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Attitudes of Turkish Men Toward Wife Beating: A Study from Bursa, Turkey

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Abstract

The objectives of this cross-sectional, descriptive, questionnaire study were to explore men’s attitudes toward wife beating and examine the possible predictors. A total of 1,150 married men aged 18 and up, who had received primary health care in a defined period were the participants. The lifetime prevalence of wife beating was 29.0%. Of the men studied, 42.7% were themselves victims of physical violence during childhood. About 17.9% of the participants thought that they had the right to beat their wives. Significant predictors in logistic regression analysis included women’s low education (OR = 2.8; 95%CI = 1.26–6.46), number of children (OR = 2.4; 95%CI = 1.34–4.51), childhood beatings (OR = 1.6; 95%CI = 1.25–2.16) and alcohol intake (OR = 1.9; 95%CI = 1.49–2.63).Wife beating is a problem in Turkey. To change male attitudes, alcohol abuse control interventions and child abuse prevention should be implemented.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Medicine, Department of Family Medicine, Uludag University, Gorukle, Bursa, 16059, Turkey

    Alis Ozcakir

  2. Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Department of Econometrics, Uludag University, Bursa, 16059, Turkey

    Nuran Bayram

  3. High School of Health Sciences, Department of Nursing and Midwifery, Uludag University, Bursa, 16059, Turkey

    Nilufer Ergin

  4. High School of Health Sciences, Uludag University, Bursa, 16059, Turkey

    Kerem Selimoglu

  5. Faculty of Medicine, Department of Family Medicine, Uludag University, Bursa, 16059, Turkey

    Nazan Bilgel

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  1. Alis Ozcakir
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  2. Nuran Bayram
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  3. Nilufer Ergin
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  4. Kerem Selimoglu
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  5. Nazan Bilgel
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Correspondence to Alis Ozcakir.

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Ozcakir, A., Bayram, N., Ergin, N. et al. Attitudes of Turkish Men Toward Wife Beating: A Study from Bursa, Turkey. J Fam Viol 23, 631–638 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-008-9185-4

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