Domestic Violence and the Theoretical Discourse of Freedom

Abstract

A woman in Philadelphia is beaten by her husband and admitted to a hospital. This is the second time in a year that this woman (I'll call her Susan) has had to seek medical attention for her injuries. Her sister Sarah wants her to press charges. At first, Susan considers it: she is frightened and very angry. But during the few days she is forced to spend at the hospital, her husband initiates contact with her, sending her flowers and gifts and calling her frequently with apologetic and loving messages. Susan decides to return to him. She says that he has apologized and that she forgives him; that he is basically a good person and has promised to change; that he loves her and is a good father; that she loves him; that it was partly her fault anyway; that he needs her. This pattern is by now familiar to her sister. In fact, this is the third time that Susan has decided to return to her husband after a violent incident. Sarah thinks Susan should seek the help of a battered women's shelter, perhaps enter psychotherapy to help her identify her situation realistically and confront it, go through a job-training program so she can support herself, and thus free herself from an oppressive situation. However, Susan always refuses her advice and encouragement. Sarah knows, from reading about it, that Susan is like many other women in this regard. In fact, she has read that the local battered women's shelter is now lobbying the state legislature for a law mandating prosecution for domestic violence. This would guarantee that the abuser is put in jail and thus force women at least to consider more seriously the alternatives shelters provide for therapy and economic independence, if not actually to take advantage of these alternatives. Sarah supports this effort and sees it as Susan's only hope.