NCJ Number
190168
Journal
Revija za Kriminalistiko in Kriminologijo Volume: 51 Issue: 3 Dated: July-September 2000 Pages: 197-206
Date Published
2000
Length
10 pages
Annotation
This paper identifies some of the myths about family violence that persist in popular culture, particularly in Slovenia, in spite of new empirical knowledge gained in the area of criminology.
Abstract
Criminology and victimology have in recent years made considerable contributions to knowledge about domestic violence; special theories have been developed, and new forms of family violence have been identified, such as violence against older family members, violence against males, and violence in homosexual partnership communities. Although most of these findings are supported by empirical research as well as by theoretical arguments, they are accepted by the public (the social consciousness) very slowly. A few decades constitute a relatively short period of time for the modification of public attitudes toward family violence that are transmitted from generation to generation. For this reason, some social representations of domestic violence stay deeply rooted in the public mind, in spite of their unfounded basis as determined by empirical research. These are the so-called myths, which are attitudes that are unreal, unfounded, and unverified; in addition, their basic characteristic is that they are resistant to changes, and any change that occurs takes a long time. They begin to disappear in the public mindset only after long intensive public debates that have an impact on changes in social consciousness about a particular phenomenon. The myth of the acceptability and utility of domestic violence, as well as social tolerance of brutality against family members, has begun to collapse in Slovenia, as well as in other countries. 39 references