“Cruel Fathers,” Assortative Matching and Spousal Violence: Does Witnessing Spousal Violence as a Child Increase the Chances of Adult Victimhood?

Abstract

The association between witnessing spousal violence (SV) as a child and the increased adult victimization is well-established, and explained in terms of neural adaptation. But establishing causation requires addressing issues of underreporting of both witnessing and facing violence, and endogeneity due to confounding variables. Moreover, the role of social pathways like nonrandom selection of partners also needs to be analyzed. Using India's Demographic Health Survey data (2019–2021), an endogenous treatment effects model is estimated allowing for different levels of predicted underreporting. Witnessing violence increases the chances of subsequent exposure to SV by 39–70% and may be explained in terms of assortative matching.

Keywords

assortative matching bootstrapping spousal violence learned helplessness control function India

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Abramson

L. Y.

Seligman

M. E.

Teasdale

J. D.

(1978). Learned helplessness in humans: Critique and reformulation. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 87(1), 49–74. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-843X.87.1.49

Adams

C. M.

(2006). The consequences of witnessing family violence on children and implications for family counselors. The Family Journal, 14(4), 334–341. https://doi.org/10.1177/1066480706290342

Allendorf

Pandian

R. K.

(2016). The decline of arranged marriage? Marital change and continuity in India. Population and Development Review, 42(3), 435–464. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1728-4457.2016.00149.x

Baek

Han

Seepersad

(2023). Intimate partner violence and suicidality: Applicability of general strain theory to women in Trinidad and Tobago. Violence Against Women, 31(5), 1063–1081. https://doi.org/10.1177/10778012231220381

Banerji

(2023). Are the young and the educated more likely to have “love” than arranged marriage? In Choudhuri

Desai

Dubey

(Eds.), India’s social and economic transformation in the 21st century (1st ed., pp. 188–210). Routledge India. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003015604-8

Bargai

Ben-Shakhar

Shalev

A. Y.

(2007). Posttraumatic stress disorder and depression in battered women: The mediating role of learned helplessness. Journal of Family Violence, 22(5), 267–275. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-007-9078-y

Bessonneau

Brilhaut

Chauvet

Garcia

(2022). With-replacement bootstrap variance estimation for household surveys: Principles, examples and implementation. Survey Methodology, 47(2), 12-001–X. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/en/pub/12-001-x/2021002/article/00005-eng.pdf?st=eOUy3G9E

Blair

Coppock

Moor

(2020). When to worry about sensitivity bias: A social reference theory and evidence from 30 years of list experiments. American Political Science Review, 114(4), 1297–1315. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003055420000374

Blossfeld

H.-P.

(2009). Educational assortative marriage in comparative perspective. Annual Review of Sociology, 35(1), 513–530. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-soc-070308-115913

10.

Brassard

Tourigny

Dugal

Lussier

Sabourin

Godbout

(2020). Child maltreatment and polyvictimization as predictors of intimate partner violence in women from the general population of Quebec. Violence Against Women, 26(11), 1305–1323. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801219857824

11.

Center for International Earth Science Information Network. (2016). Gridded Population of the World, Version 4 (GPWv4): Population count adjusted to Match 2015 revision of UN WPP country totals. NASA Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC).

12.

Chandra

Srivastava

Singh

Mukherjee

Patel

J. K.

(2023). Locating perpetrators of violence against women in India: An analysis of married men’s characteristics associated with intimate partner violence. PLOS ONE, 18(8), Article e0289596. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0289596

13.

Chen

Haziza

Mashreghi

(2022). A comparison of existing bootstrap algorithms for multi-stage sampling designs. Stats, 5(2), 521–537. https://doi.org/10.3390/stats5020031

14.

Crowe

Murray

C. E.

(2020). Stigma and IPV victimization. In Geffner

White

J. W.

Hamberger

L. K.

Rosenbaum

Vaughan-Eden

Vieth

V. I.

(Eds.), Handbook of interpersonal violence and abuse across the lifespan: A project of the national partnership to end interpersonal violence across the lifespan (NPEIV) (pp. 1–25). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62122-7_150-1

15.

Cullen

(2023). Method matters: The underreporting of intimate partner violence. The World Bank Economic Review, 37(1), 49–73. https://doi.org/10.1093/wber/lhac022

16.

Desai

Andrist

(2010). Gender scripts and age at marriage in India. Demography, 47(3), 667–687. https://doi.org/10.1353/dem.0.0118

17.

