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Maria Estrada
J. Kelly
Eng 101
04/28/15
Causes of Domestic Violence
Domestic violence is a type of behavior that involves the act of aggressiveness between a
family member, a spouse/intimate partner, or someone living in the same home. It can be verbal,
physical, or sexual abuse. There have been several cases in the United States about domestic
violence. According to Maddy Roth, in an interview she had with a current singer, Jasmine
Villegas, suffered from domestic violence by her boyfriend. It took a long time for her to get
away from that abusive relationship, and while she was still getting abused, she didnt know the
causes of it, all she did was blame herself and made herself believe it was her fault (Roth). It is
important to know the causes of domestic violence so it can be prevented. The causes of
domestic violence have been researched and found through several studies by scientists. Three of
the many reasons why there is domestic violence are the lack of self-control, trying to gain
power, and violence being socially acceptable.
This phenomena exists because there are many women going through domestic violence,
more than men, but men also suffer domestic violence. According to Eli J. Finkel and Caitlin W.
Duffy, sociologist Michael P. Johnson, found in an article that contained many studies and data
that men are more willing to commit domestic violence than women, they want to establish more
power and control (Finkel and Duffy, par. 5). According to the National Crime Victimization
Survey, statistics showed that between 2003 and 2012, 15 percent of all of the violent crimes
were perpetrated by an intimate spouse or lover (Bressler, par. 5). There is a more serious and
higher rate for violence between intimate partners. A survey that was done by the U.S. Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention in 2010 found that one in four women have experienced
serious violence by an intimate partner and for men it is one in seven (Bressler, par. 5). Although

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rates of domestic violence have lowered, there are still several cases that show that this
phenomena is happening and people need to be aware of it and the several causes that come
along with it.
The most important cause of domestic violence is that individuals who lack self-control
are more likely to commit violent acts due to anger that is uncontrollable. It is very dangerous for
people to be unable to have control over their anger because no one can stop them from
committing such harmful acts. A study that was done at the University of North Carolina with
teenagers who were asked how many times they had hit another person or to what extent were
they aggressive with another individual such as their boyfriend/girlfriend showed that teenagers
who scored low in self-control commit 7.5 times as many violent acts with the person they are in
a relationship with than those who had a higher self-control (Finkel and Duffy, par. 11). There are
many people who are not able to control their anger. Sometimes, individuals who are not
disciplined may lack self-control and later in life become more violent. Domestic violence can be
caused by ones lack of self-control of ones anger.
Pursuing this further, another reason why people may commit domestic violent acts is
due to the fact that they want to gain power. There are many individuals who like to feel
powerful and therefore they want their spouse or intimate partner to know that they are the ones
who are in control. In the article Love and Death by Allison Bressler, there was a case where a
woman was in more danger when she tried to escape from her abusive husband because that
meant that the husbands control over her was lower. According to the WHO, a womans
chances of being murdered by her partner escalate significantly around the time she tries to
escape (Bressler, par. 38). Typically men like to feel more powerful than women and that is why
it leads to domestic violence because if a women doesnt listen to her husband or partner then he

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will abuse her since she is disobeying him. Individuals wanting to feel more powerful and
controlling over their partner often leads to domestic violence.
Finally, another cause for domestic violence is that couples will support violence in their
relationship because they believe through society that it is acceptable. There are many acts in
media that may give people the wrong idea into thinking that violence is appropriate. For
example, many young boys and girls play several violent video games. According to a study in
the article by Jack Hollingdale and Tobias Greitemeyer, shows that people who play violent
video games have higher aggressions than people who play non-violent video games
(Hollingdale and Greitemeyer, par. 12). People who have a higher aggression level are more
likely to be violent with others. Therefore, violent video games can make a person think that
violence is acceptable. Many TV shows and movies influence the way couples think about
violence. An individual may develop a violent mind, causing problems later in the future such as
domestic violence. In 2005, studies showed that the shared assumption: couples tend to be
violent because they have been socialized to believe that doing so is appropriate (Finkel and
Duffy, par. 7). A person who believes violence is okay through society such as social media,
video games, movies, their family/friends, etc, is a cause of domestic violence.
An alternative cause for this phenomenon is that individuals that have been abused in the
past will want to commit violent acts. Although this may happen, there are several individuals
who have been exposed to domestic violence in the past but instead of looking for violence, they
might be looking for love. People who have been abused in the past know what it feels like and
know that it is not acceptable and therefore will not commit violent acts in the future. Others may
still be traumatized from their past and want to run away from that problem by finding someone
who will give them comfort and peace instead of resorting to violence.
There are many causes of domestic violence but three of the most important ones are an
individuals lack of self-control, trying to gain power, and believing it is socially acceptable.

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People should be aware of the several causes so they can prevent being abused or being the
abusers themselves. The celebrity Jasmine Villegas did not know the reasons why her boyfriend
was abusing her and therefore did not know what to do to make him stop. I think that as more
people are aware of this phenomenon, there will be lower rates of domestic violence. Since more
people are becoming aware of the causes, they are protecting themselves from going through
domestic violence. There is a lot of research being done that is helping people get helped when
dealing with an argument instead of immediately committing a violent act.

Works Cited
Bressler, Allison. "Love And Death." Scientific American Mind 25.5 (2014): 38-48. Academic
Search Premier. Web. 5 Mar. 2015.
Finkel, Eli J., and Caitlin W. Duffy. "The Thin Line Between Love And Wrath." Scientific
American Mind 24.5 (2013): 50-55. Academic Search Premier. Web. 5 Mar. 2015.
Hollingdale, Jack, and Tobias Greitemeyer. "The Effect Of Online Violent Video Games On
Levels Of Aggression." Plos ONE 9.11 (2014): 1-5. Academic Search Premier. Web. 28
Apr. 2015.
Roth, Maddy. "[Interview] Jasmine Villegas Speaks About The Emotional Message Behind
'Didn't Mean It'" Act. N.p., 26 July 2012. Web. 24 Mar. 2015.