Developing and understanding on why women live with abusive and violent partners

Contents

Chapter 1
Introduction
1.0 Introduction
1.1 Research background
1.2 Rationale behind the research
1.3 Significance of research
1.4 Research aims
1.5 Research objectives
1.6 Research Questions
1.7 Research methodology
1.8 Dissertation outline

Chapter 2
Literature Review
2.0 Introduction:
2.1 Definition of violence
2.2 Narrow definition of violence
2.3 Broad definition of violence
2.4 Theories of abuse against women within intimate relationships
2.4.1 Psychological approaches
2.4.1.1 Personality disorders
2.4.2 Evolutionary perspectives
2.4.3 Social psychological aspects
2.4.4 Social learning theory
2.4.5 Feminist theories
2.5 Conclusion

Chapter 3
Methodology
3.0 Introduction:
3.1 Research process
3.2 Research Philosophy
3.2.1 Justifying the philosophy:
3.3 Research Design
3.4 Research approach
3.4.1 Justifying the approach:
3.5 Research Strategies
3.5.1 Justifying the strategy
3.6 Research Choices
3.6.1 Justifying the research choice:
3.7 Time Horizon
3.8 Data Collection- Source
3.9 Sampling
3.9.1 Population sampling
3.9.2 Sample size:
3.10 Limitations of the research
3.11 Conclusion

Chapter 4
Data Analysis and Findings
4.0 Introduction:
4.1 Data Analysis
4.1.1 Quantitative Data- Questionnaire Survey
4.1.2 Qualitative data- Interview
4.2 Conclusion

Chapter 5
Conclusion and Recommendation
5.1 Introduction:
5.2 Linking data findings with the objective:
5.2.1 Evaluation of main reasons behind why a husband or a partner acts in a violent and abusive manner towards their partners
5.2.2 The main reasons that make the wife or the partner not report about the abuses being done to her to anybody
5.2.3 The prime reasons that leads a woman to continue living with her abusive, violent partner or husband and not leave him/her even after the repeated atrocities
5.3 Recommendations
5.4 Limitations of the research study
5.5 Further scope of research

References

Appendix

List of Tables

Table 1: Study of violence and physical assault on women by their intimate partners around the world

(Source: Mitchell and Anglin, 2009)

Table 2: Marital Status

Table 3: No. of years in marriage

Table 4: Employment of the Husband

Table 5: Smoking and Drinking Habits of the Spouse

Table 6: Whether Husbands get violent after they are drunk

Table 7: Heavy Work Pressure and family Pressure causes husband seek violence

Table 8: Act of socializing by the Husband and expecting the wife to serve

Table 9: No. of times husband has been abusive and rude

Table 10: Idea about marital relationship and compatibility

Table 11: Protest against unfair behavior of the husband

Table 12: Could the patience of the wife change the behavior of the husband

List of Figures

Figure 1: Research Onion

Source: Saunders et al.,

Figure 2: Marital Status

Figure 3: No. of years into marriage

Figure 4: Employment of the husband

Figure 5: Smoking and Drinking Habits of the Husband

Figure 6: Whether Husbands get violent after they drink

Figure 7: Heavy Work Pressure and family Pressure causes husband seek violence

Figure 8: Act of socializing by the Husband and expecting the wife to serve

Figure 9: No. of times husband has been abusive and rude

Figure 10: Idea about marital relationship and compatibility

Figure 11: Protest against unfair behavior of the husband

Figure 12: Could the patience of the wife change the behavior of her husband

Abstract

The entire attempt of this research is to identify what makes the women bear the tortures of abusive and violent intimate relationships with their husbands or partners. Many theories and concepts in criminal and social psychology has tried to look into the different attributes that lead to the possible acts of violence by the spouses to their respective partners in case of an intimate relationship. But what is more intriguing is the complacence from the women of such partners who are hardly found complaining to the legal authorities or the concerning governing bodies in the society about these abuses. Moreover, some of the theorists and scholars have also studied and found that women not only stay away from disclosing these acts of abuse but also continue to live with such relationships.

The entire dissertation is sub-divided into five chapters, each to conduct certain specific activities. The research rationale tries to identify why the researcher chose the topic of intimate partner abuse in case of women and why women keep living with such relationship. The research aim, objectives and questions try to keep a focus on what elements have to be studied specifically to identify why women stay with their abusive intimate partners. The following chapter has all the research theories and concepts on criminal and social psychology related to abusive behavior in intimate relationships. In studying the theories the researcher has also looked into the available statistics of women abuse in different countries around the world.

