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Culture of Violence

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“Culture Of Violence”
Artie Swift
Kaplan University
CJ333: Family and Domestic Violence
Unit 3 Essay
Professor Michael Pozesny
12/30/2013

There are several theories that can explain why domestic violence is committed. First you have to take a look into what domestic violence is and how the law relates to a theory to best describe why the domestic violence occurs and how violence or aggressive behavior is involved in the abuse of a spouse or partner. Many people that are the abusers might have a history of violence, they threaten people with violence, they might have abrupt mood changes with abuse to alcohol and drug abuse contributing to their anger. The best theory to help define domestic violence is “The Culture of Violence” playing a huge roll in shaping our youth train of thought to understand what is now acceptable in society. The culture of violence theory states that violence occurs at all levels of the social ladder and is looked at as means to straighten out a conflict. The subculture follows a set of "conduct norms", which are rules governing "the various ways in which a person might act under certain circumstances . . . the violation of which arouses a group reaction" (Wolfgang & Ferracuti, 1967: 101). The culture of violence theory considers violence and force to be used in a clash of differences between the aggressor and the potential victim. The theory believes that in order to stop an enraged male from beating on a woman on a continuous bases he must first find a way to change and find other ways to settle disputes with his spouse in a more ethical way than a vicious way to gain the upper hand against his spouse. To put this theory in to use I will use a simple case study of a soldier returning home from a tour of duty to a spouse he may have not seen for months even years due to his deployment. “Domestic violence can happen to anyone,

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