Desai

Vanneman

(2015). India Human Development Survey-II (IHDS-II), 2011-12. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR36151.v6

18.

Felitti

V. J.

Anda

R. F.

Nordenberg

Williamson

D. F.

Spitz

A. M.

Edwards

Koss

M. P.

Marks

J. S.

(1998). Relationship of childhood abuse and household dysfunction to many of the leading causes of death in adults. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 14(4), 245–258. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0749-3797(98)00017-8

19.

Ferro

A. R.

Justus

Aransiola

T. J.

(2018). Is intimate partner violence harmful on children school outcomes? Evidence from Brazil (No. 342; Discussion Paper). https://www.anpec.org.br/encontro/2018/submissao/files_I/i12-56b2f2766447d70f150e719211fe9229.pdf.

20.

Fulford

(2013). The puzzle of marriage migration in India (No. 820; Boston College Working Papers in Economics). http://fmwww.bc.edu/EC-P/wp820.pdf.

21.

Galbaud Du Fort

Boothroyd

L. J.

Bland

R. C.

Newman

S. C.

Kakuma

(2002). Spouse similarity for antisocial behaviour in the general population. Psychological Medicine, 32(8), 1407–1416. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291702006530

22.

Ghoshal

Patil

Sinha

Gadgil

Nathani

Jain

Ramasubramani

Roy

(2024). Factors associated with help-seeking by women facing intimate partner violence in India: Findings from National Family Health Survey-5 (2019–2021). BMC Global and Public Health, 2(1), Article 25. https://doi.org/10.1186/s44263-024-00056-3

23.

Gilbert

Kemp

Thoburn

Sidebotham

Radford

Glaser

MacMillan

H. L.

(2009). Recognising and responding to child maltreatment. The Lancet, 373(9658), 167–180. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(08)61707-9

24.

Gopalakrishnan

Bertozzi

Bradshaw

Deardorff

(Shakya) Baker

Rabe-Hesketh

(2023). The role of gender norms on intimate partner violence among newly married adolescent girls and young women in India: A longitudinal multilevel analysis. Violence Against Women, 31(1), 182–205. https://doi.org/10.1177/10778012231208999

25.

Greene

(2003). Econometric analysis (5th ed.). Prentice Hall.

26.

Gundersen

Kreider

Pepper

(2011). The economics of food insecurity in the United States. Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, 33(3), 281–303. https://doi.org/10.1093/aepp/ppr022

27.

Harris

Osborn

T. J.

Jones

Lister

(2020). Version 4 of the CRU TS monthly high-resolution gridded multivariate climate dataset. Scientific Data, 7(1), Article 109. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-020-0453-3

28.

Hines

(2015). Children’s coping with family violence: Policy and service recommendations. Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, 32(2), 109–119. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10560-014-0333-9

29.

Holt

Buckley

Whelan

(2008). The impact of exposure to domestic violence on children and young people: A review of the literature. Child Abuse & Neglect, 32(8), 797–810. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2008.02.004

30.

Husain

Das

(2023). Reducing child diarrhoea in India: Shifting policy focus from source of water to quality. Water Resources and Economics, 42, Article 100221. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wre.2023.100221

31.

Ináncsi

Láng

Bereczkei

(2016). A darker shade of love: Machiavellianism and positive assortative mating based on romantic ideals. Europe’s Journal of Psychology, 12(1), 137–152. https://doi.org/10.5964/ejop.v12i1.1007

32.

International Institute for Population Sciences and ICF, & International Institute for Population Sciences. (2021). National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5), 2019-21: India. https://dhsprogram.com/pubs/pdf/FR375/FR375.pdf.

33.

Joseph

Javaid

S. U.

Andres

L. A.

Chellaraj

Solotaroff

J. L.

Rajan

S. I.

(2017). Underreporting of gender-based violence in Kerala, India: An application of the list randomization method. April. https://doi.org/10.1596/1813-9450-8044

34.

Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights. (2016). A report on strengthening counselling in schools and child care homes. https://kescpcr.kerala.gov.in/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/sp4.pdf .

35.

Kim

J. K.

Rao

J. N. K.

Wang

(2024). Hypotheses testing from complex survey data using bootstrap weights: A unified approach. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 119(546), 1229–1239. https://doi.org/10.1080/01621459.2023.2183130

36.

