Feminist Theory On Domestic Violence

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Dobash and Dobash, 1979, also concluded that marriage was a way in which men could continue their oppression over women. (Dobash, Dobash, 1979). The Dobashes, like Martin, concluded that again gender roles moulded women into becoming submissive and taught men to be aggressive and demonstrate patriarchal behaviours. The aim of the Dobashes was to try explaining domestic violence in a modern-day society. They were among the first researchers in the UK to research the polices poor response to domestic violence. Through their qualitative studies, using open ended interviews, Dobash et el interviewed 109 women living in refugees for battered women in Glasgow and Edinburgh. The women were a mix of class and age. Dobash et el found the police had…show more content…
This idea seems to be one of the biggest critiques of feminist theories on domestic violence. The Dobashes saw male domination as the main cause of wife abuse. Integrating a feminist framework, Dobash et al used this idea of male dominance and derived a theory on victim blaming. Two main concepts they named was again female machoism and female provocation. This area of research was important to criminology because Dobash et el stated that these two concepts could be women resisting domestic violence and abuse, but take away the feminist lens and the concepts are driving forces for victim blaming, which can have detrimental effects (Houston,…show more content…
Feminist criminological approaches to domestic violence were the catalyst that led to intense criminalization of violence against women and much needed policy change. Because of the feminist contribution on domestic violence, there has been significant outcomes. Domestic violence refugees were forged out of the feminist movement in the 1970’s and are still prevalent in society today, however are battling to stay open in areas due to cuts. In Britain domestic violence children and women units were made as an attempt to safeguard women and children from harm, again however these units emphasized support and assistance rather than arrest and prosecution. These specialized units, even though created to support victims, still had concerns surrounding them. Patel, 1992, stated that there were still discrepancies in the way in which women of ethnic minorities needs were met and understood (Patel, 1992 in Walkgate,
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