NCJ Number
228967
Journal
Violence Against Women Volume: 15 Issue: 11 Dated: November 2009 Pages: 1294-1310
Date Published
November 2009
Length
17 pages
Annotation
This article discusses spiritual abuse as an additional dimension to physical, psychological, sexual, and economic abuse experienced by Haredi Jewish wives.
Abstract
This article broadens existing discussion of wife abuse, formerly discussed in four dimensions: physical abuse, psychological abuse, sexual abuse, and economic abuse, to include an additional category of spiritual abuse of religious Jewish women. The awareness of the occurrence of wife abuse in Haredi society is recent, requiring research to better understand and address culturally specific aspects of wife abuse in this population. The study was conducted using the interpretive participatory action research method. A group of eight abused Haredi wives met with the researcher and an abuse coordinator over a period of 12 months. The concept of spiritual abuse arose during the course of the sessions, with the researcher describing three levels of typology. The study conceptualizes spiritual abuse as another dimension of wife abuse in its own right, thus enlarging the existing body of theory on abuse, and developing a definition and typology for further discussion and research. Notes and references