Minorities and Family Violence Since the time o

Since the time of the American Revolution, violence has been a part of the history and tradition of the United States (Asbury, 1987, p. 91). Currently, media and film portrayals of violence often glamorize violence as a legitimate means of accomplishing a goal. In addition, violence has been part of family relations throughout history. Traditionally, family violence has been encouraged by the belief outsiders should not intervene in family conflicts (Asbury, 1987, p. 92). Jo-Ellen Asbury argues this is a result of the general attitude that wives and children were a husband's property, (Asbury, 1987, p. 92), handed down by laws permitting the chastisement and physical punishment of women and children (Gelles & Straus, 1988, p. 104).

Sharon Herzberger notes that while courts in the United States during the nineteenth century might have punished serious cases of spouse abuse, state statutes banning abuse generally were not enacted until the late 1800s (1996, p. 24). Thus, due to the absence of good records and the secrecy about family matters throughout history, it is difficult to determine whether any particular form of violence is more pervasive now than before (Herzberger, 1996, p. 24). She maintains, however, as do Asbury and Gelles & Straus and almost every other commentator on the subject, there is "no doubt about the consistency of family violence throughout recorded history and its sanctioning by governmental and other authoritie

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popular movie Boyz N the Hood, most young men from the inner city commonly refer to women a "bitches" (1993, p. 38). Many rap songs glorify date rape and spousal battery and paint a picture of a world in which the only important aspects of life are the accumulation of money and the sexual subjugation of women (Sullivan, 1993, p. 39). She argues these young men are themselves likely to come from female-headed single-parent homes in communities that have devalued many of the institutions that sustained them in the past--schools, churches and families. Most important, everything they see in their communities--especially from the drug dealers and gang members who control the streets--point to violence as the most suitable recourse for solving their problems (Sullivan, 1993, p. 39). Battered women in other minority groups also face special problems (Berry, 1995, p. 54). Berry, in the Domestic Violence Sourcebook, argues research suggests women of color are less likely than white women to use shelters and similar services. They rely instead on family, friends, or the health care system because institutional racism, even in institutions designed to deal with domestic violence such as law enforcement, courts, and social service ag

Category: Psychology - M