Domestic Violence has long been recognized as a social condition among heterosexual couples, but only recently has it started to be acknowledged among homosexual couples. Heterosexuals are more focused on, but even then the women are the one perceived as the victim. For gay male couples, society believes that men should be able to take care of themselves and be able to defend themselves, so there should be no reason to assume domestic violence is occurring. Lesbians are seen as feminists and non-violent, so lesbian couples, then, shouldn't be involved in domestic violence either. These issues, along with homophobia, have contributed to the inattention of homosexual relationship violence among societies, including the victims themselves. Although it is underreported and taken lightly, gay male and lesbian relationship violence are as serious of an issue as heterosexual domestic violence, and this paper will explore it through the conflict perspective, also tying it with the feminist theory as a branch of the conflict theory.
             The conflict perspective identifies the conflict between social groups as the primary force in society. It is believed that understanding the bases and consequences of conflict is the key to understanding social processes. This theory can be used to explain the occurrence of homophobia in the U.S. and the lack of help and support that the victims of same-sex relationship violence receive in society. Issues of power lie at the center of this problem. Homosexuals are in the minority in U.S. societies and have to depend on the dominant group and those in charge to get the services they may need, but they are often ignored. The heterosexual majority group may choose to ignore the problem of homosexual relationship violence because it is not directly their concern and if they ignore it then they will not have to worry about it. Domestic violence, to the majority of people, is seen as something that only happens ...