Domestic violence been an ongoing problem that the family faces. It has only been within the last decade or two; however, that much attention has been paid to it by sociologists and politicians (Cherlin, 2001: 258). Few people deny the fact that something needs to be done to deal with violence in the family because it often leads to future problems for members of the family. It is important to study family violence in order to figure out what truly causes one to hurt a loved one. There are many different theories on what the root of family violence is and depending on which perspective is taken will determine what measures are needed to be done to solve the problem.
Family violence is seen to forms: partner violence and child abuse. Much has been learned about both forms since the early 1990's. Partner violence did not receive much focus by the public until the US Congress passed the Violence Against Women Act in 1994 following the murder of Nicole Brown Simpson, OJ Simpson's wife (Cherlin, 2002: 258). It has been determined since then that "partner violence cannot be understood without acknowledging important distinctions among types of violence, motives of perpetrators, the social locations of both partners, and the cultural contexts in which violence occurs" (Johnson and Ferarro, 2003: 494). .
There are four major patterns of partner violence. Common couple violence arises after a specific argument and results in one or both partners physically attacking the other. Intimate terrorism is prompted by one partner's desire to exert control over the other. This often involves emotional abuse as well as physical abuse. Violent resistance occurs when one partner, usually being the woman, fights back in response to abuse by the other partner. Mutual violent control, the final form of partner violence, is similar to intimate terrorism except that both partners are battling for control (Johnson and Ferarro, 2003: 495-496).