to eradicate this grievous evil. Some of these groups like FAMSA scrutinize the government acts, thus aiming at creating awareness and preventive programs for the adults, young people, parents and community at large, offering life skills and developmental programs which focus on communication, management of conflict, conflict resolution, intervention, and assertiveness among others (Nowrojee et al., 1995). They also assist by offering some courses on stress management and on how to deal with depression, cope with loss and aggression emotions such as anger and violent situations via forming some therapeutic groups, giving counseling, education and support for the executor of violence and offering trauma counseling for the persons and groups suffering from domestic violence. In addition, the social workers who mostly work with the victims of violence in Southern Africa mostly focus on women’s upliftment. They assist domestic violence victims by initiating income generating and job creation projects, especially for the poor and those without employment in the poor areas as well as non-resourceful localities, offering victims empowerment programs and giving self-esteem and self-assertiveness training. In addition, they also help in providing shelter for the battered and abused children and women and offer women and child abuse abolition projects and rape awareness as well as prevention projects. However, the big question is to what extent is the government trying to handle this domestic violence in South Africa (Nowrojee et al., 1995). Introduction: Domestic violence is a physical abuse or violence, which is mostly directed at someone’s spouse or associate. However, it is usually men who do domestic violence against women. Nevertheless, it is essential to note that any form of abuse, violence, coerciveness, forcefulness, or threat act or even words inflicted by one members of family on another person within the household can amount to domestic violence. From time immemorial, this violence has been and still is a cause of great concern, especially in Africa, where women are battered for no apparent reason. This abusive behavior in any relationship had been tolerable in Africa, and some organization such as Office on Violence against Women (OVW) and Family And Marriage Society of South Africa (FAMSA) have emerged to tackle this problem (Nowrojee et al., 1995). Additionally, social workers have been recently working tirelessly to help combat this animosity towards woman. In African context women are compared with the rocks in the family; this means that they are the main foundations. However, this does not necessarily mean that the slogan stating that a man is “the head” of the family and the woman is the “neck” ceases to exist. Consequently, men have completely misunderstood the meaning of being the head of the family, and therefore they continue to abuse women following their own agendas. Accordingly, it is important to focus on the domestic violence in the Southern African region. Facts about Southern Africa based on research: Black Southern African males are supposed to manifest their manliness at all times, for instance, to carry knives and to have numerous girlfriends. Similarly, the White Afrikaners prove their masculinity by their love for guns. Someone like Pistorius, a Southern African sporting hero, found himself in this divided society due to the macho culture where he grew up. This macho culture spans racial groups, thus providing a tangible explanation of the numerous cases of domestic violence. Therefore, it is perceptible that Pistorious’ love for guns and fast moving cars originates from his background in the South African macho culture. This is because the Afrikaner men are known to be very patriarchal; also, in the macho culture, the ownership of gun is an integral part of masculinity (Nowrojee et al., 1995). In addition, there is a massive problem which involves the South African men’s violence against women and against each other. For instance, in the year 2012, there were massive levels of violence in the South African homes whereby 15,609 people were murdered and 64,500 women raped. To be precise, according to the household survey conducted by MRC, 40 percent of men have hit their partners and one in four women have raped a woman. What shocks most is the fact that most of these men confess to raping as teenagers, and most women never report these horrible actions to the police. Nevertheless, what one needs to bear in mind is that the South African society features most of the known causes of rape and violence. These include a historical culture that states that might is always right, a wealthy gap which leaves men feeling weak, the impartial relationship between male and female, lack of sufficient child care resulting into the neglect of boys and the high rate of male unemployment. In addition, according to Jewkes (doctor and director of gender and health at MRC), it is very rare to have a father at home. Therefore, other people rather than their real parents raise the children in South Africa in most cases. The children struggle to imitate them as they yearn for a father figure in their life. This, in return, increases the chances of neglect, humiliation, and abuse, which develops into domestic violence. Additionally, there is a huge number of teenage pregnancies bringing out young mothers not matured enough to raise their children (Nowrojee et al., 1995). Men in South Africa think that women should be under their control. This propagates the ideology of violence being justifiable, which means that women should be abused to remain in their so-called places. For this reason, though the murder cases are decreasing, rape cases continues to rise. Moreover, in South Africa violence against women is a normalcy. This can be detectable with the leaders themselves such as the president (Zuma), who is a polygamist famous for his old school attitudes and chauvinist comments, thus enabling common people to get away with women violence. Additionally, some ministers like Tokyo Sexwale publicly fight divorce, which alludes to emotional, mental and even verbal abuse. This can be seen as acceptable, for despite their evil actions, their political career has never been affected. More so, gang rape cases aimed at women and female children is a daily occurrence in South Africa, and even The Black Friday Show initiated by the media to create awareness left these men unmoved. Therefore, though the government is able to fight other crimes, the rape cases and the domestic violence against women and children seem hard to combat (Nowrojee et al., 1995). South Africa has a Domestic Violence Act that presupposes the intervention of police if the woman is afraid of an attack, but this is very poorly implemented. One can only wonder if there is a problem in the training colleges of the police. This is because most of the abused women who contact the social workers report the remarks of the police as follows: this man seems to be fine for you, just try to sort out your issues. Or they are even told to go away without any help. Additionally, some cases of abused women are closed with an excuse of scarcity of magistrates. Surely, something is amiss in South Africa, for even though rape cases are increasing tremendously, rape crisis centers continue to close at an alarming rate (Nowrojee et al., 1995). Analysis and opinion of the domestic violence according to the South African context: According to the facts shown above, it is clear that these problems of domestic violence in Southern Africa can only be solved if the