In conducting the research, the researcher has used positivism, descriptive and inductive research design. This research was mainly a cross-sectional research, where samples of 75 women who are either married or have experienced an intimate relationship were used as respondents of a questionnaire survey. The research has both primary analysis and secondary analysis of data, using a mixed approach. The survey questionnaire is the quantitative data that is analyzed, while the qualitative analysis has interview conducted of five psychologists of the field. The data analysis has found that it is mostly the education and culture of the society that makes the women succumb to such acts of violence and yet remain in the relationship, also with a hope that over the time, the situation would become better.

Acknowledgement

Conducting this research has been one of the most preferable experiences of my life. It has contributed exceptionally in enhancing my knowledge base and skills of analysis. I was capable of overcoming the challenges that I faced while completing this dissertation. However, all this would not have been possible without the guidance and help of many individuals supporting me. First, I would like to thank my supervisor ___________ for constant assistance and guidance throughout the research. Special thanks to my academic guides who shared their knowledge and experience and encouraged me. I would also like to thank my friends who provided me moral support and helped in collecting the primary data from various resources. Finally, I would like to thank the organizing personnel who participated in the research survey and shared their valuable insights. The support of all these people gave the strength and courage required for conducting this study.

Thanking You All,

Yours Sincerely

Chapter 1 Introduction

1.0 Introduction

Domestic violence, as is also termed violence of intimate partner, would mostly occur between those people who are in one intimate relationship (Dutton, 2006). There are various forms that domestic violence can take, and includes sexual, emotional and physical harm or threats of such harm. There are instances of men being hurt by their partners; however the direction of domestic violence is mostly towards the women. Feindel and Roulette( 2010) state that, domestic violence could even happen within same-sex relationships or among the heterosexuals.Shiromani et al., (2009) say that, in the first national survey conducted on domestic violence in 1975, there where more than 28 percent married couples who were reported with at least one physical assault.

The focus of this dissertation is to identify the reasons behind a woman staying in a relation with her spouse even after his being violent and abusive. This research will try and understand the concept of domestic violence and abuse thoroughly; and discuss the main situations under which a marital relationship can be termed as abusive. It would also try to find out why a woman (as is evident in most cases) prefers to stay with her partner even after his/her being violent and abusive.

1.1 Research background

While, it might not really be easy to understand at what stage in a relationship domestic violence begins, some relationships remain clearly violent and abusive from its outset, often the abuse begins subtly and starts getting worse as time passes (Mitchell and Anglin, 2009). There could be different kinds of experiences of domestic violence when one is in a relationship with an individual who:

- Keeps calling his/her spouse names, demeans him/her or insults him/her.
- Discourages or prevents him/her from attending school or work.
- Discourages or prevents the individual from meeting friends and family.
- Tries in controlling how his/her spouses money would be spent, the way he/she dresses, where he/she goes, or even what medication is taken.
- Acts out of jealousy or possessiveness or constant accusations of unfaithfulness;
- Gets enraged while taking drugs or drinking alcohol;
- Threatens the spouse with a weapon or violence;
- Kicks, hits, shoves, chokes, slaps or hurts the spouse (mostly the wives), or children and the pets;
- Forces the spouse for having sex or engaging in sexual acts against the will of the other;
- Blames the other person for ones violent behavior and tells the individual that she/he deserves it.

In case of a transgender, bisexual or homosexual relationship, there could also be the experience of domestic violence in case one is with a relationship with one that (Tjaden and Thoennes, 2000):

- Keeps threatening to reveal the gender identity or sexual orientation to the family, friends, community members or colleagues;
- Keeps telling that the authority would not come to help a homosexual, transgender or a bisexual person;
- Justifies an abuse by saying that the other individual is not actually a transgender, bisexual or homosexual.

1.2 Rationale behind the research

Tjaden and Thoennes, (1998) opines that relationship violence, including sexual, psychological, and physical abuse affects millions in the world. One of the studies of the Justice Department reports estimated that about 2 million women are victimized in 12 months time in the world. Kinnear, (2011) finds that, more than one-third among the rape cases and about 9 million of the incidents in violence in a year are observed in the world. Different studies are indicating that out of the women victims, about 76% were found assaulted by their intimate partners and the same goes true with 18% of the male victims.

