By: Ian Care
We challenge you to use your TRIZ skills
and your knowledge to help solve a humanitarian or social problem. We hope that
you will submit your results for publication in the TRIZ journal. Every few
months we will set a new challenge - but that does not mean that you cannot
continue to work on previous challenges, indeed you may have chosen to work on
this for your project or coursework.
Send your results, ideas, comments and
suggestions for future challenges to
challenge@triz-journal.com.
This month is another social challenge -
how do we address the problems of domestic violence.
In several of our societies, there is
still a mainly hidden problem of domestic violence. This is predominately, but
not exclusively performed by men against their partners and children.
Our challenges are to look at how we
might:
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More easily find out where this domestic violence is taking place, so
that some action can be taken.
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Change society, such that a family can take an action such as isolating
themselves from the violent person
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Identify and treat those who perform such violent acts.
Can you consider how the problem starts
and therefore how this can be addressed before it starts (pre-cushioning)?
Determine an un-intrusive way of
detecting or measuring the problem. Do we know the extent of the problem? How do
you set an alarm or trigger level?
In many cases the 'victim' feels that
the only person they can discuss this with is also the perpetrator. Can we have
links in society where other (non-threatening) relationships can develop to
alleviate this? Can there be an anonymous relationship such that intimate
problems can be discussed without treat or follow-up?
If we could measure the propensity for
violence, we could determine the causal situations and the effectiveness of any
treatment.
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It is estimated that six million women
are assaulted by a male partner each year and of these, 1.8 million are severely
assaulted. However, the rate for assaults by female partners is 124 per 1,000
couples, compared with 122 per 1,000 for assaults by male partners as reported
by wives. (Straus, 1993).
Every year, domestic violence causes
approximately 100,000 days of hospitalisation, 28,700 emergency department
visits and 39,900 physician visits. This violence costs the nation between $5
and $10 billion per year. (Meyer, 1992).
In 1993, twenty-nine percent of all
female murder victims were slain by their husbands or boyfriends. (Federal
Bureau of Investigation, 1994).
One recent study found that
possessiveness, which included infidelity, fear of termination of the
relationship, and sexual rivalry, was the most prevalent reason given for a male
offender to kill his romantic partner. Female offenders killed much more often
for self-defence than for any other reason. (Rasche, 1993).
There seems to be a greater likelihood
that spousal homicide of the female partner in heterosexual couples will occur
during a separation phase of the relationship than during cohabitation. A 1993
study shows that while risk to the female increased, there was no such greater
risk for the male. It found that wives were particularly at risk during the
first two months after separation and if they had unilaterally decided to end
the relationship. (Wilson and Daly, 1993).
In a community study of Mexican
Americans, Blacks, and Whites, those men and women reporting being beaten were
also likely to report beating their spouse, with the one exception of Mexican
American men. Also studying the effect of alcohol consumption, the quantity of
alcohol consumed is the best predictor of spousal violence rather than either
the frequency of drinking or the total volume consumed over a period of one
week. Among the formerly married women who reported being beaten, over 80% of
all ethnic subgroups also reported beating their former spouse. (Neff, Holamon
and Schluter, 1995).
A recent study indicated that women who
killed their mates compared to a sample of battered women who had not,
experienced higher levels of severe violence such as punching, kicking and
strangling; perceived lower social support available; and suffered from a higher
level of posttraumatic stress disorder. (Dutton, 1994).
Between 20% and 30% of our total
population is at risk of serious dysfunction from the abuse of psychoactive
substances. In some communities, the risk is more than 50%. A survey of juvenile
and family court judges showed they estimate that between 60% and 90% of all
their cases involved substance abuse as a significant factor. (National Council
of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, 1995).
One in ten Kentucky residents suspect
their neighbours of spouse abuse. (Paquin, 1994).
Almost one third of responding lesbians
say they have been victims of physical violence by their partners. Nearly twelve
percent reported severe violence. (Lockhart, 1994).
Military families experience a
significantly greater amount of spousal violence than civilians, according to a
recent comparative survey. This study showed no significant racial difference.
