UNDERSTANDING ATTITUDES TOWARD SPOUSAL ABUSE

209 Pages·2013·2.37 MB·English

by  Manish Madan

UNDERSTANDING ATTITUDES TOWARD SPOUSAL ABUSE:
BELIEFS ABOUT WIFE–BEATING JUSTIFICATION
AMONGST MEN AND WOMEN IN INDIA

By

Manish Madan

A DISSERTATION

Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of

Criminal Justice – Doctor of Philosophy
2013
ABSTRACT

UNDERSTANDING ATTITUDES TOWARD SPOUSAL ABUSE: BELIEFS ABOUT WIFE-
BEATING JUSTIFICATION AMONGST MEN AND WOMEN IN INDIA

By

Manish Madan

Violence against women is a growing concern for any modern society. Particularly, the
status of women in India and especially the incidence rate of domestic violence, including events
such as spousal abuse or wife beating, rape, kidnapping and molestation are some of the issues
endangering the safety of women in the country. Suppression of women, infliction of violence by
the male partner, and acceptance of violence by the female partner finds its roots in the
traditional and patriarchal attitudes of men in India.
Behavioral statistics tell only half the story. To understand the meaning of behavior,
knowing the attitudes behind it is far more important. The purpose of this study, therefore, is to
examine the acceptance of normative gender roles among Indian men and women. The
normative gender roles will be studied by examining two sets of attitudes: first, whether it is
justified that a husband hit or beat his wife in certain situations, and second, whether it is
justified if a wife refuses to have sex with her husband in certain situations. The degree to which
a woman is able to exercise her right of having sex with her partner as per her wishes affects
multiple aspects of a woman’s rights, including her right to dignity and privacy, as well as her
reproductive rights and general autonomy. These in turn affect women’s overall empowerment
and realization of potential.
Apart from the various factors that contribute to our understanding of justification or
acceptance of wife beating and attitudes toward women’s sexual autonomy, the goal is also to
examine gender differentials in educational attainment, marital age, age at first marriage, use of
substances, etc., and to determine how certain variables account for the variance in the attitudes
toward a specific behavior.
Another goal is to explore the nature of women’s empowerment in India, such as
participation in household decision-making and control over household finances, and to examine
the differential attitudes of men and women toward gender empowerment. Justifying abuse
(acceptance) of a wife by a husband reflects an endorsement of women’s lower status compared
to men, and it is critical to examine the attributes that permit for such endorsements. Using
secondary data collected on behalf of Measure DHS (Demographics and Health Surveys), this
study is based on a nationally representative sample representing as many as 29 states in India,
which contain more than 99 percent of India’s population.
Copyright by
MANISH MADAN
2013
DEDICATION
I sincerely dedicate this work to the vision that provides equality of status and
opportunity for women, that assures the dignity of both men and women and most critically that
refuses any form of violence against women.
To my baby girl, Ivannah and to all daughters of the world!

