A comparison of wife abuse between two cultures: perceptions, attitudes, nature, and extent

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore the similarities and differences between Anglo-American and Mexican-American battered women. This descriptive study compared a group of 25 Anglo-American and 25 Mexican-American women over age 18 who had been physically abused by their husbands at least two times and had resided in shelters for battered women. This study addressed the nature, severity, and frequency of wife abuse; women's perception of what they consider wife abuse; and their attitudes toward wife abuse. Respondents were matched for age and socioeconomic status. Data were collected through personal interviews, using a semistructured interview schedule consisting of three instruments. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Comparisons between the two groups were done using t test and chi-square procedures. A Type I error probability level of less than .05 was used to determine statistical significance. Results showed that there were more similarities than differences in the manifestation of wife abuse between the two groups. However, Anglo-American women perceived more types of behavior as being abusive and exhibited a less tolerant attitude toward wife abuse than did Mexican-American women. The t test results indicated no significant difference in the severity and frequency of wife abuse between Anglo-Americans and Mexican-Americans.

Exploring Battered Mexican-Origin Women's Help-Seeking Within Their Sociocultural Contexts

“…Latinas in general (Bonilla-Santiago, 1996;Gondolf, Fisher, & McFerron, 1988), and Mexican-origin women in particular (Jacques, 1981;Torres, 1991), tend to stay in abusive marriages longer, to return to the abusive marriage more frequently, and to be name fewer incidents as abusive than their non-Latina White counterparts. 3 Evidence also suggests that Latinas are least likely, when compared with other racial/ethnic groups of battered women, to seek help in the form of medical (Krishnan, Hilbert, & Van Leeuwen, 2001;Rodriguez, Craig, Mooney, & Bauer, 1998;Woodward, Dwinell, & Arons, 1992), legal (Krishnan, et al, 2001;Rodriguez, et al, 1996), and/or social services Torres, 1991). In addition, battered Latinas have been found to underutilize informal resources (i.e., talking to a friend, asking a family member to intervene) when compared to other racial/ethnic groups of battered women (West, Kaufman Kantor, & Jasinski, 1998).…”

“…Research suggests that, compared to their European-American counterparts, battered Latinas in general (Bonilla-Santiago, 1996;Dutton et al, 2000;, and Mexican-origin women in particular (Jacques, 1981;Torres, 1991;West, 1998), tend to stay in abusive relationships longer, to return to the abuser more frequently, to name fewer behaviors as abusive, and to be less likely to seek help to leave the abusive relationship. However, to date there is not sufficient empirical research, concentrating on a specific subset of battered Latinas (i.e., Mexican-origin women), that explores a) how these women do act to survive abuse and how effective their efforts are perceived to be; and b) whether socio-cultural factors relate to help-seeking.…”

“…Research also indicates that Latinas may perceive abuse differently than European-American women, i.e., identify fewer behaviors as abusive (e.g., emotional abuse and acts such as pushing, shoving, grabbing, throwing things at a person) (BonillaSantiago, 1996;Jacques, 1981;Torres, 1987;1991 Some research has shown that Latinas generally and Mexican-origin women more specifically stay married to their abusers longer than other groups of battered women. found, for example, that Latinas reported the longest duration of abuse: 32% of Latina battered women reported enduring more than 5 years of abuse, as compared with 21% of White and African American battered women.…”

“…Regarding how they experience abuse, Torres (1987;1991) interviewed 25 Mexican American women and 25 White women and found that Mexican American women reported greater unpredictability of abuse. Similar to other research (Jacques, 1981), Torres found that Mexican American women were more likely to be hit in front of their children or other family members than the White women.…”

“…According to theory and research, culturally influenced gender roles, scripts, and values may significantly impact abused Latinas' (Bauer et al, 2000;Flores-Ortiz, 1994;Kanuha, 1994;King et. al, 1993;Martinez-Garcia, 1988;Perilla, 1999;Vera, 2002;Zambrano, 1985) and Mexican American women's (Avecedo, 2000;Morash, Bui, & Santiago, 2000;Sorenson, 1996;Torres, 1991) responses to abuse. Certain Latino cultural characteristics are thought to create a climate that facilitates and maintains female intimate partner abuse among Latino couples.…”