NCJ Number
178423
Journal
Violence Against Women Volume: 5 Issue: 8 Dated: August 1999 Pages: 869-897
Date Published
August 1999
Length
29 pages
Annotation
This population-based study of women of Japanese descent in Los Angeles compared two methods of estimating the prevalence of domestic assault; one method involved a more inclusive, culturally responsive measure than did the other method.
Abstract
The research used a community-based random sample selected as part of a larger study on domestic violence and other types of victimization. The participants were ages 18-49 years, born in the United States or Japan, and currently or previously involved in an intimate heterosexual relationship. Trained interviewers conducted the personal interviews, which lasted an average of 90 minutes. Questions covered physical, emotional, and sexual violence. An estimated 80 percent of the participants reported experiencing a male intimate partner's violence during their lifetimes. In contrast, a new method took into account the participant's perceptions about the partner's actions in terms of whether she considered her partner's behavior to be abusive and placed it within the context of an abusive relationship. This method yielded a lifetime prevalence of 61 percent. Findings indicated that attention to culturally based manifestations of domestic violence and the participant's perceptions provides additional data dimensions that are grounded in women's subjective experiences. Figure, tables, notes, and 64 references (Author abstract modified)