Domestic violence

• In stark contrast to the ideal family picture painted by Parsons, Dobash and Dobash (1980) focus on the dark side of the family and particularly on domestic violence.
• Nearly 1/3 of the women Dobash & Dobash interviewed thought that there were circumstances where it was acceptable for husbands to hit their wives; this was a deeply-ingrained aspect of the patriarchy that impacted the norms and values of women as well as men
• They found men hit women when they felt that woman were not properly performing their role (either in relation to domestic labour or sex)
• 80% of the abusing men acted as if nothing had happened after the incident: most blamed the victims and very few expressed any remorse.
• They also found that the police and authorities did not take the issue very seriously.