Domestic Violence in the Vietnamese Immigrant Community

Abstract

This study examines domestic violence in Vietnamese American families, focusing on changes in socioeconomic structure and culture, to identify factors associated with wife abuse. Husbands' patriarchal beliefs and dominant positions in the family and conflicts about changing norms and values between husbands and wives were found to be related to wife abuse. The study suggests that class, culture, gender, and immigration status could simultaneously affect women's experience of violence by husbands. For Vietnamese Americans, women's economic contributions could not reduce husbands' dominant positions and violence, but economic hardship could prevent women from leaving an abusive relationship. Traditional family values, beliefs in traditional female roles, and perceptions about racial discrimination could also prevent Vietnamese American women from relying on the formal system to cope with abuse.

Barriers to Help-Seeking Among Immigrant African Women Survivors of Partner Abuse: Listening to Women's Own Voices

“…These feelings of loyalty and hesitancy to step outside the boundaries of traditional family and cultural norms are similar to those experienced by other immigrant survivors, and they are a continual barrier to help-seeking (Bui & Morash, 1999;Dasgupta & Warrier, 1996;Yoshioka et al, 2001).…”

South Asian Women in the U.S. and their Experience of Domestic Violence

“…These results coincide with Adam (2000), who reported a higher percentage of psychological abuse compared to other forms of abuse within the past year in a sample of South Asian women, and with Thapa-Oli et al (2009) who reported that 54 % of the women in their more recent study of Nepali immigrant women in the U.S. suffered psychological abuse. Psychological abuse varies from male control over family decision-making (Bui and Morash 1999) to verbal abuse and insults to women, especially in front of others, leading to humiliation, and ridiculing of their looks, cooking ability, and other qualities (Supriya 1995;Raj and Silverman 2002). These manifestations were also found among the women in the current study who reported psychological abuse in the past year.…”

The Association Between Length of Stay in Canada and Intimate Partner Violence Among Immigrant Women

“…Some  RESEARCH AND PRACTICE  26 Other studies have suggested that postmigration stresses, such as poverty, underemployment, loss of status, and discrimination, affect the power dynamics between men and women and thus, increase women's risk for IPV. [27][28][29] Alternate explanations do not relate to behavioral or social determinants but rather reflect changing perceptions and interpretations of IPV as newcomers learn what acts constitute abuse in the context of the adopted country and develop the language skills necessary for identifying and speaking about their experiences. If so, then previous cultural norms of what is considered abusive behavior change over time to accommodate new constructs, which may result in higher reported rates of IPV.…”