Violence in childhood, attitudes about partner violence, and partner violence perpetration among men in Vietnam

Abstract

Purpose We assess the association of men's exposure to violence in childhood--witnessing physical violence against one’s mother and being hit or beaten by a parent or adult relative--with their attitudes about intimate partner violence (IPV) against women. We explore whether men’s perpetration of IPV mediates this relationship and whether men’s attitudes about IPV mediate any relationship of exposure to violence in childhood with perpetration of IPV. Methods 522 married men 18–51 years in Vietnam were interviewed. Multivariate regressions for ordinal and binary responses were estimated to assess these relationships. Results Compared to men experiencing neither form of violence in childhood, men experiencing either or both had higher adjusted odds of reporting more reasons to hit a wife (aORs, 95%CIs: 1.43, 1.03–2.00 and 1.66, 1.05–2.64, respectively). Men’s lifetime perpetration of IPV accounted fully for these associations. Compared to men experiencing neither form of violence in childhood, men experiencing either or both had higher adjusted odds of ever perpetrating IPV (aORs, 95%CIs: 3.28, 2.15–4.99 and 4.56, 2.90–7.17, respectively). Attitudes about IPV modestly attenuated these associations. Conclusion Addressing violence in childhood is needed to change men’s risk of perpetrating IPV and greater subsequent justification of it.

Prevalence and risk factors of physical or sexual intimate violence perpetration amongst men in four districts in the central region of Ghana: Baseline findings from a cluster randomised controlled trial

“…The very significant association between witnessing inter-parental violence and having attitudes that endorse VAW bridges the link between exposure to violence in childhood and IPV perpetration later in life. This is consistent with other studies that have looked at inter-generational transmission of VAW [ 11 , 41 – 43 ]. The increased likelihood of IPV perpetration among men who witnessed the abuse of their mother is driven in part by psychosocial concepts from the Social Learning Theory that have shown that individuals learn how to behave through observing and imitating important individuals in their social environment [ 44 ].…”

Variability and validity of intimate partner violence reporting by couples in Tanzania

“…Childhood exposure to violence, maltreatment and neglect may influence formative perceptions of what is “normal” in intimate relationships, reinforcing later life tendencies to normalize and perpetrate IPV [ 58 – 60 ]. Consistently, studies have found that childhood exposure to traumatic experiences is a risk factor for at least one form of violence against women in Tanzania [ 47 , 48 ], South Africa [ 61 ], Malawi [ 62 ], Vietnam [ 63 ], and India [ 53 ].…”

Why Do Women Justify Violence Against Wives More Often Than Do Men in Vietnam?

“…If men have been hit by their own wives, they may be more likely to justify wife hitting because such experiences are perceived as a major transgression of women’s roles to maintain family harmony. The causal ordering of perpetration of IPV and justification of IPV against women is debatable; however; one study of men in Vietnam found that the association between experiences of violence as a child and greater justification of IPV against women was explained by men’s perpetration of IPV as an adult (Yount, Pham, et al, 2014). In contrast, among women, experiencing physical IPV as an adult was negatively associated with justifying IPV against women.…”

“…Holding the belief that IPV is “normal” or “justified” may be learned from observing or experiencing violence as a child (General Statistics Office of Vietnam, 2010; Whitfield, Anda, Dube, & Felitti, 2003). Witnessing IPV as a child is associated in adulthood with both the risk of experiencing IPV and perpetrating IPV in Vietnam, Cambodia, Egypt, and South Africa (Gass, Stein, Williams, & Seedat, 2011; Haj-Yahia, 2001; Higgins et al, 2013; Vung & Krantz, 2009; Yount & Carrera, 2006; Yount, Pham, et al, 2014). Among men, experiencing physical or sexual abuse in childhood is associated with perpetrating IPV and aggressive behavior in adulthood (Heise, 1998).…”

“…Of published studies, many have been qualitative (Vung et al, 2008), and none have compared men’s and women’s attitudes about IPV. The majority of quantitative studies which report on attitudes about IPV in Vietnam have analyzed men and women separately (Luke et al, 2007; Yount, Pham, et al, 2014). Several studies assessing gender differences in attitudes about IPV in various Sub-Saharn African countries found that women justified IPV more often than did men (Rani, Bonu, & Diope-Sidibe, 2004; Speizer, 2010; Uthman et al, 2009).…”