Victims of Violence - Term Paper Example

? Victims of violence Victims of violence Introduction A victim is anyone who suffers any kind of harm. Any type of victim normally experiences pain due to the harm that is inflicted by the offender. The paper will identify to two types of victims that is the domestic violence victims and property crime victims. Domestic violence is defined in relation to relationships (Harvey, 2010). It is considered a behavior that is abusive in any given relationship. It normally occurs when one partner in a relationship tries to take control over the other partner. Domestic violence can happen to any one regardless of employment, education, culture, religion, sex, age, or even the marital status. This implies that no one is immune to domestic violence and therefore everybody is vulnerable. Victims of domestic violence can therefore be spouses, dating partners, family members and children (Harvey, 2010). Property crime involves taking property that does not belong to you and possessing it illegally. Property crime may not necessarily involve violence. People involved in property crime may just want to own and possess what they can possibly not afford to acquire and therefore get it from other people without the consent of the owners (Harvey, 2010). Domestic crime victims Domestic violence takes various forms. In the article “what is domestic violence?” Some of the domestic violence offences includes and not limited to the following: physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, and economic (Harvey, 2010). Physical abuse Physical abuse involves inflicting pain on the victim. The offender acts in a manner that will cause physical harm to the victim. Physical abuse include and not limited to the following: Striking, punching, slapping, kicking, strangling, sleep, deprivation, pushing and pulling etc. offenders are involved in physical abuse for various reasons (Ireland, 2010). Parents may abuse their children physically as they try to instill discipline in their children. Others use physical abuse to persuade their children to perform academically if they are not performing in school (the causes of physical child abuse). Such parents are normally harsh to their children and tend to think that they can reinforce the discipline of their children by inflicting physical pain. Hence some parents use the physical abuse as a corrective measure. According to the article “the causes of child abuse” harsh physical discipline can cause injuries or death (Ireland, 2010). Spousal abuse is a result of various things such as environment and upbringing, low self-esteem, economic status and religion (Ireland, 2010). (i) Environment and upbringing The environment in which the spouses were brought up may contribute to spousal physical abuse. Spouses who were brought up in an abusive environment where by their parents kept on fighting and calling each others name, may see it as normal to fight and quarrel. A man who was brought up in an environment where the father used to batter the mother may not find it strange to batter the wife. Likewise, women who were brought up in an environment where their mothers used to receive beatings from their fathers as a form of discipline may take physical abuse as normal. ii) Low self esteem Self – esteem is the overall evaluation of how people look at themselves in terms of worthiness. It may be termed as how we think about ourselves. Someone with low self esteem think of themselves as not being worthy. In a relationship, when one partner feels unworthy, there arises an element of insecurity. The partner that feels insecure may also feel powerless and become jealous about the partner. In order to feel powerful, the partner with low self esteem may resolve to physical abuse so as to show the partner that they are powerful. As a result, this ends up as spousal abuse (Hamel & Tonia, 2007). iii) Economic status The economic status is the status in which one is in terms of wealth or poverty. The economic status can be a source of spousal abuse when one of the spouses feel that they have a low economic status. House wives who have source of income and depend entirely on their husbands. For them they cannot survive without their spouses and therefore they are ready to persevere under all circumstances. Such women bend low to their spouses who may mistreat them as they wish since they know that they are the sole breadwinner (Hamel & Tonia, 2007). iv) Religion Religion is another cause of spousal abuse especially for women. Some people use religion as a cover to oppress the women and therefore hide their abusive acts in religion. For them the religion gives them power to treat a woman as an inferior human being to an extent that even women themselves find it okay and may not take any action when they are abused (Hamel & Tonia, 2007). Property crime victims Property crime may be committed through theft of personal property such as wallets, credit cards or cash. It also involves burglary, vandalism, theft of cars and car parts and household property. Anybody who owns property can be a property crime victim (Hamel & Tonia, 2007). Property crime usually may take place under various circumstances. For instance, stealing of wallets may take place where people are crowded and the offender picks the wallet from the victim’s pocket without the knowledge of the victim. The victims come to discover later that their wallets are missing. More often than not, the victims may feel the wallets being picked from their pockets but may not be resist as the offender may be very swift. People who normally pick wallets from the victims pocket do not use a lot of force since a wallet is a small thing that can be taken and one is not noticed. Theft of cash can also take place the same way wallet theft occurs (Hamel & Tonia, 2007). Such an entry is usually by force and may involve breaking of either a door or a window. Such robbery may be committed when it is totally dark or partially dark. The reason behind acting in darkness is to hide their identity since it may be difficult to identify one in darkness. Similarities between domestic violence victims and property crime victim Looking at both the domestic violence victims and property crime victims, there are various similarities. In both cases, anybody can be a victim of domestic violence and property crime. Hence, it does not employment, education, culture, religion, sex, age, or even the marital status (Hamel & Tonia, 2007). Employment Anybody can be a victim of both domestic violence victim and property crime victim regardless of the type of employment one has. An offender who intends to inflict pain on a victim may be someone who