Mitchell and Anglin, (2009) say that, abuse generally produces trauma and fear in all those who have been victimized, by sexual and/or physical coercion. Abuse mostly produces trauma and fear in all those who have been victimized, while isolated acts of aggression may not. In case of sexual assault, just one aggressive sexual act can bring in an element of fear of being raped for the entire life. These facts lead to the need to study the main causes that could lead to this kind of abusive and violent behavior from the partner and results in an eventual fear of life and of getting raped by the partner with whom the women are set to lead their entire lives. Moreover, it also leads to a disturbed family condition, where the children get affected a lot due to the abusive atmosphere prevailing in the family(Stark and Buzawa, 2009).

Overall, the study is conducted to identify the criminal psychology that works in the psyche of the partners, mostly men and the husband in the family and how it damages the entire construct of the family. Understanding what makes the women stick to their abusive partners and to what extent it is safe and healthy for her as well as her children, would help diagnose a solution and inform the woman to a certain extent, how such situations should be tackled and with strict negations, so that the rights of a woman are peaceful exercised.

1.3 Significance of research

A lot of studies about the troublesome behavior of the children today are attributed due to the difficult and mal-adjusted family life these kids experience at home. The difficulty in adjusting to the social life, lacking in IQ and slow response to growth are some of the most common symptoms seen in those children who have experienced their father acting violently with their mother and been abusive. Moreover, the main victims in such situation, the lady is found experiencing a lot of trauma in life, which leads into her losing confidence in herself, something that cannot be entertained at any point in time(Conners et al., 2003).

However, those men or individuals involved in the act of domestic violence are generally found to be otherwise very normal individuals, performing their daily activities with proper attention and care. These men are usually not found having any kind of criminal activity records in their day-to-day lives other than the act of torturing their intimate partners(Grovert, 2008). By studying the reasons why such acts of violence occur in the very first place, and what makes the women accept such atrocities without complaining; could bring out possible solutions to tackle such conditions. The study could help find remedies to reduce the intensity of such acts and help in creating a healthier society.

1.4 Research aims

The research aims towards identifying those factors that brings in domestic violence and abuse within an intimate relationship, generally between a husband and a wife and what are the reasons behind the tortured preferring to stay with the abuser, not reporting about these violent acts that leaves a fear of life and of being raped.

1.5 Research objectives

The main objectives of this research, studying why most women do not leave their abusive and violent partners and prefer to live with them is to study:

- The main reasons behind why a husband or a partner acts in a violent and abusive manner towards their partners.
- The main reasons that make the wife or the partner not report the abuses being done to her.
- The prime reasons that leads a woman to continue living with her abusive, violent partner or husband and not leave him/her even after the repeated atrocities.

1.6 Research Questions

The significant questions that arise out of this study and need to be answered are:

What are the prime reasons behind the rising domestic violence, where the debatably weaker partners (mostly women) are found being abused physically, emotionally or psychologically by their partners?

What are the socio-political, economic and religious factors that lead to the increasing domestic violence on women by their spouses?

What could be the main reasons behind abused women’s continuing to live with their abusive partners as well as not reporting the acts of violence to anybody?

1.7 Research methodology

Crouch and Pearce (2012) explain that a research methodology is a procedure that is applied in successful and complete conducting of the research. In this study on criminal and social psychology, the approach and the philosophy the researcher has followed while conducting the study is identified. In this research, the researcher has used a positivist research approach, based on the philosophy where there is positive verification of the experiences observed, rather than being dependent on intuitions and introspections (Williams and Vogt, 2011). There is a mixed research using both primary and secondary data that would be collected through a survey questionnaire distributed to 75 married ladies from different sections of the society and interviewing five psychologists from around the city. Using the descriptive method of research, and analyzing the data with the help of graphs and statistics along with other research materials available, the study is conducted.

1.8 Dissertation outline

The dissertation is covered in total with the help of 5 chapters, each with a specified set of functions and roles as mentioned below:

Chapter 1: Introduction- This chapter is to help in understanding the research background, rationale, significance etc. The chapter tries to explain the main aims and objectives of conducting the research along with the questions that the research will try to answer.

Chapter 2: Review of Literature - The various theories, concepts, models, etc. that exist in the topic will be researched and collated by reading various books, journals, PDFs, articles, news reports, and other academic website resources to construct a secondary research on the topic.

Chapter 3: Methodology- Chapter 3 describes in details the processes that are used in carrying the research forward. According to the available time and resources, and within a pre-fixed budget, the best possible methods that are used to conduct the study, is explained in detail in this chapter.

Chapter 4: Data Analysis and finding- Depending upon the type of research conducted, primary or secondary, or both, the data collected would be represented through graphs and tables and analyzed, with the findings discussed in this chapter.

