Risk Issues For Family Violence

Family violence can be described as physical, emotional or sexual abuse caused by one member in a family with the objective of gaining power and control over another.  

There is no single, definitive cause of family violence. Any person, irrespective of gender, age, race, sex, socioeconomic status, education, occupation, religion, nationality or cultural identity, may become a victim of family abuse at any stage of their life. Some important factors that contribute to family violence at individual level include are listed below.

Psychological factors: Personality traits and mental characteristics of an individual such as lack of ability to control impulse, low self-esteem and sudden bursts of anger contribute to increased risk of family violence. According to a study, abusers resorting to physical violence on their partners suffer with psychopathological issues and have a personality that is somewhere between psychotics and neurotics.

Alcohol-related and non-alcohol related violence: Chronic alcohol consumption has always been considered as a major risk factor associated with family violence. Apart from alcohol, even persons who are addicted to narcotic drugs, contribute to a significant increase in the percentage of family violence.

Social causes: These factors include increased marital conflicts, unresolved childhood conflicts, stress of poverty, hostility towards women and family-related stress. Even issues such as employment stress, problems with children and pregnancy have been considered as potential risk factors that can result in family violence. Chances of physical abuse tend to be high in situations where one partner tends to go away from a relationship.