Toward an Integrative Theoretical Framework for Explaining Beliefs About Wife Beating: A Study Among Students of Nursing From Turkey

Abstract

An integrative theoretical framework was tested as the basis for explaining beliefs about wife beating among Turkish nursing students. Based on a survey design, 406 nursing students (404 females) in all 4 years of undergraduate studies completed a self-administered questionnaire. Questionnaires were distributed and collected from the participants during their attendance of core courses. The results revealed that between 8% and 27% of the students expressed some level of willingness to justify wife beating, between 8% and 11% showed a tendency to believe that battered women benefit from beating, and between 10% and about 29% indicated that battered women are responsible for their beating. However, more than 88% of the students expressed willingness to help battered women, more than 63% of them indicated that violent husbands are responsible for their behavior, and about 28% or more showed a tendency to support punishing violent husbands. The results also indicated that significant amounts of the variance in the students' beliefs about wife beating can be attributed to their patriarchal ideology, to their exposure to family violence during childhood and adolescence, and to their traumatic symptoms. The article concludes with a discussion of the implications of the results for future research on the topic. Emphasis is placed on developing a more integrative theoretical approach for explaining beliefs about wife beating, and on the professional socialization of nursing students.

Attitudes Toward Wife Beating Among Female and Male Adolescents in Jordan

“…Aggression against women, particularly wife beating and related justifying attitudes, is a complex, multidimensional issue, and an extensive body of past studies has shown that one theory is not sufficient to explain justifying attitudes nor actual aggressive behavior (cf., Haj-Yahia & Uysal, 2011;Heise, 1998). Hence, there is a need to combine different theoretical perspectives into an integrative framework because this may allow a more elaborate understanding of the complex phenomena of wife beating attitudes.…”

“…First, we studied predictors of wife beating attitudes that are based on three theoretical perspectives. As no single theory can completely explain justification of wife beating (Haj-Yahia & Uysal, 2011;Heise, 1998), we examined theoretically-relevant predictors within an integrative theoretical framework, comprising patriarchal ideology, social learning theory, and social cognitions. Second, we followed a gender-inclusive approach examining attitudes toward wife beating among both adolescent girls and boys.…”

Attitudes of Palestinians Toward Social Work Interventions in Cases of Wife Assault

“…This further emphasizes the influence of traditional and patriarchal views that seeking outside help for wife abuse is perceived as disruptive to the cohesiveness of the family, particularly as it is related to the collectivist and patriarchal nature of Arab society. Studies in other collectivist societies have shown similar effect of attitudes toward women and marital role expectations on acceptance of helping battered women (Haj-Yahia & Sadan, 2008;Haj-Yahia & Shen, 2015;Haj-Yahia & Uysal, 2011). For example, among South Asian immigrant women in Canada, women reported delaying seeking help due to social stigma, rigid gender roles, marriage obligations, and the expectation that women should keep silence about family matters (Ahmad et al, 2009).…”

“…Accordingly, individuals internalize, learn, and modify new attitudes and behaviors through a process of modeling. It has been consistently argued that reinforcement of modeling serves to enhance the vicarious learning of new attitudes and behavior through observation of the consequences of others’ attitudes and behaviors, as well as through direct experience (Haj-Yahia & Uysal, 2011; Markowitz, 2001). In this study, we examine how witnessing father-to-mother violence, experiencing parental violence, and knowing a woman who has been physically assaulted by her husband are related to the participants’ attitudes toward the interventions of social workers in cases of wife assault.…”

Attitudes of Palestinian Physicians Toward Wife Abuse

“…There are various obstacles and barriers that can prevent health practitioners from becoming involved in detecting victims of domestic violence and from performing the above-mentioned tasks that are expected of them in their work with battered women. Those obstacles and barriers include: traditional attitudes and misconceptions about abuse and violence, fear of invading individual privacy, discomfort talking with battered women, fear of offending the women, a sense of powerlessness, exclusive emphasis on physical health, limited formal education, lack of professional knowledge and skills for dealing with cases of domestic violence, shortage of supportive facilities and services, and the feeling that identification of abuse and violence is not part of their role (Berkowitz, 2005; Haj-Yahia & Uysal, 2011; Han, 2008; McCauley, Jenckes, & McNutt, 2003). Other obstacles that prevent health practitioners from becoming involved in detecting cases of domestic violence include infrequent patient visits, patients’ unresponsiveness to the practitioner’s questions about domestic violence, the practitioner’s lack of time, and the patient’s lack of response to referrals (Haj-Yahia & Uysal, 2011).…”