Chapter 5: Conclusion and recommendations- This is the final chapter that uses the findings of the data from chapter 4 and relates it with the objectives of chapter 5 to see if the set objectives of the study has been met or not. Depending upon the findings, if there are recommendations suitable for the topic and also for future research would be suggested.

Chapter 2

Literature Review

2.0 Introduction:

Literature review happens to be a kind of survey of all the things that have been researched and documented about a given topic, research question, or theory. It has the capacity to provide a background of the larger work, or may even stand all on its own(Minden and Roth, 2012). Literature review is much more to being a simple list consisting the sources, as an effective one synthesizes and analyses information of the key issues or themes. Murray, (2011) says that literature review is written to find the things each source does in contributing to a particular topic out of what all information have already been provided in it. It is also done in trying to understand what relationship exists between different contributions, first identify and then resolve contradictions, thereby determining the unanswered questions or gaps in the study. Denney and Tewksbury, (2013)opines that literature review involves in doing research so that the things that have been written on a given topic can be discovered. It involves critical appraisal of evaluating the literature, determining what relationships exist between each source is and ascertaining what needs to be done and what has already been done. It involves writing so that the researcher can explain what he or she has found. In this research, the researcher has tried to look into various theories and concepts that have been built around criminal psychology and especially on the concept why women stay with their partners even after their partners are violent and abusive towards them.

2.1 Definition of violence

To define violence within an intimate relationship is really important and provides a considerable amount of scrutiny; owing to the power that is conveyed by political and scientific authority (Adams et al., 2008). The means by which these acts get defined produce major effects on policies, research techniques as well as the lives around various people. Moreover, politically these definitions are used as helpful tools in case of social struggles. Along with unemployment, poverty, terrorism, as well as many social problems, the issue of acting violently towards women is one highly politicized subject requiring inquiry that is socially scientific, and the conditions these harms bring, reflect the particular reality which is to be observed to realize (Edleson et al., 2012).

A study on the violence and physical assault on women by their intimate partners from 1992- 1999 has found the following result(Mitchell and Anglin, 2009).

Abbildung in dieser Leseprobe nicht enthalten

Table 1: Study of violence and physical assault on women by their intimate partners around the world

(Source: Mitchell and Anglin, 2009)

2.2 Narrow definition of violence

Many of the policy makers, researchers, general public, and journalists focus just on the sexual assaults or physical abuse that involves penetration. Spiritual, verbal, psychological, as well as economic abuse remain absent from the definition purview for different reasons, which includes the claims that the types of harms that has behavior of physical injuries; makes so much murk out of water that it sometimes gets impossible in determining what exactly caused the abuse (Bergen and Barnhill, 2006). Many other people who advocate the proposal of narrow definitions based on legalities are the political conservatives, who usually come up with the argument that studies on violence against women are mostly driven ideologically and get designed so that women abuse rates can be artificially inflated so that political points are made (Brownridge, 2009). Lloyd et al., (2009) on a similar attack from the feministic segment states that, by the combination of somewhat debatably abusive to what is agreed upon by everyone as seriously abusive, the impact of the seriously abusive gets trivialized. According to Kinnear, (2011) emotional or psychological victimization is more of a ‘soft-core’ abuse. Similarly, the right-wing groups of fathers’ wing along with some antifeminists who strongly defend the men and state that women are as equally violent as the men; would not include stalking, homicide, divorce/separation, sexual assault, and assaults like strangulation and others that is being experienced by millions of women; under this definition (Brownridge, 2009).

2.3 Broad definition of violence

One of the central arguments that this chapter presents is how one is defining violence, which happens to be the most important decision for research for the methodologist to make (Kilpatrick, 2004). There have been particular debates within the areas of emotional and psychological abuse. Psychological abuse could produce equal injuries like that of physical violence, and in certain cases more as well. Buchbinder and Eisikovits,(2004) have stated in their report that about 72% of the female interviewees with abusive experiences had found psychological atrocities causing more effect on them to that of the physical hurts. The interviewed report of Barker, (2008) say that some of the victims have stated that, physical wounds heal, however the damage that is done to the self-respect as well as the ability of relating with others because of the spiritual, verbal and emotional abuse keeps affecting all the aspects of these women’s lives.