Knight

K. E.

(2011). Assortative mating and partner influence on antisocial behavior across the life course. Journal of Family Theory & Review, 3(3), 198–219. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1756-2589.2011.00095.x

37.

Kreider

Pepper

J. V.

(2012). Disability and employment. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 102(478), 432–441. https://doi.org/10.1198/016214506000000997

38.

Kreider

Pepper

J. V.

Gundersen

Jolliffe

(2012). Identifying the effects of SNAP (food stamps) on child health outcomes when participation is endogenous and misreported. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 107(499), 958–975. https://doi.org/10.1080/01621459.2012.682828

39.

Kruttschnitt

Dornfield

(1992). Will they tell? Assessing preadolescents’ reports of family violence. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 29(2), 136–147. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022427892029002002

40.

Lyons

Blanchard

(2016). “I could see, in the depth of his eyes, my own beauty reflected”: Women's assortative preference for narcissistic, but not for Machiavellian or psychopathic male faces. Personality and Individual Differences, 97, 40–44. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2016.03.025

41.

Maier

S. F.

Seligman

M. E. P.

(2016). Learned helplessness at fifty: Insights from neuroscience. Psychological Review, 123(4), 349–367. https://doi.org/10.1037/rev0000033

42.

Manski

C. F.

(2013). Public policy in an uncertain world: Analysis and decisions. Harvard University Press.

43.

McEwen

B. S.

(2007). Physiology and neurobiology of stress and adaptation: Central role of the brain. Physiological Reviews, 87(3), 873–904. https://doi.org/10.1152/physrev.00041.2006

44.

McKinney

C. M.

Caetano

Ramisetty-Mikler

Nelson

(2009). Childhood family violence and perpetration and victimization of intimate partner violence: Findings from a national population-based study of couples. Annals of Epidemiology, 19(1), 25–32. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annepidem.2008.08.008

45.

McLaughlin

K. A.

Sheridan

M. A.

Lambert

H. K.

(2014). Childhood adversity and neural development: Deprivation and threat as distinct dimensions of early experience. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 47, 578–591. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2014.10.012

46.

Mills

Weiss

Liang

(2013). VIIRS day/night band (DNB) stray light characterization and correction. Proceedings SPIE 8866, Earth Observing Systems XVIII, 88661P. https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2023107

47.

Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. (2012). Children in India. National Statistics Office, Central Statistics Office, Government of India. https://www.mospi.gov.in/sites/default/files/publication_reports/Children_in_India_2012-rev.pdf.

48.

Mueller

Tronick

(2019). Early life exposure to violence: Developmental consequences on brain and behavior. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 17(3), 232–245. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2019.00156

49.

Murvartian

Saavedra-Macías

F. J.

Infanti

J. J.

(2023). Public stigma toward women victims of intimate partner violence: A systematic review. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 73, Article 101877. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2023.101877

50.

National Centers for Environmental Information. (2015). 2015 VIIRS nighttime lights annual composite.

51.

Orr

Fisher

Bell

O’Donnell

Martin

Glauert

Preen

(2023). Exposure to family and domestic violence is associated with lower attendance and higher suspension in school children. Child Abuse & Neglect, 142, Article 105594. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2022.105594

52.

Overmier

J. B.

Seligman

M. E.

(1967). Effects of inescapable shock upon subsequent escape and avoidance responding. Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology, 63(1), 28–33. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0024166

53.

Palfreyman

Vijayaraj

Riyaz

Rizwan

Sivayokan

Thenakoon

T. H. S.

Dayabandara

Hanwella

Devakumar

(2024). What women want: Mental health in the context of violence against women in Sri Lanka—A qualitative study of priorities and capacities for care. Violence Against Women, 31(3–4), 789–812. https://doi.org/10.1177/10778012241230326

54.

Payne

B. K.

Triplett

R. A.

Higgins

G. E.

(2011). The relationship between self-control, witnessing domestic violence, and subsequent violence. Deviant Behavior, 32(9), 769–789. https://doi.org/10.1080/01639625.2010.538317

55.

Periodic Labour Force Survey. (2023). Migration in India. National Statistics Office, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Government of India. https://www.mospi.gov.in/sites/default/files/publication_reports/Migration in India RL16082023.pdf.

56.

Renner

L. M.

Slack

K. S.

(2006). Intimate partner violence and child maltreatment: Understanding intra- and intergenerational connections. Child Abuse & Neglect, 30(6), 599–617. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2005.12.005

57.

