Post By: Latoya Alston
This article explains a possible connection between child and spousal abuse, with males being the abusers. The authors do not see the relationship as a causal one, but rather one that seems to have a correlation. They give two explanations that can be used to explain the reasons one becomes an abusive father and partner: 1. The father is able to rationalize or justify their violence. 2. The father has some type of patriarchal believe system that debases the wife as a human, making them a subordinate person.
Patriarchal as defined by the authors is simply a support for male domination. Previous arguments have concluded that patriarchal beliefs lead to a struggle between the sexes; and facilitate domestic violence. While the authors do not dispute this claim, they do believe that there are other factors. It is one thing to be a supporter of male domination, but the authors claim that there has to be a willingness to use physical force.
Patriarchal mentalities in abuse allow the abuser to excuse their behavior through justification. The thing that sets an abuser apart from other people is that they use their “skills” of rationalization to soothe their conscience. The authors bring into this scenario the theory of infantilization. This serves as an explanation of how child abuse leads to spousal abuse. They claim that the abuser begins to look at their wives as if they were a child which makes it easier to transfer the abuse. They point out that there are usually factors such as low income, substance abuse, low education, poor health, and being abused as a child that can serve as explanations to how the male becomes abusive also.
The study is specifically geared towards South Korean men, but can be universally used. The authors used a survey that took place in 1999 of 1,540 couples. The reason that they picked South Korea is because 28% of wives are abused. When there are minor instances of violence, 58% of those relationships had abuse towards the child and 61% when there were severe instances of violence. Another reason that they picked South Korea is because there was a time that divorce was permitted only if his wife committed one of the “seven evils”, however the woman could not divorce her husband. They believed that there may be some patriarchal beliefs that are still in place in this country.
In conclusion, the authors found that “family violence often occurs in the context of neutralizing or legitimizing beliefs, (2) husbands with patriarchal beliefs tend to think of their wives as children, and (3) when husbands have legitimizing beliefs for abusing children and think of their wives as children it is easier for them to legitimize hitting their wives (Emery, Kim, and Song)”. There were limitations to the survey such as: this was an indirect test, there were no valid measurements for the theory of infantilizing or legitimizing beliefs, and the answers are self-reported.
What do you believe are some possible causes of domestic violence? Do you agree with the authors point of view?