The Impact of Family Environment-Related Factors on Violence Against Adults in the Family

Abstract

Much of the work on family violence, adult-onadult violence, relies heavily on the characteristics of potential victims and offenders to explain the causes of violence. Family environment-related factors which can be represented by family organization, resources and stability have received relatively little attention. Those who live in a small family (or alone) may have a lower level of interaction with family members and a much lower risk of physical abuse compared to those living in larger family units. Also, the social organization or functionality of a family, which can be assumed from its structure and the relationships among its members, is likely to be related to the onset of violence. For those living in stable and wealthy families, violence may occur less often as a result of a reduced chance of conflict or family struggle. Findings of the current study show that the family environment differentiates the chances of victimization by family members.The term 'family violence' is used to cover differing aspects as spouse violence, parental abuse and child abuse. There are also different conceptions of 'the family' and 'violence' and as a result, there is scholarly consensus that 'family violence' cannot be explained by a single factor (Despite agreement on the need for a multi-disciplinary explanation however, the literature, especially on family violence, adult-on-adult violence, does not incorporate a comprehensive range of potential risk factors. The impact of the sociodemographic features of potential offenders and victims has been widely discussed. However, the role of environmentrelated factors has not been considered in family violence studies except studies on child abuse and juvenile delinquency (Eriksen and

Family dynamics and young children’s sibling victimization.

“…Our findings with regard to parents’ marital status and education level indicating children whose parents were married or had greater educational attainment were more likely to experience sibling victimization could be viewed as counterintuitive because of the research on child abuse and family violence showing lower rates are linked to greater family stability and resources (Kang, 2012; Wulczyn, 2009). Sibling victimization, however, may have a unique relationship to marital status and parent education because of different norms regarding the definition and acceptability of sibling aggression (Caspi, 2012).…”

A cross‐sectional descriptive study of the family functioning, health and social support of hospital patients with family violence backgrounds

“…Previous studies have shown that the family structure, organisation, resources, stability and relationships between family members have a significant effect on family members’ levels of stress, their management of conflicts and the frequency of their violent interaction. Individuals with a lower household income, the unemployed and residents who have lived for a shorter time in the community are more likely to experience FV . Family functioning indicated by the stress of parenting was associated with higher levels of children's post‐traumatic stress symptoms .…”

Materialistic Desires or Childhood Adversities as Explanations for Girls’ Trading Sex for Benefits

“…The study further shows some connections of gender arrangements and culture to family and peer influences on prostitution, as well as girls’ materialistic desires. First, especially in lower-class families (Kang, 2012; K. I. Kim & Ko, 1990), Korea is characterized by a high incidence of husbands’ physical violence against wives and of physical punishment and verbal abuse against children (Emery, Kim, & Song, 2012; J.…”