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

A long, very long journey coming to a successful culmination! Everyone be assured that
there will be more than one person to thank toward making this a successful one so hold your
breath while I roll down the green carpet for everyone. To begin with, I would like to thank my
Chair and mentor, Dr. Mahesh K Nalla for his role in my program. Joining one of the leading
doctoral program (Criminal Justice) at Michigan State University would not be an obvious
choice for someone with double Masters in Statistics. Where the first couple of years were
practically like as if I was thrown into an ocean without knowing how to swim, it was indeed my
Chair’s support and directions that made me believe that not only I could learn to stay afloat but
also learn to swim across this ocean. His guidance throughout the program and pushing his
students to the next level is much appreciated! It would not be without his support and guidance
throughout the program that enabled me to achieve the degree. To me, he will always be a role
model and I cannot ever thank him enough for his role professionally and personally. I also want
to thank his family for their friendship and for all the good laughs we have had. Thank you Sir
for your mentoring and for your friendship – thank you!
Well, the doctoral program requires you to have a dissertation committee, so it is obvious
that their role be acknowledged as well not because I have to, but I really believe that without
their inputs either, this dissertation would not be what it is! Dr. Steven Chermak, Dr. Charles
Corley from School of Criminal Justice and Dr. Brian Silver from the Department of Political
Science deserve special thanks for their guidance through the various stages of the dissertation. I
met Dr. Silver through his role as Director of C-STAT office of MSU when I was hopelessly
stuck on a dataset. After a brief meeting with him and understanding his keen eye on numbers, I
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practically had a ‘love at first sight’ moment that led to getting him on board as the final member
for the dissertation committee. Dr. Chermak and Dr. Corley’s critical and theoretical inputs
added valuable directions to the study. After six long years, I can confidently say that I am a
happy camper and grateful that all the professors Dr. Nalla, Dr. Chermak, Dr. Corley and Dr.
Silver decided to serve on my committee. As Newton once said, ‘standing on the shoulders of
giants’, after the successful completion of the program I can perhaps add that too, not being
Newton though – happy to be standing on the shoulders of such knowledgeable professors! I also
thank the faculty and staff, particularly Melissa, Peggy, Denise, Mary Lee, Terri and Hao for
being a great support system to the graduate students in the School of Criminal justice. Finally, I
would also like to thank Dr. Edmund McGarrell for his role as director of the school and serving
to the students to their best interest.
At a personal level, it is hard to thank enough to the person who has fed you ‘literally’
during your doctoral days and continue to do so! Well, let me begin by saying that while many
people would be behind this moment (knowingly or unknowingly), my wife, Nishtha Madan
deserves a special thanks for her role in keeping the sanity in me and taking care of so many
things so I could focus on the degree. Her constant love, support and incessant push to ‘finish up’
finally made me finish up! For the future Ph.D. aspirants reading this acknowledgment (I know
you will not really want to read the next 200 pages, I will salute your guts if you could and tell
me what you learnt from it!), the doctoral program can bring many changes to your lives –
physical, emotional, and hormonal! A few of those changes would mean getting married from
being single, and then having the best change in your life, which is becoming a father, to the
most beautiful baby girl, Ivannah Madan! She has been another source of inspiration to ‘finish
up’. Her smile, her giggles, her beautiful eyes would mean the world and I thank her for joining
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us and adding unlimited happiness to our lives – this one is for you!
I would also like to personally thank all my friends at East Lansing and beyond for all the
great times we shared, particularly to Dr. Abhishek Nagar, and Atha Khan for being the most
awesome roommates and friends for life! At the school, I want to thank my peers, and
particularly Dr. Raymund Narag for being there as a friend and my laughter buddy. His life story
itself could be a source of inspiration for anyone and I am lucky to have him as a dear friend!
My two fur babies were another source of sanity for me during my doctoral days and I
will always love them to eternity! Newfie boy whom I got as a 7 week old puppy, left us for a
better place after a very short life of just about 3 years and a few months. He added so much joy
to our lives that never goes a day without taking his name. I love you my boy and I am sorry that
