Domestic Violence and Altruism in Society - Essay Example

? Persuasive Elements Introduction Presently, domestic violence is one the leading causes of bodily harm in America among both men and women. The statistics related to this societal problem is high while a great number of cases involved in this form of violence go unreported every year. However, the society may never realize that behind every statistic reported, there is a face and a human being whose desire would be to experience liberation and safety for their children. On the contrary, studies have shown that in every six hours in America, a woman dies in the hands of a batterer making the female gender the most targeted by this form of violence. Briefly, domestic violence is a term that defines abusive behavior used by a person within a relationship to increase control or power over another party in the relationship. Despite the health risks involved, the women living domestically violent spouses tend to have all manner of excuses to justify why they cannot leave their risky relationships. However, some of the aspects of domestic violence may include physical, psychological threats, emotional, economic, and sexual. Therefore, this essay will delve into two elements of persuasion that may apply through altruistic behavior within the social exchange theory as justification. History of Domestic Violence Altruistic behavior is the selfless act of showing mutual concern for others and serves as a virtue across diverse cultures. It consists of sacrifice for people other than oneself without expecting any form of appreciation and recognition at the end of the sacrifice. The fight against domestic violence gained momentum in the 1970s at the time when women’s movement was transforming the shape of history. Presently, domestic violence serves as the most witnessed crime in America while being the least reported form of crime. However, domestic violence has shifted from the traditional setting of existing within the confines of a home to work places and in the normal activities of life. On the contrary, persuasion refers to the awareness creation aspect in terms of the threats involved in the action that should the violence. In essence, domestic violence has an impact on society as it may occur within a social economic group, hence making its effects visible. Domestic violence witnessed within a family setup may influence children to be violent against others, hence making prevention and intervention as vital components of minimizing this form of violence. One of the probable reasons as to why domestic violence started was from the fact that women had become equal to men as they no longer had the limitation to being domestic caregivers. They rose to ranks perceived as dominated by men, hence influencing men to regain power and control through domestic violence. In essence, domestic violence does not only involve physical harm to an individual but also emotional pulling down where an individual asserts to another that their efforts are not worthwhile. Children may also be recipients of domestic violence as when born to abusive parents, they grow up in violent surroundings (Berns, 2012). On the contrary, the physical aspect of abuse may have a devastating end as one of the results of this form of violence may be death. This may be in the event that an abuser is intensely violent as they use a lot of force. The violence may also spill out to sexual matters that may be penetrative or through the shooting of compromising images of the perceived weaker individual. The other avenue of expressing domestic violence may be through using negative statements to express dissatisfaction on the tasks done by an individual. Elements of Persuasion i. Communication Ideally, communication to the public on matters related to domestic violence may be the most significant approach towards persuading those experiencing the vice to come out and report this crime. The combination of emotions and altruistic behavior is the most principal aspect of delivering a successful campaign against domestic violence. Communication of this sensitive matter may be through the delivery of messages through diverse ways depending on the audience. Fundamentally, visual commercials may serve as the most suitable and informative ways of conveying messages to those experiencing abuse. Ideally, this medium gets to a wider audience at a relatively cheaper cost, hence influencing the hope of those experiencing this form of abuse as the campaigns tend to give advice on how to report this crime (MacDuff, Netting, & O’Connor, 2009). Remarkably, minimal resources may apply in the execution of this campaign as many companies may approach media institutions to air these campaigns at subsidized rates, making it a rewarding situation for the two bodies. On the other hand, the best persuasion method through communication may be the use of fliers at every public place such as schools where the message embedded in these fliers is that the campaigners do care. By using these personalized campaign tools, an abused party would understand that those involved in the camping do not try to help because it is their job responsibility, but simply because they care for them. This would also help in the persuasion of the abused to take a stand on domestic violence, implying that the organization mounting the campaign on its walls does not support domestic violence. Essentially, it may be helpful at the workplace as it may influence women experiencing this form of abuse at the organization to speak out and defend their rights (Gibney et al., 2012). This will also change the view of the society on their perception of an organization, making them buy artifacts intended to support this course, which would aid the campaign in putting up fierce domestic battles. ii. Social Psychology In this aspect of persuasion, those involved in the campaigns against domestic violence may do so in two ways that are intervention and prevention. Within the intervention factor, the society supports the idea that any form of violence is unacceptable at all levels of existence (Gibney et al., 2012). However, this acceptance has not limited the number of domestic violence cases witnessed in many states that have led to various campaigns. The altruistic behavior here would be that a bystander should intervene whenever they witness an act of domestic violence. Further, this aspect of intervention ensures that the abused individual gets to report the vice to the relevant authorities from the lowest level of the society to a nationwide platform (Gibney et al., 2012). Therefore, the involvement of third parties in the campaigns against domestic violence would be essential in preventing future acts of violence as third party volunteers tend to report on aspects of violence more (MacDuff, Netting, & O’Connor, 2009). On the other hand, prevention may be the most suited form of persuasion campaign for those at risk of experiencing violence. In this respect, social learning may influence a child not to develop violent behavior because of their prior experiences with violence (Berns, 2012). There may be the rewarding of non-violent behavior and punishing children that may portray the same. With this attribute, it becomes effective to raise a new population that understands the effects of violence and the consequences of engaging in the same. Further, this would influence children to make report on matters pertaining to violent treatment as it makes them grow knowing that society does not permit this behavior. Therefore, the living as practical examples to the younger ones and communicating on the effects would help children grow up with them having a stand against domestic violence Conclusion In the modern society, there are intense traits of domestic violence in all corners of society that vary from homes to areas of work. Contrary to existing stereotype that domestic violence is a physical affair, this factor may have characteristics of emotional to sexual violence, creating very minimal awareness of how violence infringes on them. On the contrary, the achievement of successful campaigns may involve the abused parties and the campaigning organizations in order for them to report instances of abuse. Ideally, it is no one’s desire to experience domestic violence, as the occurrence of this vice has a detrimental effect on social health. Therefore, the use of communication and social psychology persuasion elements identified in the social exchange theory through altruistic behavior are the practical approaches to influence a decline in domestic violence. References Berns, R. (2012). Child, family, school, community: Socialization and support. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning. Gibney, R. et al. (2012). Union participation: A social exchange perspective. Journal of Management Policy and Practice, 13 (4), 35–49F. MacDuff, N., Netting, F. E, & O’Connor, M. K. (2009). Multiple ways of coordinating volunteers with differing styles of service. Journal of Community Practice, (17), 400–423. Read More