Thoeness 9).
2. The most important recommendation for addressing the problem of the prevalence of domestic violence is to foster what Dr. Martin Luther King once called a "true revolution of values" (Lewis 354). That kind of revolution would stop glorifying patriarchal customs, beliefs, and practices and the subcultures of violence that are the norm in America. Only when the many cultural assumptions of male superiority are abandoned is it likely that women will escape domestic and intimate violence. McCaghy, et al., et al., explain that until recently in American history "legal reaction to wife-beating was weak" (McCaghy, et al. 203). However, it does not seem to have taken anybody very long to "discover" husband-beating so soon after wife-beating was "discovered." That would help explain why the woman who killed a longtime abusive husband was convicted of murder while a supposedly battered husband had all charges dropped (McCaghy, et al. 206-7).
Only when domestic violence--which originates mainly with men--is truly abandoned will it be possible for women who kill to be judged fairly by the system. And that will only end if the values are transformed. The list of sexist values explains a lot (McCaghy, et al. 208-9), especially the fact that women have internalized these values. That helps nobody, and so domestic violence continues.
3. Stress, especially in the lower classes, contribute to domestic violence because lower social classes do not have the resources to respond to bad surprises that strain finances--bad health, car problems, etc. (McCaghy, et al. 208). That encourages psychological stress that comes out in spouse abuse. Power has also historically been concentrated with husbands rather than wives. In part it is connected to the tradition of patriarchy and the family system that puts men at the top and women at the bottom in a marriage. Children, too, are without power compared to their parents, who have full authori...