Abstract
A total of 262 Chinese Americans (133 males and 129 females) were randomly selected from the Los Angeles County telephone directory using Chinese surnames as the identifying marker. A structured telephone interview was administered measuring respondents' gender role beliefs, acculturation, sociodemographic factors, and their victimization experiences with physical aggression by a spouse or intimate partner. Contrary to the feminist literature on domestic violence, gender role beliefs was not related to physical intimate violence. Acculturation, however, significantly predicted severe physical violence experienced during respondents' lifetime. Whether respondents were employed also predicted lifetime minor forms physical violence by a spouse/intimate partner. Findings are discussed in a cultural context, and social work practice and research implications are also highlighted.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
Anderson, M. J. (1993). License to abuse: The impact of conditional status on female immigrants. Yale Law Journal 102: 1401–1430.
Anderson, J., Moeschberger, M., Chen, M. S., Kunn, P., et al. (1993). An acculturation scale for Southeast Asians. Soc. Psychiatry Psychiatr. Epidemiol. 28: 134–141.
Aneshensel, C. S., Frerichs, R. R., Clark, V. A., and Yokopenic, P. A. (1982). Measuring depression in the community: A comparison of telephone and personal interviews. Public Opinion Quarterly 46: 110–121.
Babbie, E. R. (1990). Survey Research Methods. Wadsworth, Belmont, CA.
Bradshaw, C. K. (1994). Asian and Asian American women: Historical and political considerations in psychotherapy. In Comas-Diaz, L., and Greene, B. (eds.), Women of Color: Integrating Ethnic and Gender Identities in Psychotherapy, Guilford, New York, pp. 72–113.
Brush, L. D. (1990). Violent acts and injurious outcomes in married couples: Methodological issues in the National Survey of Families and Households. Gender and Society 4: 56–67.
Chin, K. (1994). Out-of-town brides: International marriage and wife abuse among Chinese immigrants. Journal of Comparative Family Studies 25: 53–69.
Collins, P. H. (1989). The social construction of Black feminist thought. Signs 11: 745–773.
Cortes, D. E., Rogler, L. H., and Malgady, R. G. (1994). Biculturality among Puerto Rican adults in the United States. Am. J. Community Psychol. 22: 707–721.
Crossman, R. K., Stith, S. M., and Bender, M. M. (1990). Sex role egalitarianism and marital violence. Sex Roles 22: 293–304.
Currie (1983). The Toronto model. Social Work with Groups 6: 179–188.
Daugherty, C. G., and Dambrot, F. H. (1986). Reliability of the Attitudes Toward Women Scale. Educational & Psychological Measurement 46: 449–453.
Dobash, R. E., and Dobash, R. P. (1979). Violence against Wives: A Case against the Patriarchy. Free Press, New York.
Dolan, K. (1991). Battered Asian women shy away from counseling. New York Asian News October: 1991.
DuRant, R. H., Pendergrast, R. A., and Cadenhead, C. (1994). Exposure to violence and victimization and fighting behavior by urban Black adolescents. J. Adolesc. Health 15: 311–318.
Dutton, D. G. (1994). Patriarchy and wife assault: The ecological fallacy. Violence Vict. 9: 167–182.
Eng, L. (1986). Refuge for battered Asian wives. Los Angeles Times, October 10, 1986, Part V, p. 2.
Fenig, S., Levav, I., Kohn, R., and Yelin, N. (1993). Telephone vs face-to-face interviewing in a community psychiatric survey. Am. J. Public Health 83: 896–898.
Furiya, L. (1993). Asian American women's shelters seek to empower victims of domestic violence. Los Angeles Japanese Daily, Monday, October 4, 1993, p. 1.
Gelles, R. J. (1974). The Violent Home: A Study of Physical Aggression between Husbands and Wives, Sage, Beverly Hills, CA.
Gelles, R. J. (1993). Through a sociological lens: Social structure and family violence. In Gelles, R. J., and Loseke, D. R. (eds.), Current Controversies on Family Violence, Sage, Newbury Park, CA, pp. 31–46.
