History and Theories of Spousal Abuse

Throughout written history women have occupied a subordinate position to men. The ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia, Greece, Egypt, and Rome all considered women the property of the men in their families. The advent of Judaism and, later, Christianity seem to have done little to improve women's status. Indeed, it has been suggested that the Western religions have only served to reinforce women's roles of obedience and submission. Further, some experts contend that these values have been perpetuated by the continuing patriarchal system which is characterized by male domination in the family and inheritance through the male line - customs which leaves women socially and economically weakened (Dobash & Dobash, 1979).

One theory of spousal abuse which takes its historical aspects into account is the social-learning approach. This

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illed by their wives, but over 60 percent of these men initiated the violence which led to their deaths (Dobash & Dobash, 1977-78). Legislation prohibiting wife-beating began to appear in the U.S. in 1883, and by 1910 35 of the 46 states in existence at that time had passed some kind of reform laws making battering an assault. An assault is legally defined as any use of force with the intent to do harm, regardless of the marital status of the parties involved. Unfortunately, even though laws against spousal abuse have been on the books for almost a century now, they have been systematically underenforced in all but the most extreme cases (Sigler, 1989). 75 percent of the assaults involving unrelated persons resulted in arrests, but only 16 percent of those cases of assault involving family members resulted in arrests. There has been a well-documented tendency for police and prosecutors to encourage the wife to withdraw her complaint and, if she refuses, to attempt to dispose of the case informally through unofficial hearings, threatened arrests, or even mock divorce proceedings. In the event that the case actually gets as far as the courtroom, the penalties have generally been fines, suspended sentences, and probation (Dobas
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Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)

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