Race/Ethnicity, Religious Involvement, and Domestic Violence

• NCJ Number: 220573
• Journal: Violence Against Women Volume: 13 Issue: 11 Dated: November 2007 Pages: 1094-1112
• Author(s): Christopher G. Ellison; Jenny A. Trinitapoli; Kristin L. Anderson; Byron R. Johnson
• Date Published: November 2007
• Length: 19 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Based on an analysis of data from the first wave of the National Survey of Families and Households (NSFH-1), this study examined the relationship between involvement in religion and intimate partner violence (IPV) as well as any link between race/ethnicity and IPV.

Abstract

The study found that religious commitment, specifically church attendance, protected against domestic violence and that this protective effect was stronger for African-American men and women and for Latino men. As suggested by previous research, involvement in a religious organization may reduce factors known to be related to IPV, such as problem drinking, social isolation, and depression. Previous research has also shown that the effect of religious involvement cannot be reduced to the sum of these indirect effects. Attendance at religious services may reflect the existence and cultivation of prayerfulness, positive religious coping styles, self-discipline, or other factors generally associated with regular involvement in religious activities. Future research should examine specific behavioral and mental characteristics linked to religious involvement and spirituality. The analyses also found differences in the prevalence of IPV by race/ethnicity. Compared with non-Hispanic Whites and Latinos, African-Americans had higher levels of IPV and were more likely to perpetrate and be victimized by IPV. The NSFH-1, the data source for this study, was conducted during 1987-88. It involved a cross-sectional national probability sample of 13,017 men and women ages 18 and older living in the contiguous United States. The current study analyzed data for a subsample of the primary respondents who were married to, or cohabitating with, a person of the opposite sex at the time of the interview (3,134 men and 3,666 women). The questions measured the perpetration of IPV, victimization by IPV, religious involvement (frequency of attendance at religious activities), and sociodemographic variables. Logistic regression was used to examine links between race/ethnicity, religious involvement, and IPV. 3 tables, 1 figure, and 75 references