Using a more inclusive, culturally responsive measure, this population-based study of women of Japanese descent contrasts two methods of estimating prevalence of domestic violence. Eighty percent of respondents reported experiencing a male partner's violence during their lifetimes—a conventional estimation. A new method took into account the respondent's perceptions about the partner's acts—whether she considered her partner's behavior abusive and placed it within the context of an abusive relationship—and yielded the lifetime prevalence of 61%. Attention to culturally based manifestations of domestic violence and the respondent's perceptions provide additional dimensions of data grounded in women's subjective experiences.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Agtuca, J. R. (1992). A community secret: For the Filipina in an abusive relationship. Seattle, WA: Seal Press.
2.
Arias, I. , & Beach, S. R. (1987). Validity of self-reports of marital violence. Journal of Family Violence, 2, 139-149.
3.
Attala, J. M. , Hudson, W. W., & McSweeney, M. (1994). A partial validation of the Short-Form Partner Abuse Scale. Women & Health, 21, 125-139.
4.
Commonwealth Fund . (1993, July 14). The Commonwealth Fund Survey of Women's Health. News release and key tables. New York: Author.
5.
Council of American Survey Research Organizations (CASRO), Task Force on Completion Rate . (1982, June). A special report of the CASRO Task Force on Completion Rate. New York: Author.
6.
Dasgupta, S. D. , & Warrier, S. (1996). In the footsteps of “Arundhati”: Asian Indian women's experience of domestic violence in the United States. Violence Against Women, 2, 238-259.
7.
Dobash, R. E. , & Dobash, R. P. (1988). Research as social action: The struggle for battered women. In K. Yllo & M. Bograd (Eds.), Feminist perspectives on wife abuse (pp. 51-74). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
8.
Dobash, R. P. , Dobash, R. E., Wilson, M., & Daly, M. (1992). The myth of sexual symmetry in marital violence. Social Problems, 39, 71-91.
9.
Dutton, D. G. , & Hemphill, K. J. (1992). Patterns of socially desirable responding among perpetrators and victims of wife assault. Violence and Victims, 7, 29-39.
10.
Dutton, M. A. , Hohnecker, L. C., Halle, P. M., & Burghardt, K. J. (1994). Traumatic responses among battered women who kill. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 7, 549-564.
11.
Edleson, J. L. , & Brygger, M. P. (1986). Gender differences in reporting of battering incidence. Family Relations, 35, 377-382.
12.
Family Violence Prevention Fund . (1993). Men beating women: Ending domestic violence—A qualitative and quantitative study of public attitudes on violence against women. San Francisco: Author.
13.
Follingstad, D. R. , Rutledge, L. L., Berg, B. J., Hause, E. S., & Polek, D. S. (1990). The role of emotional abuse in physically abusive relationships. Journal of Family Violence, 5, 107-120.
14.
Gondolf, E. W. (1987). Evaluating programs for men who batter: Problems and prospects. Journal of Family Violence, 2, 95-109.
15.
Heise, L. L. (1993). Reproductive freedom and violence against women: Where are the intersections?Journal of Law, Medicine, & Ethics, 21, 206-216.
16.
Heise, L. L. (1994). Violence against women: The hidden health burden. Washington, DC: World Bank.
17.
Ho, C. K. (1990). An analysis of domestic violence in Asian American communities: A multicultural approach to counseling. Women & Therapy, 9, 129-150.
18.
Hudson, W. , & McIntosh, S. (1981). The assessment of spouse abuse: Two quantifiable dimensions. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 43, 873-885, 888.
19.
Kasian, M. , & Painter, S. L. (1992). Frequency and severity of psychological abuse in a dating population. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 7, 350-364.
20.
Kaufman Kantor, G. , Jasinski, J. L., & Aldarondo, E. (1994). Sociocultural status and incidence of marital violence in Hispanic families. Violence & Victims, 9, 207-222.
21.
Kelly, L. (1988a). How women define their experiences of violence. In K. Yllo & M. Bograd (Eds.), Feminist perspectives on wife abuse (pp. 114-132). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
22.
Kelly, L. (1988b). Surviving sexual violence. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
23.
Koss, M. P. (1992). The underdetection of rape: Methodological choices influence incidence estimates. Journal of Social Issues, 48, 61-75.
24.
Koss, M. , Gidycz, C., & Wisniewski, N. (1987). The scope of rape: Incidence and prevalence of sexual aggression and victimization in a national sample of higher education students. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 55, 162-170.
25.
Lai, T. A. (1986). Asian women: Resisting the violence. In M. C. Burns (Ed.), The speaking profits us: Violence in the lives of women of color (pp. 8-11). Seattle, WA: Center for the Prevention of Sexual and Domestic Violence.
26.
Marin, G. , & Marin, B. V. (1991). Research with Hispanic populations. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
27.
Marshall, L. L. (1992). Development of the severity of violence against women scales. Journal of Family Violence, 7, 103-121.
28.
Neff, J. , Holamon, B., & Schluter, T. (1995). Spousal violence among Anglos, Blacks, and Mexican Americans: The role of demographic variables, psychosocial predictors, and alcohol consumption. Journal of Family Violence, 10, 1-21.
29.
Nisonoff, L. , & Bitman, I. (1979). Spouse abuse: Incidence and relationship to selected demographic variables. Victimology, 4, 131-140.
30.
Pinn, V. W. , & Chunko, M. T. (1997). The diverse faces of violence: Minority women and domestic abuse. Academic Medicine, 72, 65-71.
31.
Rodenburg, F. , & Fantuzzo, J. (1993). The measure of wife abuse: Steps toward the development of a comprehensive assessment technique. Journal of Family Violence, 8, 203-228.
