Domestic Violence Across Generations

Domestic Violence

Parental influence on domestic violence: An analysis of "Domestic violence across generations: findings from Northern India" by Sandra Martin et. al.

Martin et. al.'s (2001) report on the study of domestic violence in India provided insightful facts about the nature of the issue when applied in the context of collective societies such as India wherein cultural and social norms play a vital role in determining the behavior and attitude of individuals. Of particular interest of the study are the attitude and behavior of Indian males, in order to ascertain the role that parental influence play in perpetuating violent behavior against women, especially to their wives, whether this violent behavior be physical, sexual, or both.

The researchers offer the thesis, in the article, that apart from Indian culture, males have the greater propensity to abuse their wives if they have been exposed to previous episodes of domestic violence from their parents. Association between propensity to become violent and abusive towards women is perpetuated by males who have had experienced or witness violent acts and behavior from their father against their mother. This important finding in the study illustrates how, more than society, the family, as the most immediate contact and influence of the individual, becomes the primary source of influence for tolerating and perpetuating violent behavior against women (particularly wives), thus resulting to the prevalence of domestic violence in the country.

Looking at the variables, statistical tests and analysis used, and findings arrived at in the study, this study brings into lucidity how the phenomenon and social issue of domestic violence operates at the micro-level -- that is, devoid of external influences such as social norms in the society, the researchers sought to determine why domestic violence is still perpetuated and practiced. Thus, through survey interviews, the researchers has drawn out a sample of 6,902 Indian males from 400 villages and towns, from the districts, Aligarth, Banda, Gonda, Kanpur Nagar, and Natnital, all belonging to the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The sample was selected using the systematic, multi-stage sampling technique.

The survey instrument utilized for the study was also formulated systematically, organized to provide substantial information about the following variables: socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents, accessibility of contraceptive services, current and future use of family planning, media exposure to family planning messages, expenditure and support for family health care, perceptions of wife's ability to obtain and effectively use contraception, knowledge of reproductive health, sexual activity, and domestic violence (562). These variables were analyzed using the descriptive statistics and logistic regression.

Through logistic regression, the researchers sought to establish associations between the following stated variables: (1) Controlling Measures/Actions that the men felt should be taken against disobedient wives and socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents; (2) man's witnessing of violence in their families and number of Controlling Measures/Actions endorsed by the men; and (3) man's witnessing of violence in their families and socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents.

For the descriptive statistics, among the respondents surveyed, 42% of the respondents belonging to Banda had reported witnessing physical mistreatment of their mother by their father, although a greater majority of the respondents from all districts have had not witnessed violence in their family or between their parents. Occurrence of physical mistreatment against women tend to be of no difference among the respondents, across socio-demographic characteristics such as socio-economic status, educational level, age, number of children in the household, years married, and presence of the father's parents in the household.

Interestingly, despite the low percentage of occurrences of domestic violence among the respondents' family histories, there are almost equal perceptions among the respondents when asked tested for their attitude towards the control statements mentioned in the survey instrument. Whether the respondents have witnessed their parents physically mistreating each other, their father physically mistreating their mother, or not witnessed any form of domestic violence in their family, they all expressed general agreement (mean scores >2) that "a wife should always follow her husband's instructions whether she likes it or not" (565).

This finding is supported by another finding, which illustrates respondents' preference for physical beating as a type of controlling measure/action in response to disobedient wives. The higher percentage ratings are consistent across respondents, whether they have had experience of witnessing physical mistreatment within the family or not. However, across these categories, those respondents who have witnessed their father physically mistreat their mother considered physical beatings as the most appropriate control measure for disobedient wives at 47%, as opposed to those who have witnessed their parents mistreating each other (35%) or have not experienced domestic violence in their family at all (18%).

Tests for association between socio-demographic variables and the respondents' abusive behavior towards women show that "men who witnessed parental violence was more likely than men from non-violent homes to be both physically and sexually abusive toward their wives" (567). This assertion and finding is supported by descriptive statistics showing that respondents who have witnessed both parents mistreating each other have expressed abuse against his wife in the form of sexual abuse without physical force (34%), similar to those respondents who have witnessed their father mistreating their mother (36%).