you left us – I hope to meet you one day and find you as the same super hyper active and like my
‘devil-beast’ as you were when you were with us. I promise we will once again play hide and
seek, a lot of fetch and a bucket full of yogurt for you with lots of peanut butter and chicken-
lamb treats. I can already see you barking in joy hearing all these treats! Each day I wrote this
dissertation, I wanted to do it fast so I could tell you that I am done! I know you were my
guardian angel and will be giving me a few woofs congratulating me from up above on ‘finishing
up’. Do not chew the dry walls of the heavenly abode, no lawyer will be able to settle it for us ;)
Just have fun! Myra is my calm fur baby girl and I thank her for her unconditional love. I
promise I will find you a new mate soon enough!
Last but not the least, I would also like to thank my grand-mother (nani), my parents,
brothers (Vineet and Neeraj) and their families, my in-law family for constantly pushing me to
‘finish up’. Thank you every one for making this long journey worthwhile!
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF TABLES …………………………………………………………………………….... xi
LIST OF FIGURES …………………………………………………………………………… xiii
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION ………………………………………………………………………………. 1
The Research Problem …………………………………………………………………... 3
Purpose and Significance of the Study ………………………………………………...... 3
CHAPTER 2
THEORETICAL BACKGROUND ……………………………………………………………... 5
Feminist Theory and Domestic Violence ………………………………………………… 7
Resource Theory and Domestic Violence ...………….…………………….…………... 10
Social Learning and Domestic Violence ...…………….……………………….……...... 15
Summary ……………………………………………………………………………….. 16
CHAPTER 3
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: ATTITUDE, PERCEPTIONS AND BELIEFS ON WIFE BEATING
……………………………………………………………………………………………….….. 20
Attitude, Perceptions and beliefs on Wife Beating …….………………………………. 22
Domestic Violence Research in India …….……………………………………………. 24
CHAPTER 4
PRESENT STUDY …………………………………………………………………………….. 29
Laws against Domestic Violence in India ……………………………………………… 29
Women’s Role in Indian Society ……………………………………………………….. 30
Ethical Consideration of the Study ……………………………………………………… 31
Research Model ………………………………………………………………………… 32
Research Questions ……………………………………………………………... 37
Hypothesis …………………….………………………………………………... 37
Description of the Demographic and Health Surveys ………………………………….. 38
Sampling Design & Methodology ……………………………………………… 39
Sample Weights ………………………………………………………………… 40
Data Collection …………………………………………………………………. 41
Women’s Sample ……………………………………………………….. 42
Men’s Sample …………………………………………………………... 44
Survey Instrument ………………………………………………………………. 44
Measurement of Variables ………………………………………........................ 46
Dependent Variables …………….……………………………………… 46
Independent Variables …………….……………………………………. 59
Background Characteristics …………………………………….. 59
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Age ……………………………………………………... 60
Education ………………………………………………. 60
Religion ...………………………………………………. 61
Place of Residence ……………………………………… 61
Region ………………………………………………….. 62
Social Characteristics …………………………………………... 64
Marital Status …………………………………………… 64
Marital Duration ………………………………………... 64
Age at First Marriage …………………………………… 65
Wealth Index (Socio-Economic Status) ………………… 67
Number of household members ………………………… 67
Family Structure ………………………………………... 68
Number of sons and daughters ………………………….. 69
Type of Caste or Tribe ………………………………..… 70
Media Exposure ……………..……….…………………………. 72
Patriarchy and Male Domination ……….………………………. 76
Financial Autonomy and Economic Independence …….. 76
Use of Contraception and Media Exposure to Family Planning
………………………………………………………………..…. 78
History of Violence ……………..……………………….……… 81
CHAPTER 5
DESCRIPTIVE ANALYSIS: URBAN/RURAL AND REGIONAL ANALYSIS ………..…… 84
Residence Type Analysis: Deconstructing the Patterns ………………………………… 84
Regional Analysis: Deconstructing the Patterns across Regions …………..................… 97
Analyzing Contextual Variables by Demographic Distributions …..……………….… 113
Men and Women’s Media Exposure and Demographic Distribution ……......… 113
Women’s Sexual Empowerment and Demographic Distribution …….……….. 119
Multivariate Analysis ……………………………………………………...………….. 136
CHAPTER 6
SUMMARY AND DISCUSSION …………………………………………………………….. 163
Summary of Results …………………………………………………………................ 164
Demographic Predictors ………………………………………………………………. 166
Social Predictors ………………………............................................................. 167
Media Exposure ………………………………….............................................. 169
History of Violence …………………………..................................................... 170
Economic Predictors ……………………………………………....................... 170
Limitations ……………………………………………………...................................... 175
Policy Implications and Future Directions for Research ………………......................... 176
REFERENCES ………………………………………………………………………………... 179

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