Domestic violence is described as, 'physical, psychological, sexual or financial violence that takes place within an intimate or family type relationship and forms a pattern of coercive and controlling behaviour. It may involve partners, ex-partners, household members or other relations' (Women's Aid Federation). Although it is typically happening to women, men also suffer from domestic violence. Some psychologists attribute it to psychological causes, however many sociologists would argue that it is a result of social causes.

A shocking pattern of domestic violence is that women are, more often than not, the target for domestic violence. Coleman (2007) found that women were more likely than men to have been victim of ‘intimate violence’ across all four types of abuse: partner abuse, family abuse, sexual assault and stalking. Similarly, Mirrlees-Black found that nearly one in four women has been assaulted by a partner at some point in her life, one in eight repeatedly so; contrastingly, one in seven men has been assaulted and one in twenty repeatedly so. Dobash and Dobash found that violent incidents were provoked when a man felt his self-given authority had been challenged, for example asking why they were late for a meal. They argue that marriage legitimates violence against women by making wives dependent on their husbands, thus giving them power and control.

Radical feminists (for example Kate Millett and Shulamith Firestone) argue that this is evidence of patriarchy. They argue that widespread domestic violence is an inevitable characteristic of a patriarchal society, and serves to preserve power that men have over women. They suggest that male domination over state institutions furthers this issue, and explains why police and courts are reluctant to deal effectively with cases of domestic violence. However, Faith Robertson Elliot (1996) rejects the radical feminist claim that all men benefit from violence against women. Not all men are aggressive and most are opposed to domestic violence; radical feminists ignore this. Furthermore, radical feminists also fail to explain female violence. Some women abuse children and are violent towards male partners.

Interestingly, Mirrlees-Black found that other patterns exist rather than only women being more likely to be a victim of domestic violence. According to Mirrlees-Black, other social groups at a greater risk of domestic violence include (but are not limited to): children and young people; those in the lowest social classes; those who live in rented accommodation; those on low incomes or in financial difficulties; and those with high levels of alcohol consumption and use of illegal drugs. According to Richard Wilkinson (1996), this can be explained as a result of stress on family members caused by social inequality. The groups Mirrlees-Black mentions as being more prone to domestic violence would be more stressed due to social inequality, reducing their chances of maintaining stable, caring relationships and increases the likelihood of conflict and violence. Mirrlees-Black and Wilkinson’s findings show that not all people are equally in danger of suffering domestic violence; those members of society with less power, status, wealth or income are often at greatest risk.
However, it is said that official statistics on domestic violence understate the problem. Firstly, victims may be unwilling to report it to the police. Startlingly, Stephanie Yearnshire (1997) found that on average a woman suffers 35 assaults before reporting it to the police. Domestic violence is the least likely violent crime to be reported. Furthermore, police and/or prosecutors may be unwilling to record, investigate or prosecute domestic violence cases. David Cheal (1991) claims that this reluctance is due to the fact that police and other state agencies are not prepared to involve themselves in the family, as they claim it is a private sphere, so access to it by state agencies should be limited. Similarly, they argue that the family is a good thing and so agencies tend to turn a blind eye to the negative happenings in the household; likewise, they assume that individuals in the family are free agents, with the ability to make the choice whether to leave or not. However, male violence is often couples with male economic power, and thus wives financially dependent on husbands are unable to leave.

To conclude, there are varying patterns of domestic violence in society. It seems to occur more within certain groups of society: women, the lower classes, children and young people, those who live in rented accommodation, those on low incomes or in financial difficulties, or those with high levels of alcohol and illegal drug consumption. However, it is thought that the official figures are the mere tip of the iceberg, where many cases remain unreported and unknown of. The patterns seem to vary enough to conclude that domestic violence is a result of social issues rather than psychological causes.