government agrees to cooperate with the social workers and the community development agencies. However, it is clear that there is an absolute power corruption due to the actions of the leaders who are supposed to be the key figures in the society, thus acting as role models, but instead disappoint the humanity by acting otherwise. This makes it difficult for the social workers to implement change in homes and society, making it difficult to combat the domestic violence. Additionally, some cultures, like the macho culture, affirm men’s actions at home and in the communities, which makes men think that they are above women, and hence women should be submissive to them even during rape and abuse (Nowrojee et al., 1995). However, it is clear that the causes of rape and domestic violence are much defined in South Africa. Just to mention a few, broken up families and teenage pregnancies increase drastically, which shows that South Africans have accepted their predicaments and are ready to compromise. This can be clearly seen from the fact that even though men confess to have engaged in a rape case and other forms of abuse against women, the women never report them to the police. Then women may ask, what is the use of reporting if nothing is going to be done? Additionally, the fact that the rape crisis centers continue to close poses a very huge question and threat among women and children. These actions can only continue to create tension and desperation within the society and country at large. Such desperation continues to prove that might is right, hence creating a mindset which governs the actions of women at home and in the society. Inadequate childcare and lack of employment seem to be an excuse for the behaviors of men in the family. This creates the tendency of men becoming violent because women are not obedient or submissive to them because of the fact they are unable to provide their daily needs. When this mentality emerges, a man acts violently to force the woman in fulfilling the conjugal rights. Additionally, the psychological behavior of children seems to be so much distorted due to a lack of proper guidance at their tender age. This may create emotional disturbances resulting into violent actions, both at the youthful and adult stages. In my own opinion, environment is everything and heredity is nothing. This is because what is happening in South Africa and other African countries at large originates from the society and the background of individuals. When I was growing up, a slogan suggested the young learn from the old. However, in the South African context, elders seem to behave in a very wicked manner, and especially when becoming the perpetuators of domestic violence. When a child grows in this kind of environment provided it is his/her origins, chances of changing are very rare. Nevertheless, if someone who grew up in that background later finds a welcoming and different environment, there is a probability of changing to a better person. However, in the Southern African context environment and home background are more or less the same. Social work proposition Social workers have an obligation and a duty in South Africa to bring out positive societal changes. They can do this by joining different groups like FAMSA in assisting domestic violence victim by initiating income generating and job creation projects, especially for the poor and those without employment in the poor areas as well as non-resourceful localities, offering the victims empowerment programs, giving self-esteem and self-assertiveness training. In addition, they should also help in providing shelter for the battered and abused children and women and offer women and child abuse abolition projects and rape awareness as well as prevention projects. Most importantly, they need to work with government in defining rules and regulations that denounce domestic violence completely. Therefore, it is the social workers’ duty to ensure that she/he meets the needs of the people, especially the victims of domestic violence at the point of their needs. This means visiting families and offering talks to both parents and the extended family. They should also ensure that the perpetrator of the domestic violence faces their verdict and the victims are fairly served. However, the fact that the rape crisis centers continue to close down even with the existence of the social workers can only point to the fact that they are not aggressive enough, either, in their work to combat domestic violence. However, I have come to realize that though social workers might be so enthusiastic in changing the society, they might be incapacitated by their resources. Some of these social workers have theoretical knowledge but seem to do nothing in practice to implement change. Additionally, they might face so many challenges due to the mindset of the people and the governing leaders who seem to have also settled in the traditionalism and vulgar way of conversing. Despite all this, I have learnt that where there is a will, there is a way, for most of the social workers have been able to visit the villages and homes to converse with domestic violence victim. As a result, they are able to write some articles which continue to enlighten the Southern African citizens as well as the world at large. This effort has led to media reaction, though it has not yet yielded any fruit. Methodology: The main methods of collecting and gathering information was through reading domestic violence articles written by social workers and different members of famous groups like FAMSA. While perusing these articles, I was able to take notes and to highlight key facts about domestic violence in South Africa. After highlighting, I had to compile my final research under different topics as seen above. After compiling my research paper, I sent it to one of my friends in South Africa who read and confirmed that the findings were correct and from informed sources. After getting this positive answer, I was able to write my research paper carefully, for I found this topic to be very emotive, especially while referring to another country. Conclusion: In conclusion, domestic violence is a very diverse topic. This is because most people tend to think that domestic violence only refers to physical abuse between married men and women. However, domestic violence incorporates any people within a family and the community at large. Additionally, the research seems to suggest that the background and the environment which people are raised in play a very significant role in shaping the behavior of individuals. More so, the manner in which a person is raised defines the character of a person when he/she grows up. In addition, the actions of leaders are also vital, for they set the scene of how humanity should act and react regarding certain issues and predicaments which sitizens may encounter in life. Therefore, if a leader seems to behave in a questionable manner, it is more likely that his flock may follow suit. In my own opinion, it is very devastating to think of the situation in Southern Africa. The fact that women seem to have nowhere to run to or no one to turn to is unfathomably depressing. However, there is hope in the horizon as the social workers and the community development organizations and groups seem to venture into to the field of domestic violence. References: Nowrojee, B., Manby, B., Human Rights Watch/Africa., & Women's Rights Project (Human Rights Watch). (1995). Violence against women in South Africa: The state response to domestic violence and rape. New York: Human Rights Watch. Read More