Causal factors in domestic violence against women

¶ … Men Beating They Wives

This will be a survey study that assesses the perceived impact of different factors on domestic violence (men beating their wives). Based on the literature review, wide discrepancies exist in statistical reports of domestic violence. Population-based surveys analyzed by Krug et al. place the rate of physical abuse among women between 10% and 69% (Krug et al. 2002). This is an extremely wide range that illustrates one major concern in investigations of domestic violence; namely, the stigma and threats often associated with reporting such cases to the authorities and the attention the topic receives. This study has particular relevance because it will determine the perception of domestic violence in a population of students and thereby ascertain the beliefs and estimation of the problem's severity in society. The primary research question investigated by this study is reasons husbands beat their wives and student perceptions about the problem.

Sampling Method:

The target population of this study consists of students at Kean University. Surveys will be distributed to a total study group of 80 students. Half of the group (40 students) will be students majoring in criminal justice while the other half (40 students) will be selected from other non-criminal justice educational majors. Due to limitations in the study and concerns for student privacy, it was not possible to obtain a list of students in each major and the study group could therefore not be selected at random. Instead, the study will use a convenience sample. Surveys will be distributed at a convenient time to students willing to participate in the study. This limitation, however, should not significantly affect the outcomes. The name of the student will remain completely anonymous, as envelopes will be provided for students to return the surveys. No background information will be connected to any names and the author of this study will not know the identity of any one survey. No reward or incentive will be provided for the participant.

Outcome Measures (dependent and independent variables): Survey

The survey that is being used for this study is based on the questionnaire-type interview commonly used in studies on domestic violence (for survey, please see Appendix A). The survey consists of nine questions that seek to gather information on three related variables: (1) background information on students, (2) the perception of the scope of the domestic violence problem and (3) the perception of causal factors that most influence domestic violence. Background information including age, gender, race/ethnicity and educational major is documented in order to assess any correlation between these independent variables and beliefs about domestic violence.

The dependent variables in this study will be the scope of wife beating and the causal factors that contribute to it. Questions five through nine on the survey address these variables. In order to evaluate perceptions of scope, the author asks participants to estimate the prevalence of domestic violence in the U.S. population. Four options are provided for how many men beat their wives in the aforementioned population: 1/10, 1/50, 1/100 and 1/500. The participant is asked to check one.

The causal factors for domestic violence listed in the survey (questions 6-9) are drug and alcohol use, mental or personality issues, and cultural differences. These factors emerged as the most influential in predicting the prevalence of domestic violence in the reviewed literature. The survey addresses cultural, socioeconomic and behavioral characteristics of relationships that were repeatedly shown to influence the scope of domestic violence (see literature review). The participants are asked to rate the influence of these four causal factors from very influential to not very influential. The hypothesis for the study is that regardless of student background (independent variable), drug and alcohol and mental personality issues (dependent variables) will be rated most influential in causing men to physically abuse their wives.

A further examination will be made to assess the relationship between the approximation of the scope of domestic violence and the ratings on how influential each causal factor is in determining the scope. In this case, the scope approximation of wife beating will be the independent variable and the ratings on causal factors will be the dependent variable.