Chinese Women's Acceptance of Intimate Partner Violence Against Women.

Few studies have empirically examined factors influencing attitudes toward acceptance of intimate partner violence (IPV), and no study has yet studied the topic in China. We empirically test the effects of attitudes toward gender roles and exposure to violence during childhood on the acceptance of IPV and the moderating effects of education and income on these relationships. Using survey data collected from 600 Chinese women from southern China, we found that education and income moderate the relationship between belief in gender equality and acceptance of IPV. The effect of exposure to parental physical violence on the acceptance of IPV is moderated by education.

A qualitative study on how intimate partner violence against women changes, escalates, and persists from pre- to postseparation.

Research has focused on intimate partner violence (IPV) against women either before or after separation, but little attention has been paid to the changes in and persistence of violent behaviors from one situation to the next. This study contributes to the literature by comparing the changes in types and frequencies of abusive behaviors of women's former husbands. This allows us to understand how mechanisms of power are enacted through IPV both before and after separation. We interviewed 19 women in the Midwestern United States who had experienced IPV by their former husbands and had subsequently divorced them. Data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. The findings suggest that verbal abuse and using children were the most common forms of IPV both pre- and postseparation. Many preseparation behaviors were replaced by other forms of abuse; for example, physical abuse was not experienced after separation. Some forms of IPV, such as stalking and economic abuse, escalated after separation. This reveals that exerting control over women through nonphysical forms of IPV was more common after separation. In particular, using axial and selective coding approach, our findings present three composite narratives of women's experiences of the changes in, and the escalation and persistence of, the violence they faced. The three composite narratives show how abusive behaviors are situated within patriarchal notions of dominance, power, and control over women and their children. The implications of the findings are discussed in terms of healthcare services, advocacy-based victim assistance, school officials, and the courts.

Chinese Women's Financial Independence and Their Intimate Partner Violence Victimization Experiences.

China, as a traditional patriarchal society, provides an excellent context to examine whether and how increased financial independence of women may influence intimate partner violence. This study examines how financial independence influences Chinese women's victimization experiences of physical violence, psychological violence, controlling behavior, and sexual abuse. Data were collected from 600 married or divorced women aged between 20 and 60, who resided in a large metropolitan area in Southern China. Results indicated that while physical violence is reduced by women's financial independence, other forms of connective IPV against women are suggested as expressions of men's desire to keep financially independent women in place.

The Applicability of Social Structure and Social Learning Theory to Explain Intimate Partner Violence Perpetration Across National Contexts.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) affects men and women worldwide. However, a comprehensive examination of the etiology of IPV perpetration across national contexts is limited. Since Aker's Social Structure and Social Learning (SSSL) theory was developed as a general theory of crime, national differences in social structure should explain social learning, which in turn should explain IPV perpetration. Therefore, the current study tests the applicability of SSSL and the mediation effect of the social learning process on the connection between social structural factors and IPV perpetration. Data on IPV perpetration by both male and female college students in 30 nations were taken from the International Dating Violence Study. Structural-level indicators of gender equality for individual nations were taken from Global Gender Gap Index. Findings suggest that national-level gender equality is partially mediated by definitions favorable to breaking the law; a component of SSSL theory. However, other components of the social learning process, such as differential association, differential reinforcement, and imitation, were not found to have mediating effects. The findings only partially support SSSL theory that social learning variables mediate the effect of gender equality on IPV perpetration. Implications of the findings are discussed.