{"id":2448,"date":"2019-03-11T08:00:40","date_gmt":"2019-03-11T13:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/?p=2448"},"modified":"2019-03-10T19:30:23","modified_gmt":"2019-03-11T00:30:23","slug":"the-pervasive-problem-of-intimate-partner-violence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/2019\/03\/11\/the-pervasive-problem-of-intimate-partner-violence\/","title":{"rendered":"The Pervasive Problem of Intimate Partner Violence"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Photo of marchers holding a sign that reads, “choose respect.” Photo by Office of Governor Sean Parnell, Flickr CC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Audiences are re-living one of America\u2019s most infamous cases of intimate partner violence (IPV) with Jordan Peele\u2019s recent documentary about <\/span>Lorena Bobbitt<\/span><\/a>, who retaliated against her husband John after years of alleged abuse. While the Bobbitt case is unique, the issue is common. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that<\/span> 1 in 4 women and 1 in 7 men<\/span><\/a> in the United States have experienced severe physical violence by an intimate partner. Tabloid expos\u00e9s of such cases highlight personal details of the individuals involved. By contrast, sociological perspectives on IPV uncover the structural conditions that make it such a pervasive problem.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sociologists began studying violence between spouses in the 1970s, particularly violence against women. Feminist scholars, drawing from interviews with victims in women\u2019s shelters, focused on women\u2019s experiences as targets or victims. They believed that IPV\u2019s root causes were the patriarchal norms and laws that defined wives as their husbands\u2019 property. Other survey researchers found that men were also likely to be targets of IPV — sometimes at rates as high as those for women. \u00a0They considered IPV a special case of violence in the home, but similar to child or elder abuse in its determinants: stress, social isolation, and intergenerational histories of family violence. Although the question of gender differences in IPV remains controversial, contemporary research does not necessarily see these perspectives as competing, but rather as describing two or more different types of IPV, such as \u201cpatriarchal terrorism\u201d versus \u201ccommon couple violence.\u201d<\/h5>\n