Power and violence in a family

The article analyzes the interrelation between concepts of power and violence in the family. Power is one of the most ancient phenomena of the human society. In the most general sense, the concept of power means a special relationship between people, an ability to carry out the will. Violence is considered as means of power when the subject of power can carry out his will. Disobedience can lead to punishment from the ruling subject. The power of parents over their children is expressed in the control of their behavior and their motivation to approved actions. Parental authority uses various means to control and regulate the behavior of children. One of these means is violence in the form of various punishments (physical, economic, psychological etc.). Punishment is considered as an essential element of children’s upbringing in the process of their growth. The article analyzes the results of the sociological research carried out on the problems of power and violence in the family. More than a half of the respondents were punished in their childhood. In respondents’ opinion, generally the parents perform educational function in the family, which is primarily performed by the mother, because she spends more time with their children than the father. The majority of the respondents do not want to use physical punishment towards their children. However the issue on the physical punishment of the child is still rather acute in the families in Russia. Most families can’t avoid the use of physical punishment in the course of upbringing. The respondents' answers justify that in modern Russian families the power belongs primarily to the mother and the wife, that is, to the woman. According to many researches, this situation has taken shape in the Russian families for the last few decades. Consequently, we consider that the power in the majority of the families belongs to the mother of the children, at the same time they become victims of violence on the part of the father. It requires the further study considering the reasons of the situation.