IndexIntroductionHistory and CausesTypes of AbusePreventionIntroductionAlthough domestic violence includes sibling and elder abuse and child abuse, the focus of my essay is on spouse abuse spouse. Domestic violence goes by many names; family violence, beatings, wife beating and domestic abuse. All of these terms refer to the same thing, abuse by a marital partner, common law partner, or a partner in an intimate relationship. Domestic violence is not limited to physical beatings. It is any behavior intended to subjugate and control another human being through the use of humiliation, fear, and physical or verbal aggression. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get Original Essay Domestic violence is a very important issue in today's society because it has a profound negative effect on abused people, mentally and physically, and more needs to be done to help abused people and prevent this from happening further . Although domestic violence can be caused by both male and female, it is usually caused by the male due to their controlling nature and physical advantage. History and Causes Since the dawn of time, physical force has been used to keep subordinate groups in their place. dominant people in society. Men have always been physically larger than women, and since most societies are dominated by men, it is not surprising that the woman has almost always been the most common victim. In Roman times, a man could divorce, chastise, or even kill his wife for adultery, participation in public games, or public drunkenness. All of which the husband could freely participate in. During the Middle Ages it was a man's right to beat his wife or kill her for even glancing at her husband. The first recorded advocates against domestic violence were two authors by the name of Christian Pizan and Mary Wollstonecraft. Although the issue was publicized, no action was ever taken until the 1840s, when the American women's movement raised the issue while fighting for the right to vote. No state in the United States actually passed a law making wife beating illegal until 1883. Although laws were passed to make it illegal, none were strictly enforced. Even as late as the 1970s, wife beating was still quite acceptable. The police very often respond to domestic violence calls, but leave matters to be resolved by the family. This ease and lack of enforcement have allowed abuse to continue. The 1970s became a time of protest and change for the women's rights movement. In the 1980s, big changes began to occur. Police no longer ignored reports of domestic violence, and more and more people were convicted and punished for domestic violence crimes. The acceptance of domestic violence is still visible today. Its acceptance is reflected in popular culture through the expression "rule of thumb" which derives from an ancient English rule that a man could beat his wife with any reasonable instrument as long as it was no thicker than his thumb. Even in today's society, domestic violence is still very common and more needs to be done to stop it. Finding the reasons or causes of domestic violence is very difficult. There is never one reason for domestic violence, but it usually starts with a controlling nature and a need to control your spouse. It starts with verbal abuse and degradation, then over time escalates to violencephysics. The abuser has usually been involved in domestic violence cases before. More than likely in childhood. There are usually many different stressors and factors that cause these innate or learned abusers to initiate abuse; unemployment, drugs and alcohol, different religious backgrounds, low levels of income and education and simply different points of view. None of these factors are meant to be an excuse, they are simply factors that emerge in domestic situations. cases of violence over and over again. Types of Abuse When domestic violence occurs, several types of abuse occur. The first is physical violence. Physical violence includes slapping, kicking, burning, punching, choking, locking a person out of a home, restraint, and other acts intended to injure, endanger, or cause physical pain. The second type is emotional abuse which involves constantly doing or saying things that shame, insult, ridicule, embarrass, humiliate, belittle, or mentally harm another person. The third type is sexual abuse. Sexual abuse is when someone is forced to have sex when they don't want to. Forcing someone to perform sexual acts that they do not enjoy or that they find unpleasant, frightening, or violent. The fact that someone is married or has been seeing their partner for a long time does not require that they have sexual relations with them. No type of abuse is worse than another, and all have very damaging emotional effects. When it comes to domestic violence, the most disconcerting question is: why? Most people in today's society agree that domestic violence is wrong and think it needs to be stopped. We know that it is dangerous and emotionally destructive for children to grow up in an abusive home. We know that it is very emotionally destructive for those who have suffered abuse. Most societies have condemned it, we laud the efforts to help the abused and stop the violence, but we still wonder why it doesn't go away. The first reason is the cycle of violence that can be very difficult to break. The first tension increases due to stress. The aggressor becomes critical, nervous and irritable. The abuser gradually becomes more violent and more serious incidents of abuse begin to occur. Both parties can sense the loss of control which only fuels the tension. With the second phase of the cycle comes violent outbursts with acute beatings. The attacker will go on a rampage for no apparent reason and there will be a total loss of control. The third phase occurs after the violence has stopped. The attacker feels remorse and apologizes. They often ask for forgiveness and swear it will never happen again. They go out of their way to be kind and loving and swear they will change. This stage explains why the abused person returns and starts the cycle of abuse again. The abused wants to believe the abuser and wants to try to make things work. They are often reluctant to leave the abusive relationship due to feelings of dependency. The second reason why this problem does not disappear is the abused person's dependence on their partner and their "learned helplessness". Learned helplessness is a psychological term first identified by psychologist Martin Seligman. People who experience abuse tend to think there is no way out because they are so dependent on their partner. They continue to endure the abuse and learn how to cope with it. The third reason why this problem does not go away is the history of domestic violence. It's been in place for thousands of years, so there's still that acceptance and opinion that it's no big deal. So what makes an abuser? Abusers usually share common traits, underlying factors, and behavior patterns. It was completely.