ABSTRACT
Violence by men against members of their own family is one of the most common yet perplexing forms of criminal behavior. One interpretation is that intrafamily violence is instrumental behavior that is used by domineering men to control their partners and children…. There are 2.5 to 4.5 million physical assaults inflicted on adult women by their intimate partner per year.
About one-third of female homicide victims in the United States [are] killed by their husband or partner.
—DAVID CARD AND GEORGE B. DAHL, “Family Violence and Football: The Effect of Unexpected Emotional Cues on Violent Behavior”This is the first of two chapters that are devoted entirely to discussions of intimate partner violence (IPV) in heterosexual couples. In contrast to the discussions of child abuse and elder abuse, which were organized around the types of abuse experienced, these two chapters are organized around the two dominant structural forces that shape intimate partner violence: the economy and cultural norms. Because this is the first chapter devoted to examining intimate partner violence, we begin by providing an overview of IPV, the forms it takes, and its prevalence in the US population. We then move our discussion to the role that structures play in shaping IPV. Perhaps the most powerful structure shaping IPV is the economy, and of particular concern to researchers and service providers in the second decade of the twenty-first century is the way in which the Great Recession of 2007–2009 impacted IPV. We will also explore the role that an individual’s social class plays in shaping his or her experiences with IPV and how it impacts women’s responses to IPV when they find themselves victims of it. Last, we will provide some suggestions for ways in which transformations in the economy would lead to reductions in IPV. <target id="page_208" target-type="page">208</target>Objectives
To provide an overview of IPV and the forms it takes
To provide some basic statistics on IPV
To examine the predictors of IPV: individual factors, couple factors, and structural factors
To explore the ways in which the economy contributes to and shapes intimate partner violence
To identify the role that economic systems play in creating inequality and shaping gender relations
To examine the ways in which the economic system of a particular culture contributes (or not) to the rates of intimate partner violence
To explore differences in rates of intimate partner violence across class groups in the United States, and specifically the role that social class plays in shaping one’s risk for intimate partner violence
