Family Violence in Japan: A Life Course Perspective PDF
Preview Family Violence in Japan: A Life Course Perspective
Fumie Kumagai · Masako Ishii-Kuntz Editors Family Violence in Japan A Life Course Perspective Family Violence in Japan Fumie Kumagai (cid:129) Masako Ishii-Kuntz Editors Family Violence in Japan A Life Course Perspective Editors Fumie Kumagai Masako Ishii-Kuntz Kyorin University Ochanomizu University Tokyo , Japan Tokyo , Japan ISBN 978-981-10-0055-3 ISBN 978-981-10-0057-7 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-0057-7 Library of Congress Control Number: 2016930400 Springer Singapore Heidelberg New York Dordrecht London © Springer Science+Business Media Singapore 2016 T his work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifi cally the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfi lms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. T he use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specifi c statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. T he publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. Printed on acid-free paper Springer Science+Business Media Singapore Pte Ltd. is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com) Pref ace D uring my fi nal years of graduate studies, I was fortunate to study under the d irection of Professor Murray A. Straus, a pioneer in the sociological study of family violence in the U.S.A., and a founder of the Family Research Laboratory at the University of New Hampshire. I was his PA (project assistant) on the National Survey Research of Family Violence in the U.S.A. I learned that family violence tapped on various types of abusive behaviors in family interactions, including child abuse, intimate partner violence (IPV), youth and fi lial violence, elder abuse, corpo- ral punishment, sibling rivalry, and others. But no scholar of family violence can study all of these different types of abusive conducts in family relations. Consequently, it is generally true that a researcher concentrates on only a certain type of family violence as his/her major area of specialization. Professor Straus, however, changed attitudes toward studying family violence in Western societies by looking at family interactions throughout a person’s entire life course. In Japan, however, family violence today means exclusively IPV and is often called “DV,” domestic violence. I have often wondered why the interpretation of family violence among Japanese people differs from that of their Western counterparts. Two major reasons for it have come to mind. First, Western scholars and research- ers have come to look at violence in the family through a life course perspective, where it can be seen that family violence is often transmitted from one generation to the next. Instead, Japanese scholars and researchers of family violence have con- fi ned their area of specialization only to a certain segment of abusive conduct at a specifi c point in the family interaction. Japanese methods of studying family vio- lence lack the view of the whole, the gestalt, which would allow a view of family interactions through a life course perspective. S econd, family violence is a phenomenon transmitted through generations and needs to be viewed as a social issue which requires social intervention to alleviate the problem. In Japan, however, the issue is more or less viewed as a personal pathology. v vi Preface U nfortunately, my views and stance for studying family violence are not fully appreciated in Japan. Nevertheless, I am eager to let the global society know the true state of family violence in Japan. As I do not specialize in any type of family vio- lence in Japan, my desire to inform the global society on the topic has been beyond the scope of my ability. Furthermore, I have very few acquaintances among research- ers who specialize in family violence in Japan. So I asked Professor Masako Ishii-Kuntz to help me. Masako is a prominent scholar specializing in the fi eld of fathering and mothering. She possesses a wide range of scholarly activities in the United States, Japan, and throughout the world. In April 2014, I contacted Masako, asking her if she had any interest in coediting an anthology, to be titled Family Violence in Japan: A Life Course Perspective. I was extremely anxious waiting for her reply. Fortunately, she not only responded posi- tively by agreeing with the signifi cance of the project but also volunteered to contact two postdoctoral researchers and a Ph.D. candidate under her direction as possible members for the proposal. Our project team was organized in a week, with three other researchers, namely, Yoko Hayashi, Takayo Sasaki, and Rie Okamura, agree- ing to help. We met several times for briefi ngs and exchanged frequent emails. This anthology aims at providing insightful sociological analyses of family vio- lence in Japan through a life course perspective. More specifi cally, this is a sum- mary of family violence in Japan on child abuse, IPV, youth fi lial violence, and elder abuse, of which I believe little is known to non-Japanese readers on these family violence topics. It is a paradigm shift for the majority of Japanese researchers on family violence, who have only been looking at each area of family violence seg- mentally, to viewing family violence through a life course perspective, in an effort to better understand family violence as a whole. This anthology will also open doors for non-Japanese readers to in-depth studies in the fi eld of family violence in Japan. T he subject of the book is a sociological study of family violence in a life