Family Violence - Do you think it's a problem?

Faily Violence - Do you think it's a problem?

What do you know about these issues, besides what you may have seen on television?

from Wikimedia Commons

• Domestic conflict?
• Child Abuse & at Risk?
• Domestic Related Homicides?
• Wife Battering?

What does abuse mean?

Abuse means the mistreatment of a person in 1 of 4 ways:

• psychological (emotional or verbal)
• sexual
• economic
• physical

What is Physical Violence? VS What is Non-violence?

The Cycle of Violence

From: The Health Department of Western Australia (Feb, 1999).

"The cycle of violence model was developed by Lenore Walker in the 1970s. She worked with a great number of domestic violence survivors and found a common pattern which is now known as the cycle of violence. The cycle of violence is sometimes useful to demonstrate for women the pattern of violence. Be aware that the cycle of violence does not apply to all violent partnerships" Health Department of Western Australia (Feb, 1999)

The cycle of violence is a representation of what happens in an abusive relationship. In general:

• abuse isn't constant or random
• three phases vary in time and intensity
• phases tend to occur with increasing frequency and increasing severity if the cycle is not broken.
• The couple that lives in such a violent relationship becomes so dependent on one another that any attempt to leave by the abused causes tremendous disruption for both lives, so the cycle continues.

What about children?

How are children affected by witnessing an abusive relationship? Watch the video below.

Find Out More

from Wikimedia Commons

Find answers to the following questions:

• What is domestic violence?
• What is violence?
• In what sort of relationships does it occur?
• What kinds of behaviour does it include?
• Are the victims always women?
• How common is domestic violence?

There are many resources available in Calgary for people who are experience abuse or violence.

The City of Calgary

Homefront Calgary

Calgary Counselling Centre

Domestic Violence Handbook

There are many more. If you or someone you know needs help, you need to talk to someone you trust or contact one of these agencies.

Your Task

Be prepared to discuss this next week during Connect class and be ready to be put on the spot to answer the questions.