Domestic Violence - What Drives People To Commit Them

People are becoming more inclined to commit acts of domestic violence, and that fact could be attributed to a number of reasons. We are referring to all acts of violence that takes place in a domestic mileu. In a setting where the people involved are married, domestic violence can be carried out by one person against his spouse. The acts of violence could also be from a parent to a child. Things are always ugly when we speak of domestic violence, no matter how it takes place. The victims often get a taste of these acts of violence from those who they thought should protect them and love them back as much as they love them. It's like the acts of violence are committed at random. There is no rhyme or reason; they just happen.

People, especially those who've had experience being subjected to domestic violence, could not help but feel a need to find out the underlying causes of these violent acts. Bystanders and witnesses are also curious. They want to know why such things are happening to other people. In most cases, the perpetrator does give some justifications for the violence: like where, for instance, a spouse alleges infidelity as the basis for violence meted out on his or her partner in marriage. Disobedience on the part of kids could also lead to parents hitting them or giving them some severe beating or slapping. But when you take note of just how severe the punishments seem to be, or how vicious the beating or slapping has become, you couldn't shake off the feeling that there is more than meets the eye. Why are people inclined to commit acts of domestic violence to people they are supposed to love and care for? That's what we will attempt to look into in this article.

Perpetrators of domestic violence are most often associated with the lack of proper or good upbringing or with a troubled childhood. Most likely, people who have grown up being 'disciplined' by way of acts of violence would also do the same to their children or own family when they reach adulthood. Having trouble controlling their impulses would mean they would have difficulty curbing their tendency to be violent towards their family members. Or it could be that these people have grown up with very low self-esteem since they grew up in a home with too much domestic violence going on. Committing acts of violence would be their way to assert themselves and show that they do have power. It is their way of making up for their low self esteem in the past.

It is also noticeable how lack of education in people would cause them to be perpetrators of domestic violence. People with better educations tend to be more sophisticated in their world views, and hence less predisposed to violence (especially in the domestic setting). Admittedly, though, there are still some highly educated ones who still turn vicious at home. But they are exceptions to the rule. The general rule is that solid education would have the power to lower the tendencies of a person to lean towards violence to resolve problems.

Domestic violence is also often associated with issues of drug abuse. With drugs involved, nothing good could come out of it. People who abuse drugs (including alcohol) are many times more likely to act on their violent impulses than people who don't abuse drugs. Worth noting is the fact that although most of us have violent impulses, what makes the difference at the end of the day is whether or not we actually act on those impulses. And as we have noted, people who abuse drugs tend to have greater inclination to act on such impulses, perhaps due to the biochemical effects of the drugs.