course perspective. The method of analysis is the summary of governmental publications, research articles, and media reports on child abuse, IPV, youth and fi lial violence, and elder abuse. Each topic/chapter taps on the defi nition, historical development, the extent of violence today, research in Japan, development of legal measures, and future prospects. As family violence is a very sensitive area, it is diffi cult to conduct survey research in Japan. Such nationwide extensive survey analyses as those con- ducted by Murray A. Straus and his associates in the United States are not feasible in Japan. And, therefore, the scope of the problem and the truth is not known even to Japanese people, much less so to non-Japanese-speaking people. This study will attempt to inform all people on the state of family violence in Japan in a life course perspective. It is often said that the degree of family violence in Japan is relatively low in contrast to Western societies. If that is the case, sociocultural characteristics inher- ent in Japanese society might have helped suppress or induce such tendencies. Thus, in this anthology we discuss each type of family violence deliberately with relation to such sociocultural characteristics. As such, we pointed out six major characteris- tic aspects of Japanese society, culture and personality, a vertical social structure, patriarchal-hierarchal family structure, group orientation, interdependence in Preface vii human relations, G iri-Ninjyo , and the “mind-to-mind” Japanese style of communi- cation. The reader of this anthology will be interested in seeing how and to what extent these sociocultural characteristics interact with Japanese family relations, to suppress or induce family violence. Another important aspect to be noted about this anthology is that it will hope- fully contribute to a true understanding of family violence in Japan from the Japanese perspective by fi ve Japanese family sociologists. This new anthology will take the reader deep inside the institution normally hidden to non-Japanese eyes, to reveal the entire scope of family violence in Japan. Therefore, this book will be of great interest not only to Asian scholars but also to other specialists in comparative family studies around the world. In addition, this anthology also sheds light on how and in what direction family violence in Japan will be shifting in the process of a dynamically changing global society. This book is a must for specialists in the area of cross-cultural studies of family violence as well as those interested in Japanese studies. Generally speaking, for a native speaker of Japanese, writing an academic manu- script in English is an extremely diffi cult undertaking. It requires an extensive period of training and experience. In my case I owe tremendously to the assistance of Lawrence R. Blake for some time. Larry, formerly a professional editor, assisted me in editing, rewriting, and bringing the manuscript to publishable form with true- hearted sincerity. Masako Ishii-Kuntz maintains the hyphenated last name to recog- nize the contribution of her partner, John A. Kuntz, in assisting to improve her English writing for over the last three decades. For papers by Yoko Hayashi and Rie Okamura, Stephanie Farrell Tunçay, lecturer at Ochanomizu University, kindly undertook proofreading their manuscripts. Without their supports, it would not have been possible to complete the numerous tasks required to publish this anthology. Sincere acknowledgment is also extended to various individuals and institutions. Without their cooperation and warm support, this book project could not have been accomplished. It is next to impossible to list them all, but let me list a few. Jayanthie Krishnan, editor of Springer Asia; Vishal Daryanomel, assistant editor of Springer Asia; Rameshbabu Rathinam, production editor for books; and S. Madhuriba, project manager in charge of this anthology encouraged and supported us to pursue writing this anthology by providing us with insightful and meticulous instructions throughout the entire process of publishing this anthology. Last but not least, special appreciation is extended to two anonymous reviewers of the book proposal, and to Keith Farrington for his most dedicated work in reading our complete manuscript and gave us extremely thorough, comprehensive, elaborate, critical, but truly constructive review comments. Their professional support was essential for the completion of this project. Tokyo, Japan Fumie Kumagai Contents 1 Introduction: Toward a Better Understanding of Family Violence in Japan ..................................................................... 1 Fumie Kumagai 2 Child Abuse: History and Current State in Japanese Context ............. 49 Masako Ishii-Kuntz 3 Intimate Partner Violence: Domestic Violence from Japanese Perspectives ...................................................................... 79 Takayo Sasaki and Masako Ishii-Kuntz 4 Filial Violence: An Unrevealed Problem for Decades ............................ 103 Rie Okamura 5 Elder Abuse and Family Transformation ............................................... 123 Yoko Hayashi 6 Conclusion: Prevention and Intervention of Family Violence in Japan ..................................................................... 153 Fumie Kumagai Author Index.................................................................................................... 165 Subject Index ................................................................................................... 169 ix
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