Goode, W. J. (1971). Force and violence in the family. Journal of Marriage and the Family 33: 624–636.
Grotevant, H. D., and Carlson, C. I. (1989). Family Assessment: A Guide to Methods and Measures, Guilford, New York.
Hall, G. C. N., and Barongan, C. (1997). Prevention of sexual aggression: Sociocultural risk and protective factors. Am. Psycholo. 52: 5–14.
Hampton, R. L., and Washington Coner-Edwards, A. F. (1993). Physical and sexual violence in marriage. In Hampton, R. L., Gullotta, T. P., Adams, G. R., Potter, E. H., and Weissberg, R. P. (eds.), Family Violence: Prevention and Treatment, Sage, Newbury Park, CA, pp. 113–141.
Helmreich, R. L., Spence, J. T., and Gibson, R. H. (1982). Sex-role attitudes: 1972–1980. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 8: 656–663.
Hing, B. O. (1993). Making and remaking Asian Pacific America: Immigration policy. In Ong, P. (ed)., The State of Asian Pacific America: Policy Issues to the Year 2000, LEAP Asian Pacific American Public Policy Institute and UCLA, Asian American Studies Center, Los Angeles, pp. 127–139.
Ho, M. (1987). Family Therapy with Ethnic Minorities, Sage, Newbury Park, CA.
Ho, C. (1990). An analysis of domestic violence in Asian American communities: A multicultural approach to counseling. Women and Therapy 9: 129–150.
Jang, D. L. (1991). Asian immigrant battered women and United States immigration policy. Asian American Policy Review Spring: 33–42.
Kantor, G. K., Jasinski, J. L., and Aldarondo, E. (1994). Sociocultural status and incidence of marital violence in Hispanic families. Special Issue: Violence against women of color. Violence Vict. 9: 207–222.
Kennedy, L. W., and Dutton, D. G. (1989). The incidence of wife assault in Alberta. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science 21: 40–54.
Kim, B. C. (1973). Asian-Americans: No model minority. Social Work 18: 44–53.
Kumagai, F., and Straus, M. A. (1983). Conflict resolution tactics in Japan, India, and the USA. Journal of Comparative Family Studies 14: 377–392.
Marin, G., Sabogal, F., Marin, B. V., Otero-Sabogal, R., et al. (1987). Development of a short acculturation scale for Hispanics. Special Issue: Acculturation research. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences 9: 183–205.
Marin, G., Vanoss, B., and Perez-Stable, E. J. (1990). Feasibility of a telephone survey to study aminority community: Hispanics in San Francisco. Am. J. Public Health 80: 323–327.
Marin, G., and Marin Vanoss, B. (1991). Research with Hispanic Populations. Sage, Newbury Park, CA.
Masuda, M., Lin, K., and Tazuma, L. (1980). Adaptation problems of Vietnamese refugees: Life changes and percetpioin of life events. Archi. Gen. Psychiatry 37: 447–450.
Narayan, U. (1995). ''Male-order brides: Immigrant women, domestic violence and immigration law. Hypatia 10: 104–119.
Neidig, P. H., Friedman, D. H., and Collins, B. S. (1986). Attitudinal characteristics of males who have engaged in spouse abuse. Journal of Family Violence 1: 223–233.
Ong, P., and Hee, S. J. (1993). The growth of the Asian Pacific American population: Twenty million in 2020. In Ong, P. (ed.), The State of Asian Pacific America: Policy Issues to the Year 2000, LEAP Asian Pacific American Public Policy Institute and UCLA, Asian American Studies Center, Los Angeles, pp. 11–24.
Padilla, Y. C. (1990). Social science theory on the Mexican American experience. Social Science Review 261–275.
Pagelow, M. D. (1981). Woman-Battering: Victims and Their Experiences, Sage, Beverly Hills, CA.
Pless, I. B., and Miller, J. R. (1979). Apparent validity of alternative survey methods. Journal of Community Health 5: 22–27.