32.
Rosenbaum, A. (1988). Methodological issues in marital violence research. Journal of Family Violence, 3, 91-104.
33.
Russell, D. E. , & Howell, N. (1983). The prevalence of rape in the United States revised. Signs, 8, 688-695.
34.
Saunders, D. G. (1991). Procedures for adjusting self-reports of violence for social desirability bias. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 6, 336-344.
35.
Saunders, D. G. (1994). Posttraumatic stress symptom profiles of battered women: A comparison of survivors in two settings. Violence & Victims, 9(1), 31-44.
36.
Schulman, M. A. (1979, July). A survey of spousal violence in Kentucky. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice.
37.
Shepard, M. F. , & Campbell, J. A. (1992). The Abusive Behavior Inventory: A measure of psychological and physical abuse. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 7, 291-305.
38.
Smith, M. D. (1987). The incidence and prevalence of woman abuse in Toronto. Violence and Victims, 2, 173-187.
39.
Smith, P. H. , Earp, J., & DeVellis, R. (1995). Measuring battering: Development of the Women's Experience with Battering (WEB) Scale. Women's Health, 1, 273-288.
40.
Song, Y. I. (1986). Battered Korean women in urban America: The relationship of cultural conflict to wife abuse. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, Canton.
41.
Sorenson, S. B. , & Telles, C. A. (1991). Self-reports of spousal violence in a Mexican-American and non-Hispanic White population. Violence and Victims, 6, 3-15.
42.
Straus, M. A. (1977-1978). Wife beating: How common and why?Victimology: An International Journal, 2, 443-458.
43.
Straus, M. A. (1979). Measuring intrafamily conflict and violence: The Conflict Tactics (CT) Scales. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 41, 75-88.
44.
Straus, M. A. (1990). The Conflict Tactics Scale and its critics: An evaluation and new data on validity and reliability. In M. A. Straus & R. J. Gelles (Eds.), Physical violence in American families: Risk factors and adaptations to violence in 8,145 families (pp. 49-73). New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction.
45.
Straus, M. A. (1991). Physical violence in American families: Incidence rates, causes, and trend. In D. B. Knudsen & J. L. Miller (Eds.), Abused and battered: Social and legal responses to family violence (pp. 17-34). New York: Aldine.
46.
Straus, M. A. , & Gelles, R. J. (1986). Societal change and change in family violence from 1975 to 1985 as revealed by two national surveys. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 48, 465-479.
47.
Straus, M. A. , Hamby, S. L., Boney-McCoy, S., & Sugarman, D. B. (1996). The Revised Conflicts Tactics Scales (CTS2): Development and preliminary psychometric data. Journal of Family Issues, 17, 283-316.
48.
Straus, M. A. , & Kaufman Kantor, G. (1994, July). Change in spouse assault rates from 1975 to 1992: A comparison of three national surveys in the United States. Paper presented at the 13th World Congress of Sociology, Bielefeld, Germany.
49.
Sugarman, D. , & Hotaling, G. (1997). Intimate violence and social desirability: A metanalytic review. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 12, 275-290.
50.
Szinovacz, M. E. (1983). Using couple data as a methodological tool: The case of marital violence. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 45, 633-644.
51.
Szinovacz, M. E. , & Egley, L. C. (1995). Comparing one-partner and couple data on sensitive marital behaviors: The case of marital violence. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 57, 995-1010.
52.
Teske, R.H.C. , & Parker, M. L. (1983, February). Spouse abuse in Texas: A study of women's attitudes and experiences. Huntsville, TX: Criminal Justice Center, Sam Houston State University.
53.
Tjaden, P. , & Thoennes, N. (1998, November). Prevalence, incidence, and consequences of violence against women: Findings from the National Violence Against Women Survey. National Institute of Justice, Research in Brief. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice.
54.
Tolman, R. M. (1989). The development of a measure of psychological maltreatment of women by their male partners. Violence and Victims, 4, 159-177.
55.
Torres, S. (1991). A comparison of wife abuse between two cultures: Perceptions, attitudes, nature, and extent. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 12, 113-131.
56.
United Nations, Centre for Social Development and Humanitarian Affairs . (1989). Violence against women in the family. New York: Author.
57.
U.S. Commission on Civil Rights . (1992, February). The plight of battered Asian American women. In Civil rights issues facing Asian Americans in the 1990s (pp. 174-180). Washington, DC: Author.
58.
Weis, J. G. (1989). Family violence research methodology and design. In L. Ohlin & M. Tonry (Eds.), Family violence (pp. 117-162). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
59.
Wyatt, G. E. (1985). The sexual abuse of Afro-American and White American women in childhood. Child Abuse and Neglect, 9, 507-519.
60.
Wyatt, G. E. (1994). Sociocultural and epidemiological issues in the assessment of domestic violence. Journal of Social Distress and the Homeless, 3, 7-21.
61.
Wyatt, G. E. , & Peters, S. D. (1986). Methodological considerations in research on the prevalence of child sexual abuse. Child Abuse and Neglect, 10, 241-251.
62.
Yoshihama, M. (1993). Domestic violence: Experience, knowledge, and attitudes among residents of Tokyo, Japan. Unpublished manuscript, School of Social Welfare, University of California, Los Angeles.
63.
Yoshihama, M. (1996). Domestic violence against women of Japanese descent: Understanding the socio-cultural context. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of California, Los Angeles.
64.
Yoshihama, M. , & Sorenson, S. B. (1994). Physical, sexual, and emotional abuse by male intimates: Experiences of women in Japan. Violence and Victims, 9, 63-77.
