Chapter 11 : Family Stress and Crisis – Violence Among Intimates Three-phase Cycle of Violence Tension resulting from some minor altercation builds over a period of time. Situation escalates, exploding into another violence episode. Violent person becomes contrite (apologetic), treating his/her spouse or partner lovingly. Why “abusers” do it Feelings of powerlessness Lack of resources Insecurity If they were abused Drugs/alcohol Mental illness Intergenerational transmission of violence: a cycle of violence that is passed down to dependents; suggests that we learn norms and behaviors, including violence, by observing others. Why “victims” put up with it Fear Cultural norms Love, economic dependence, and hopes of reform Gendered socialization Childhood experiences Low self-esteem Learned helplessness: the psychological condition of having low-self esteem, feeling helpless, and having to control that is caused by repeated abuse. Battered women’s syndrome: a recognized psychological condition, often a subcategory of post-traumatic stress syndrome, used to describe someone who has been the victim of consistent and/or severe domestic violence. Types of violence Intimate-partner violence: violence committed by spouse, ex-spouses, or current or former boyfriends/girlfriends, including same-sex partners. Violence between those who are physically and sexually intimate, such as spouses or partners. The violence can encompass physical, economic, sexual, or psychological abuse. Patriarchal terrorism: controlling the partner through fear and intimidation. Common couple violence: mutual violence with a specific argument. Violence Conflict tactics scale (CTS): a scale based on how people deal with disagreements in relationships. Femicide: the killing of women. Date rape drugs: drugs such as gamma hydroxybutyrate (GHB), rohypnol (popularly known as “roofies” or “roofenol”), or ketamine hydrochloride (Ketamine) that are used to immobilize a person to facilitate an assault. Childhood & violence Child abuse: an attack on a child that results in an injury and violates our social norms. Emotional Physical Sexual Child neglect Incest Sibling violence Trafficking: the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring, or receipt of persons, by means of threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud or deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability, or of the giving or receiving of payments to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Sex trafficking: an industry in which children are coerced, kidnapped, sold, or deceived into sexual encounters. 1-800-96-ABUSE (Florida abuse hotline) Elder abuse: abuse of an elderly person that can include physical abuse, sexual abuse, psychological abuse, financial or material exploitation, and neglect. The nature of stress and crisis Crisis: a critical change of events that disrupts the functioning of a person’s life Family stress: tensions that test a family’s emotional resources. Acute stress: short-term stress Chronic stress: long-term stress Response to stress General adaptation syndrome (GAS): the predictable pattern one’s body follows when coping with stress, which includes the alarm reaction, resistance, and exhausting. Social readjustment rating scale: a scale of major life events over the past year, each of which is assigned a point value. The higher the score, the greater the chance of having a serious medical event. ABC-X model: a model designed to help us understand the variation in the ways that families cope with stress and crisis. (p.306) Double ABC-X Model: a model designed to help us understand the effects of the accumulation of stresses and crises and how families adapt to them. (p.307) Domestic violence shelter: a temporary safe house for a woman (with or without children) who is escaping an abusive relationship.Chapter 12: The Process of Divorce Today’s high U.S. divorce rate On average, 40%-50% of marrieds can expect to have their marriages dissolve over the life course. The divorce rate is about 50% for first marriages. The divorce rate is about 65% for second marriages. How are divorce rates calculated? Number of divorces per year Ratio of current marriages to current divorces Lifetime records of marriage and divorce Crude divorce rate: the number of divorces per 1,000 people in the population. Refined divorce rate: a measure of divorce based on the number of divorces that occur out of every 1,000 married women. Why are couples divorcing? Various factors can bind marriages & families together, including: Economic interdependence Legal, social & moral constraints Spouse’s relationship The binding strength of some of these factors is lessened. Intergenerational transmission of divorce: a pattern noted by researchers that people whose parents divorced are also more likely to divorce. No-fault divorce: a type of divorce, now prevalent in all fifty states, in which a divorcing couple can go before a judge without one party having to blame the other. Economic consequences of divorce for men & women Women are the losers Men’s and women’s unequal wages “equitable” division of property in divorce …but so are men (who earn less than 80% of the family’s income) More women are working Child support Reasons for negative impact of divorce on children Life stress perspective Parental loss perspective: children most often live with just one parent….lose another parent. Parental adjustment perspective: both children and adults go through transitions after divorce. Economic hardship perspective: standard of living declines considerably. Interparental conflict perspective: parents involve children in their disputes. Why do people divorce? Factors: Income Degree of similarity between spouses The couple’s ages Age of marriage Nonmarital childbearing Sex of children Race & ethnicity Education Should divorce be more difficult to obtain? “Would I be happier?” Previously unhappy married couples who did not divorce & who turned their marriages around fell into three broad types:• The marital
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