There was a significantly higher amount of slapping and hair pulling among those
commissioned than those enlisted. (Cronin, 1995).
The Bureau of Justice Statistics studied
data of nearly 10,000 murder defendants from large urban areas and found that of
the spousal murder defendants, 41% were female. Black females were more likely
to kill their spouses than white females: 47% of the black homicide victims were
male compared to 38% for white male homicide victims. (Dawson and Langan, 1994).
One study shows nearly ninety percent of
spouse killers receive a prison sentence, with an average mean term of thirteen
years. Although the study does not break out sentence length received by gender,
convicted spouse murderers were less likely to receive a severe sentence
compared to non-family murder convicts: 12.7% received a life sentence and 9.3%
received probation for spouse killers, compared to 16% and 2.7% receiving life
sentence and probation respectively for non-family murderers. (Dawson and Langan,
1994).
Family violence researchers have
developed a list of severe violence risk markers for identifying battering
potential by men. In addition to living below the poverty line, the men: are
unemployed or lower skilled; use drugs; have a different religion from partner;
saw his father hit his mother; not married to but live with partner; have some
high school education; between 18 and 30; or their partners use severe violence
toward children at home. (Gelles, Lackner and Wolfner, 1994).
An analysis of severe husband-to-wife
domestic violence indicates that husbands who were sober during the incident
tend to blame their wives for the violence while husbands consuming alcohol tend
to assume responsibility. (Senchak and Leonard, 1994).
References:
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Cronin, Christopher. (1995). "Adolescent Reports of
Parental Spousal Violence in Military and Civilian Families." Journal of
Interpersonal Violence, 10(1): 117-122.
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Dawson, John M. and Patrick A. Langan. (1994). Murder in
Families. Washington, D.C.: Bureau of Justice Statistics.
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Dutton, Mary Ann et al. (1994). "Traumatic Responses Among
Battered Women Who Kill." Journal of Traumatic Stress, 7(4): 549-564.
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Federal Bureau of Investigation. (1994). "Crime in the
United States, 1993." Washington, D.C.
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Gelles, Richard J., Regina Lackner and Glenn D. Wolfner.
(1994). "Men Who Batter: The Risk Markers." Violence Update, 4(12): 1-2, 4,
10.
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Lockhart, Lettie L., Barbara W. White, Vicki Causby, and
Alicia Isaak. (1994). "Letting out the Secret: Violence in Lesbian
Relationships." Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 9(4): 469-492.
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Meyer, Harris. (1992). "The Billion-Dollar Epidemic," in
Violence: A Compendium from JAMA, American Medical News, and the Speciality
Journals of the American Medical Association. Chicago: American Medical
Association.
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National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges.
(1995). "Drugs - The American Family in Crisis: A Judicial Response: 43
Recommendations." Juvenile and Family Court Journal, 46(1): i-112.
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Neff, James Alan, Bruce Holamon and Tracy Davis Schluter.
(1995). "Spousal Violence Among Anglos, Blacks, and Mexican Americans: The
Role of Demographic Variables, Psychosocial Predictors, and Alcohol
Consumption." Journal of Family Violence, 10(1): 1-21.
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Paquin, Gary W. (1994). "Statewide Survey of Reactions to
Neighbours' Domestic Violence." Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 9(4):
493-502.
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Rasche, Christine. (1993). "'Given' Reasons for Violence in
Intimate Relationships." in Wilson, Anna V. (ed.). (1993). Homicide: The
Victim/Offender Connection. Cincinnati: Anderson Publishing Company.
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Senchak, Marilyn and Kenneth E. Leonard. (1994).
"Attributions for Episodes of Marital Aggression: The Effects of Aggression
Severity and Alcohol Use." Journal of Family Violence, 9(4): 371-381.
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Straus, Murray A. (1993). "Physical Assaults by Wives: A
Major Social Problem." in Gelles, Richard J. and Donileen R. Loseke, eds.
(1993). Current Controversies on Family Violence. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Pub.
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Wilson, Margo and Martin Daly. (1993). "Spousal Homicide
Risk and Estrangement." Violence and Victims, 8(1), 3-16.