Roychowdhury

Dhamija

(2022). Don’t cross the line: Bounding the causal effect of hypergamy violation on domestic violence in India. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A: Statistics in Society, 185(4), 1952–1978. https://doi.org/10.1111/rssa.12858

58.

Salkind

N. J.

(2008). Learned helplessness. In Salkind

N. J.

(Ed.), Encyclopedia of educational psychology (pp. 571). Sage Publications, Inc. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781412963848

59.

Sardinha

Maheu-Giroux

Stöckl

Meyer

S. R.

García-Moreno

(2022). Global, regional, and national prevalence estimates of physical or sexual, or both, intimate partner violence against women in 2018. The Lancet, 399(10327), 803–813. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(21)02664-7

60.

Schulz

M. L.

Wood

C. E.

Fogarty

Brown

S. J.

Gartland

Giallo

(2024). Intimate partner violence exposure during infancy and social functioning in middle childhood: An Australian mother and child cohort study. Child Development, 95(3), 817–830. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.14032

61.

Seth

(2015). Child abuse and neglect in India. The Indian Journal of Pediatrics, 82(8), 707–714. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12098-014-1620-3

62.

Seth

(2021, February 12). Decoding the extent to which domestic violence is under-reported in India. The Wire. https://thewire.in/women/domestic-violence-india-underreported.

63.

Shao

(1995). The Jackknife and bootstrap. Springer New York. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-0795-5

64.

Sherr

Hensels

I. S.

Skeen

Tomlinson

Roberts

K. J.

Macedo

(2016). Exposure to violence predicts poor educational outcomes in young children in South Africa and Malawi. International Health, 8(1), 36–43. https://doi.org/10.1093/inthealth/ihv070

65.

Shields

Tonmyr

Hovdestad

W. E.

Gonzalez

MacMillan

(2020). Exposure to family violence from childhood to adulthood. BMC Public Health, 20(1), Article 1673. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-020-09709-y

66.

Shonkoff

J. P.

Boyce

W. T.

McEwen

B. S.

(2009). Neuroscience, molecular biology, and the childhood roots of health disparities. JAMA, 301(21), Article 2252. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2009.754

67.

Speizer

I. S.

(2010). Intimate partner violence attitudes and experience among women and men in Uganda. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 25(7), 1224–1241. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260509340550

68.

Speizer

I. S.

Pearson

(2011). Association between early marriage and intimate partner violence in India: A focus on youth from Bihar and Rajasthan. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 26(10), 1963–1981. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260510372947

69.

Tamer

(2010). Partial identification in econometrics. Annual Review of Economics, 2(1), 167–195. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.economics.050708.143401

70.

Teicher

M. H.

Samson

J. A.

(2016). Annual research review: Enduring neurobiological effects of childhood abuse and neglect. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 57(3), 241–266. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.12507

71.

Thompson

R. S.

Bonomi

A. E.

Anderson

Reid

R. J.

Dimer

J. A.

Carrell

Rivara

F. P.

(2006). Intimate partner violence—prevalence, types and chronicity in adult women. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 30(6), 447–457. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2006.01.016

72.

Tsegay

S. M.

Tecleberhan

(2023). Violence against women: Experiences of Eritrean refugee women in Britain. Violence Against Women, 31(3–4), 892–915. https://doi.org/10.1177/10778012231220372

73.

Vung

N. D.

Krantz

(2009). Childhood experiences of interparental violence as a risk factor for intimate partner violence: A population-based study from northern Vietnam. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 63(9), 708–714. https://doi.org/10.1136/jech.2008.076968

74.

Walker

L. E. A.

(2008). The battered woman syndrome (4th ed.). Springer.

75.

Wathen

C. N.

Macmillan

H. L.

(2013). Children’s exposure to intimate partner violence: Impacts and interventions. Paediatrics & Child Health, 18(8), 419–422. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24426794

76.

Whitfield

C. L.

Anda

R. F.

Dube

S. R.

Felitti

V. J.

(2003). Violent childhood experiences and the risk of intimate partner violence in adults. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 18(2), 166–185. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260502238733

77.

Woolridge

J. M.

(2010). Econometric analysis of cross section and panel data (2nd ed.). MIT Press.

78.

Woolridge

J. M.

(2014). Quasi-maximum likelihood estimation and testing for nonlinear models with endogenous explanatory variables. Journal of Econometrics, 182(1), 226–234. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeconom.2014.04.020