Rogler, L. H., Cortes, D. E., and Malgady, R. G. (1991). Acculturation and mental health status among Hispanics: Convergence and new directions for research. Am. Psycholo. 46: 585–597.
Rosenwaike, I. (1994). Surname analysis as ameans of estimating minority elderly: An application using Asian surnames. Research on Aging 16: 212–228.
Sabogal, F., Perez-Stable, E. J., Otero-Sabogal, R., and Hiatt, R. A. (1995). Gender, ethnic, and acculturation differences in sexual behaviors: Hispanic and non-Hispanic White adults. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences 17: 139–159.
Schecter, S. (1982). Women and Male Violence, South End Press, Boston.
Sluzki, C. E. (1979). Migration and family conflict. Family Process 18: 381–394.
Smart, J. F., and Smart, D. W. (1995). Acculturative stress: The experience of the Hispanic immigrant. Counseling Psychologist 23: 25–42.
Smith, M. D. (1994). Enhancing the quality on violence against women: A feminist approach. Gender and Society 8: 109–127.
Song-Kim, Y. I. (1992). Battered Korean women in urban United States. In Furuto, S., Biswas, R., Chung, D. K., Murase, K., and Ross-Sheriff, F. (eds.), Social Work Practice with Asian-Americans, Sage, Newbury Park, CA, pp. 213–226.
Sorenson, S. B., and Telles, C. A. (1991). Self-reports of spousal violence in a Mexican-American and non-Hispanic White population. Violence Vict. 6: 3–15.
Straus, M. A. (1992). Sociological research and social policy: The case of family violence. Sociological Forum 7: 211–237.
Straus, M. A. (1979). Measuring intrafamily conflict and violence: The Conflict Tactics (CTS) Scales. Journal of Marriage and the Family 41: 75–88.
Straus, M. A., and Gelles, R. J. (1986). Societal change and change in family violence from 1975 to 1985 as revealed by two national surveys. Journal of Marriage and the Family 48: 465–479.
Straus, M. A., Gelles, R. J., and Steinmetz, S. (1980). Behind Closed Doors: Violence in the American Family. Anchor Press/Doubleday, Garden City, NY.
Sue, D. W., and Sue, D. (1990). Counseling the Culturally Different: Theory and Practice, 2nd ed. Wiley, New York.
Sugarman, D. B., and Frankel, S. L. (1996). Patriarchal ideology and wife assault: A metaanalytic review. Journal of Family Violence 11: 13–40.
Takeuchi, D., and Young, K. (1994). Overview of Asian and Pacific Islander Americans. In Zane, N., Takeuchi, D., and Young, K., (eds.), Confronting Critical Health Issues of Asian and Pacific Islander Americans, Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA, pp. 3–21.
Tang, C. S. (1994). Prevalence of spouse aggression in Hong Kong. Journal of Family Violence 9: 347–356.
Teichman, M., and Teichman, Y. (1989). Violence in the family: An analysis in terms of interpersonal resource-exchange. Journal of Family Violence 4: 127–142.
Telch, C. F., and Lindquist, C. U. (1984). Violent versus nonviolent couples: A comparison of patterns. Psychotherapy 2: 242–248.
Torres, S. (1987). Hispanic-American battered women: Why consider cultural differences? Response to Victimization of Women and Children 10: 20–21.
Tseng, W. S., and Wu, D. Y. H. (1985). Chinese Culture and Mental Health, Academic Press, Orlando, FL.
Uba, L. (1994). Asian Americans: Personality Patterns, Identity, and Mental Health. Guilford Press, New York.
Wong, R. R. (1995). Divorce mediation among Asian Americans: Bargaining in the shadow of diversity. Family and Conciliation Courts Review 33: 110–128.
Yick, A., and Agbayani-Siewert, P. (1997). Perceptions of domestic violence in a Chinese American community. Journal of Interpersonal Violence 12: 832–846.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Yick, A.G. Predictors of Physical Spousal/Intimate Violence in Chinese American Families. Journal of Family Violence 15, 249–267 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007501518668
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007501518668