Cultural-Specific Gender Ideology and Wife Abuse in Mexican-Descent Families

Abstract

The present study, which was designed to improve understanding of the context, patterns, and meanings of violence against wives, uses a standpoint-based approach which incorporates a symbolic interactionist method and a feminist perspective to examine wife abuse in Mexican-descent families. Findings from the study indicate that wife abuse occurs in the complex context of economic hardship, changes in gender role expectations and performances, and husbands' attempt to maintain male dominance and control of the family. The control aspect of wife abuse was reflected in the patterns of violence used by husbands, the unequal power relationship between husbands and wives, and the differences between wives' and husbands' reactions to family conflicts. These findings suggest that efforts to stop wife abuse need to focus not only on increasing women's economic independence but also on eliminating culture-specific ideologies of male supremacy.

Exploring Battered Mexican-Origin Women's Help-Seeking Within Their Sociocultural Contexts

“…According to theory and research, culturally influenced gender roles, scripts, and values may significantly impact abused Latinas' (Bauer et al, 2000;Flores-Ortiz, 1994;Kanuha, 1994;King et. al, 1993;Martinez-Garcia, 1988;Perilla, 1999;Vera, 2002;Zambrano, 1985) and Mexican American women's (Avecedo, 2000;Morash, Bui, & Santiago, 2000;Sorenson, 1996;Torres, 1991) responses to abuse. Certain Latino cultural characteristics are thought to create a climate that facilitates and maintains female intimate partner abuse among Latino couples.…”

“…Also, because of machismo, male sexual jealousy may be viewed as a legitimate reason to abuse one's wife (Morash et al, 2000;Perilla, 1999).…”

“…Also, women with fewer personal resources may have fewer opportunities to engage in occupational and social roles outside the family, which decreases their chances for establishing a social network, obtaining information, and bolstering self-worth (Mitchell & Hodson, 1981). Qualitative studies have demonstrated that, feeling (for good reason) economically unable to sustain themselves and their children if they leaves the abusive husband, economically marginalized Latinas might stay with an abusive partner, for lack of a better alternative (Avecedo, 2000;Morash et al, 2000).…”

“…Research suggests that values of machismo and culturally influenced traditional gender roles may contribute to occurrence of abuse among Latino couples and women's decisions to stay in or to leave an abusive relationship (Avecedo, 2000;Bauer et al, 2000;Morash et al, 2000;Sorenson, 1996;Torres, 1991;Vera, 2002).…”

“…Evidence indicates that income is an obstacle to help-seeking for nonLatina battered women (Anderson et al, 2002). Similarly, research indicates that limited financial resources are perceived as barriers to help-seeking by battered Latinas (Avecedo, 2000;Dutton et al, 2000;Hogeland & Rosen, 1990;Morash et al, 2000;Orloff & Dave, 1997). Therefore, it is expected that women earning less monthly income will report using less formal help.…”