Definitions of and beliefs about wife abuse among undergraduate students of social work

The Mediated Portrayal of Intimate Partner Violence in True Crime Podcasts: Strangulation, Isolation, Threats of Violence, and Coercive Control

In this directed qualitative content analysis of four season-long true crime podcasts, the researcher examined how different types of intimate partner violence (IPV) were portrayed. Across the podcasts, controlling behaviors, emotional abuse, and coercive control were commonly depicted. Physical violence was not the most common form of abuse depicted, but it was presented in sensationalistic ways-with a pointed focus on strangulation and bruising. Overall, the podcasts provided a much more realistic portrayal of IPV at the individual level than traditional news sources, yet did not go far enough in describing the societal conditions that permit abuse.

College Students' Beliefs About Domestic Violence: A Replication and Extension

In recent decades, significant effort and money have been spent to change social and legal responses to domestic violence and affect public perceptions. A small body of research has examined individuals' opinions about what behaviors are considered domestic violence. Using a sample of college students, the present study examined a modified version of a somewhat popular instrument used to measure beliefs about domestic violence, extending previous work done by Carlson and Worden. Results indicated beliefs about domestic violence are multidimensional, depending on the nature of the behavior and, in part, the gender of the perpetrator. Opinions about the lawfulness of these behaviors fit the same factor structure as beliefs about domestic violence. Demographic characteristics, current relationship status, secondhand experiences with domestic violence, and perceived prevalence of domestic violence in the community are generally not related to beliefs about domestic violence or the lawfulness of these behaviors. However, attributions of blame on the victim are negatively related to domestic violence beliefs and lawfulness. Moreover, lawfulness is a key covariate for domestic violence beliefs. In addition, results also indicate that the gender of the perpetrator is an important variable affecting student's beliefs about sexual assault behaviors. Results from this study support the prevailing ideas behind the Battered Women's Movement that enacting policies and educational programs deeming domestic violence socially, morally, and legally wrong could shift long-standing sociocultural beliefs about men's use of violence against women. Implications of this study for research and policy specific to college students are discussed.

Beliefs About Wife Beating Among Social Work Students in Taiwan

Based on an integrative framework, this study addresses the beliefs that a group of social work students from Taiwan had about wife beating. A self-administered questionnaire was filled out by 790 students (76.5% female, 23.5% male) spanning all 4 years of undergraduate studies. The results show that male students exhibited a greater tendency than their female counterparts to justify wife beating and to hold battered women responsible for violence against them. This tendency was also found among students who held traditional attitudes toward women, students who held patriarchal expectations of marriage, and students who had witnessed interparental violence in childhood. In addition, male students and students with traditional attitudes toward women exhibited the strongest tendency to believe that wives benefit from beating. Conversely, female students expressed more willingness than their male counterparts to help battered women, as did students who held liberal attitudes toward women and students who held egalitarian expectations of marriage. Furthermore, female students and those with liberal attitudes toward women tended to hold violent husbands responsible for their behavior, and to express support for punishing violent husbands. This article concludes with a discussion of the study's limitations and the results' implications for future research on the topic.

Toward an integrative theoretical framework for explaining beliefs about wife beating: a study among students of nursing from Turkey

An integrative theoretical framework was tested as the basis for explaining beliefs about wife beating among Turkish nursing students. Based on a survey design, 406 nursing students (404 females) in all 4 years of undergraduate studies completed a self-administered questionnaire. Questionnaires were distributed and collected from the participants during their attendance of core courses. The results revealed that between 8% and 27% of the students expressed some level of willingness to justify wife beating, between 8% and 11% showed a tendency to believe that battered women benefit from beating, and between 10% and about 29% indicated that battered women are responsible for their beating. However, more than 88% of the students expressed willingness to help battered women, more than 63% of them indicated that violent husbands are responsible for their behavior, and about 28% or more showed a tendency to support punishing violent husbands. The results also indicated that significant amounts of the variance in the students' beliefs about wife beating can be attributed to their patriarchal ideology, to their exposure to family violence during childhood and adolescence, and to their traumatic symptoms. The article concludes with a discussion of the implications of the results for future research on the topic. Emphasis is placed on developing a more integrative theoretical approach for explaining beliefs about wife beating, and on the professional socialization of nursing students.