is suffering from low self-esteem because one feels unworthy as they have no employment. In order to feel powerful, the offender may think of harming the victim. Likewise a thief may steal from anybody regardless of the type of the employment that one is in. such offenders may take advantage of taking property from their victims because they may imagine that the victims have more than them (Donald, 2006). Education It may be immaterial as to what level of education one has in regard to both domestic violence victim and property crime victim. Literate people can be victims of domestic violence if the offenders choose to inflict physical pain. For instance, a spouse as a discipline measure due to a misunderstanding may beat an educated woman. Likewise, an educated person can be a victim of property if a decides to steal from an educated person who is rich and the offender wants to make himself rich by taking some of this property by force (Donald, 2006). Culture Culture does not inhibit one from being a victim of either domestic violence or property crime victim. Any person from any culture can suffer domestic violence as long as the offender chooses to act in a manner that they intend to inflict pain on the victim. In the same way a thief may not mind the culture that one belongs to when they want to steal from the victim. Since their intention is to steal and enrich themselves with stolen property, the culture becomes immaterial for them. Theirs is to fulfill and accomplish their mission (Donald, 2006). Religion Both Muslims and Christians can be victims of domestic violence and property crime. People from other religions may not be spared either. Offenders of domestic violence may take cover in religion, commit their crimes, and get away with it. Fanatics may use religion as scapegoats for their crime. For instance, Muslim may resolve to physical punishment such as cutting the arm of a thief as they belief that that is the best punishment for a thief. On the other hand, thieves steal from any person they deem has property that they want. There are few incidences where thieves even to break and enter places of worship. Hence, the religion does not become a barrier to the offenders (Donald, 2006). Gender Both the male and female can be victims of domestic violence and property crimes. Both male and female are capable of inflicting pain on one another for various reasons as much as these reasons may not justify the act. There is a tendency to think that women are the ones who suffer from domestic violence but there also men who suffer from the same. Both the male and the female can be victims of property crime as long as they own property. The offenders do not spare victims as long as they know what they want. Hence, no gender is spared from the two types of crimes (Donald, 2006). Age Age has been a hindrance from being a domestic violence victim or a property crime victim. When it comes to domestic violence, children suffer equally like adults. For instance, objects used by the adults if they are throwing objects at each other may hurt the children when spouses are engaged in a fight at home. Parents themselves at times inflict pain to their children directly when they beat or punch them as a punishment to correct their behavior. Therefore, in essence, age does not matter. In terms of property crime victim, one may not think of a child owning any property. If we think critically, children own items such as dolls and toys and even sweets. To them, the hold these things dear, just like an adult holds their cars dear. An attempt of taking away these items from them makes them victims of property crimes just as a thief makes an adult a victim of property crime when they steal a car from them(Donald, 2006). Marital status Both the married and unmarried people can be victims of domestic violence and property crime violence. As noted earlier, there exists spousal abuse, which is mostly physical abuse. At times one spouse tends to inflict pain on the partner for reasons best known and justified by them. People who are not married and may be in an intimate relationship can be victims of domestic violence (Lynn, 2004). Looking at the degree of shared responsibility, victims to some extend are responsible to what happens to them. For instance, in the case where women are beaten most of the time by their spouses, yet they take no action. Such incidents encourage men to repeat the action because they know that their wives will not take any legal action. In the case of property crime victim, exposing things like wallet and money may be tempting to thieves. Once the offenders see these things and they are sure that they can easily pick the items and get away with them, they will exactly do that. Many are the times they pick these things and get away scot-free (Lynn, 2004). Support and service offered to domestic violence victims and property crime victims. In the article “domestic violence” services that are given to domestic violence victims services includes resettlement services, survivors group support, counseling services and telephone help lines (Ireland, 2010). According to the article, “Police crime prevention” there are various services that are offered to property crime victims. The victims are given emotional support given that they suffer emotionally. There is also the service of Police call outs for crimes such as break and enter and robbery. Conclusion Domestic violence victims and property crime victims are similar in that anybody can be a victim. The two types of victims have boundaries in that one can say that one category of people are likely to be victims of one type of crime and not the other. Therefore, everybody stands a risk of being a victim (Lynn, 2004). The main difference between the two crimes may be drawn from the offenders. In the domestic violence victims, the offenders are people mostly known to the victims and at times, they people who are closely related. An example is physical abuse of children by their parents and spousal abuse. On the other hand, offenders of property crime may be people who are not known to the victims. References Donald, D. G. (2006). Rethinking Domestic Violence. Vancouver, BC, Canada: UBC Press. Hamel, J. & Tonia N. L. (2007). Family Interventions in Domestic Violence: A Handbook of Gender-Inclusive Theory and Treatment. New York, NY: Springer Harvey, W. (2004). Family Violence: Legal, Medical, and Social Perspectives. Allyn & Bacon. Ireland, J. (2010). What Are the Causes of Spousal Abuse? Retrieved from http://www.livestrong.com/article/96728-causes-spousal-abuse/ Lynn, S. (2004). Domestic Violence: A Handbook for Health Professionals. New York: Routledge. Read More