Specific Purpose: To inform my audience of the two most common types of domestic abuse.
Thesis: Domestic abuse can come in a variety of forms, but the two most common, well known types are physical and emotional. ·
Introduction
I. According to the Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 3 out of 4 Americans know
someone who is, or has been, a victim of domestic abuse.
II. Abusing your loved one is a way to lose them or make them resent you.
Although majority of the time women are the victims in domestic abuse, men can also fall victim to it.
III. The two most common types of abuse are emotional and physical; the abuser with normally one sole desire, to gain control over the victim, inflicts both.
IV. After extensive research on the matter, through a variety of scholarly journals and studies I have found a great deal of material on emotional and physical abuse in relationships.
Transition statement: The first type of abuse I researched and found material on is emotional
Body
I. Emotional Abuse reduces the victim's status and renders them more easily controlled by the abuser. In the 'Journal of lnterpersonal Violence' a series of studies were performed on the matter of emotional abuse and what it is.
A. Emotional abuse typically includes humiliation, degradation, threats of abandonment, persistent ridicule, and threats of physical harm.
1. Examples of the above
B. Dr. Bergner, who performed one of the studies in 'Journal of lnterpersonal
Violence', found that conceptually, emotional abuse is an intentional action.
1. Outcome of "successful" abuse is that the victim's self-concept and self-esteem are lowered.
2. Angry words attributed to a temporary emotional state are not considered emotional abuse.
Transition statement: Emotional abuse is often hard to detect and prove, unlike physical abuse, which is the easiest detected abuse.
II. Dr. Melinda Smith and Dr. Jeanne Segal shared their findings on spousal physical abuse in an article known as 'Understanding domestic violence and abuse'.
A. Domestic Violence occurs when one spouse desires to gain and maintain control over the other.
1. Abusers use
