"VIOLENCE IN THE HOME"

I am continuing to follow Kimberly Blackadar's Blog and today her post is entitled,
Poetry Workshop #2: Borrowed Poetry

Accorcing to POETS.org, a pure Borrowed or Found poem consists exclusively of outside texts: the words of the poem remain as they were found, with few additions or omissions. Decisions of form, such as where to break a line, are left to the poet.

My Borrowed/Free Verse Poem/Social Commentary is written from various titles in the CONTENTS page of the book, Battered Wives, by Del Martin, 1976. I've omitted no words in the titles; I have rearranged the content titles, quoted them, and added punctuation. I have added as few words as possible; my added words are not in quotations. If the word "wife" or "wives" was used in the original content title, I have inserted the word "spouse" in its place and the author's use of "she" is changed to "she/he" as well.


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"VIOLENCE IN THE HOME"
©Ruth Cox

"The Incidence of Domestic Violence"
occurring in
"The Great American Family"
may consist of
"Spouse Abuse : The Skeleton in the Closet,"
and/or abuse of
"The Children."

"An Overview of Cruelty"
may tell us
"What Triggers the Batterer."

These triggers may include:
"The Economics of Marriage,"
"Verbal Arguments,"
"Class and Status Variables,"
"Histories of Violence and Occupational Hazards,"
"Drunkenness and Alcoholism,"
"Jealousy,"
"Sterotyped Sex Roles,"
"Socialization and Sex Roles",
and
"Sexuality as Aggressiveness."

"The Victim -- Why Does She/He Stay?"
Victims are
"Trapped by Fear!"

And there are
"Socially Determined Reasons."

These may include:
"Arrest Procedures,"
"Police Policy and Practice,"
"Spouse-Abuse Laws,"
and
"Protection Orders,"
which protect no one.

And, there is
"Social Services -- The Big Runaround!"

The lack of
"Emergency Housing,"
"Public Financial Assistance,"
"Mental Health Services,"
"Police Training and Crisis Intervention,"
and lack of
"Victim Aid"...
all render the victim
helpless
and
hopeless.

These are
"The Facts of Life"
and...
Not much has changed since
Del Martin
wrote
Battered Wives
in 1976.