The Major Cause of Domestic Violence - Term Paper Example

A family can best be described as a social unit of individuals sharing kinship, or people descended from a common ancestor. The common is the basic social unit comprising of parents and children. A lot of transformations are currently facing this unit leading to events that previously were least or not observed emanating from this basic unit of the society. Among the problems facing the family today are pedophilia, domestic violence, sexual assault, divorce, and personal alienation. There has been a raging debate as to whether these current problems facing the family are a result of abandoning the traditional family norms or they are just products of modern life.

Proponents of the traditional family are blaming these ills on the abandonment of the traditional family values by modern families. On the other hand opponents of this traditional family, a theory is advancing another school of thought. To them, the current disorganization of the family is the product of a clash between changing socioeconomic environment versus unrealistic expectations of the composition and functioning of the family by society. This has therefore led to the emergence of new aspects and the transformation of the family life.

To them, there is no ideal family life. The changing socio-economic environment has seen the evolution of families from one that revolved on the parent-child axis to a 20th-century version that revolves around couple relationship. This modern version that expects the woman to have an intensely close relationship with her children at the same time maintaining youthful sexual excitement with her husband has really brought on board several stresses. This, in turn, has elicited the current events like divorce in marriages.

The changing role of women can never be ignored. Domestic violence and sexual assault currently evident in families is a result of maintaining old family values or traditions under new social conditions. The modern woman is currently in the corporate sector, employed and is stable financially against a man who is deteriorating economically but holds on the old values of subordination of women and home dominance (Allen et al, 278). This has led to a conflict of interest between couples whereby women are not submitting or if doing so partially.

This is what generates sexual assault in marriages because one party fails to submit to the other. This is the root of domestic violence especially in cases where children are also given complete freedom. In cases where the woman of the house is economically stable and the man is unstable, there have been cases where the women become dictators hence demanding sex from their spouses. When denied they resort to force and this is what has led to the increasing cases of men becoming victims of sexual assault.

Such like cases are the factors that breed pedophilia, which is being sexually attracted to children. This has seen the abuse of some children sexually due to lack of sexual satisfaction in marriages. Raising children has also presented another challenge to the women in the job market. They have less leisure time to spend and bring up their children. This has led to the emergence of new events like teen dating which result in dating abuses. Many teens with poor upbringing have had to contend with the consequences of teen dating and abuse.

Most of them lack parental advice hence found themselves indulging into dangerous sexual practices. In conclusion, old family values should not be applied or expected to be portrayed by modern families. Expectation or application of these values has been the cause of the current family problems being witnessed in society. Therefore it would be appropriate to exercise caution and acknowledge the changing socioeconomic environment when handling family issues.