Woman Battering as a Social Problem: The Denial of Injury

Abstract

Woman battering is conceptualised in various ways within the academic literature. Such theoretical accounts, often axiomatic rather than explicitly argued, have emerged co-extensively with the designation of woman battering as a contemporary social problem. There is, nevertheless, an ideological consistency between these theoretical accounts and the social responses to the 'problem'. This situation implies specific consequences for policy development and service delivery in the area of woman battering: the physical injury incurred by women within abusive relationships is often denied. Instead, the experience is often construed in terms of individual social welfare.

The Influence of Gender Role Stereotypes, the Woman's Race, and Level of Provocation and Resistance on Domestic Violence Culpability Attributions

“…It has also been found that higher blame and derogation are assigned to women who use verbal provocation prior to abuse (Kristiansen & Giulietti, 1990;Pierce & Harris, 1993). Women's provocation in domestic violence may lessen perceptions of the seriousness of women's injuries and hinder efforts to create effective public policy (Hatty, 1987). Regardless of participants' gender, victims who provoke domestic violence are thought to be more responsible and are liked less, whereas the batterer is thought to be less responsible in some circumstances (Harris & Cook, 1994).…”

The 'Last Violent Event': The Experiences of Greek Battered Women

“…It can involve attempted strangling, threats with a weapon or with death, resulting in internal injuries or handicaps and disabilities. Hatty (1987: 66 SOUTH EUROPEAN SOCIETY & POLITIC S 42) cites findings of research undertaken with battered women in Canberra, according to which physical abuse was often inflicted through punching, kicking or hitting (38 per cent), attempted strangulation or smothering (16 per cent), or use of a weapon (13 per cent). The victims in the same research indicated that the last reported violent episode was characterized by the following: 13 per cent of victims were sexually assaulted; 22 per cent sustained severe injuries such as broken bones, internal injuries, or loss of consciousness; and 66 per cent experienced severe bruising, lacerations or blood loss.…”

Mapping the Sociology of Health and Medicine

“…New issues emerged towards the end of the decade, with a small sprinkling of papers beginning to appear on AIDS (Ross 1988) and the new reproductive technologies (Albury 1989;Sullivan 1989). In general, few of the papers were fully theorised, but among the small group which were theoretically framed, functionalism had disappeared entirely while Marxism and Feminism continued to gain in strength (Rubenstein 1982;Baker 1983;Casswell and Smythe 1983;Hopkins 1984;Hatty 1987;James 1987;Alcorso 1989). Weberian, Durkheimian, interactionist and constructionist perspectives were still in evidence (Willis 1983(Willis , 1988George 1984;Hopkins 1989).…”