Cultural Variation in Male Partner Violence Against Women: A Comparison of Quebec with the Rest of Canada

• NCJ Number: 193641
• Journal: Violence Against Women Volume: 8 Issue: 1 Dated: January 2002 Pages: 87-115
• Author(s): Douglas A. Brownridge
• Date Published: January 2002
• Length: 29 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This article highlights the question of whether Quebec has a different culture of male partner violence against women compared with the rest of Canada.

Abstract

The tendency toward a lower prevalence of male partner violence in Quebec suggests that there is something about Quebec society that renders men there less likely to be violent. A possible explanation for this involves the cultural shift in Quebec away from a traditional, patriarchal society. Feminist theory explains that the less patriarchal the society, the lower is the prevalence of violence in that society. The question is whether Quebec possesses a different culture of male partner violence than the rest of Canada. The data in this study were from Statistics Canada’s Cycle 13 of the GSS. In 1999, a random sample of men and women 15 years of age or older completed in-depth telephone interviews concerning the nature and extent of their criminal victimization, including experiences of partner violence. The sample used consisted of 7,396 heterosexual women: 1,318 from Quebec and 6,078 from the rest of Canada. The results provided support for the hypothesis that Quebec would have a lower prevalence of violence than the rest of Canada, although the difference was not as large as one would expect based on the review of the literature. It did not appear that Quebec had “caught up” with the rest of Canada with regard to the prevalence of male partner violence. It seemed that the rest of Canada may be moving toward convergence with Quebec. Quebec has important differences in terms of influence of risk markers for male partner violence against women. Quebec possesses a less patriarchal and egalitarian culture. Recognizing that patriarchy exists on a continuum and has a continued presence in Quebec, it was hypothesized that men in Quebec who held patriarchal attitudes would be more likely to be violent than those who did not hold such attitudes. Results supported this hypothesis, with men in both cultures who exhibited patriarchal dominance via preventing their partners from having access to the family income having the highest odds of violence. 4 tables, 5 notes, 35 references