There are also similar instances of many women who have been harmed through sexual assaults immeasurably that might not include forced penetration, like the unwanted acts in a state of drunkenness or when they were high or even when they were not in a position to contend to (DeKeseredy et al., 2007). Then there are various other kinds of psychological abuses, for instance, the cohabiting or married women who get blackmailed into having sex with their husbands or other partners their husbands choose. Whether these women found psychological harms as more damaging than the physical harms, those who happen to be the targets of the interpersonal violence through intimate relations are rarely found victimized just by a single type of assault (DeKeseredy and Dragiewicz, 2007). They are rather the typical sufferers from various different kinds of injurious behaviors of the male that involves psychological abuse, physical violence, economic blackmailing, or even denying money to the woman when she is earning it. There are indirect threats given by harming the animals or other possessions she finds attachment to or even the behavior of stalking (Renzetti et al., 2011).

The central concern stands for an increasing number of scholars and psychiatrists is the problem that is associated with coercive control where the physiological and the emotional abusive behavior is so subtle that they are very hard to detect as well as prove, hence becomes seemingly more forgivable with those people who have not known about women abuse and the consequences it has (Kimmel et al., 2005). Lloyd et al., (2009) contradict by saying that there are some women who strike men, sometimes intending to injure, and that the numbers were increasing day-by-day. The argument placed forward was that, men remain more likely to be underreporting the interpretation of violence and women are most likely to be over-reporting them (DeKeseredy et al., 2008). Moreover abusers continuously deny, justify and minimize their abuse and violence and also that Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS) keeps the measurement of violence that is conflict instigated and completely ignores those male violence that are used in controlling women or even violence that might not have stemmed from a single identifiable reason (DeKeseredy et al., 2004).

2.4 Theories of abuse against women within intimate relationships

Girard, (2009) has pointed out some 20 theories distinctly on women abuse, family violence, or various other violence types within conjugal relationships. Although reviewing all these theories is not possible, the attempt is to understand some of the widely cited and used contemporary theories with their perspectives.

2.4.1 Psychological approaches

Why some men assault their women they are in love with? The most conducive answer could be that these men are either mentally disturbed or ill. How is it possible for a normal person to kick, punch, stab, shoot, or rape someone he finds deep love for? There are many discussions about how male personality disorders contribute to their act (Girard, 2009).

2.4.1.1 Personality disorders

Henning and Holdford, (2006) opine that the psychologically violent accounts are no longer as popular as they used to be in the 1970s, however, men beat their women because they suffer with serious personality disorders or are mentally ill, or could be using huge quantities of alcohol or drugs. As Dutton (2006) asserts that, most of the men committing crimes like intimate partner abuse or violence are suffering from personality disorders. However, the realities are concealed by some misleading theories like assault on wife is normatively acceptable, which happens to be an absurd declaration lacking empirical support. Dutton has further argued that the psycho-educational groups, like those of the programs on ‘abuser intervention’ are really problematic and hence, there is need for public policies to be driven by recognizing the personality disorders that are attachment-based as the central forms of therapeutic change (Johnson, 2008).

Most of the men who are found assaulting women are most disturbingly normal and not as such disturbed. Like other men, they are a product of familial and social systems like our brothers, sons, friends, as well as co-workers. They are not just influenced by individual factors, but by broader cultural aspects and beliefs also about manhood, which shapes their identities and psyches as well as ours (Kilpatrick, 2004).

2.4.2 Evolutionary perspectives

Some of the evolutionary psychologists like Resko, (2007) place the argument that men are violent against women to have sexual access towards women. Male proprietorship concept is more emphasized in evolutionary thought, which is defined as the tendency in men to think women to be reproductive and sexual property they have the right of owning or exchanging. Proprietorship feeling is not a mere reference to the emotional force that men may have about the feeling of being entitled but a kind of more persistent attitude of control and ownership towards their social relationships they share with the intimate partners (Tan et al., 1995).

As the violence exercised against female is ever changing and an on-going problem, many activists, practitioners, and scholars opine that constant reflection of one’s contributions in this field is essential and developing newer ways to understand and prevent the myriad very highly lethal behaviors, which typically occur at private places. Hence, in spite of the criticisms that the two previously mentioned perspectives face, many sociologists as well as the feminists are in the process of integrating certain psychological accounts when they analyze different socio-cultural forces and gender influence on beating, rape, psychological abuse, stalking, etc. (DeKeseredy and Perry, 2006)

2.4.3 Social psychological aspects

Referred frequently as process theories; or micro-oriented aspects; or even explanations at individual levels; the theories that are social psychological focus on the individual’s subjective experiences in small and large scale social surroundings (Hattery and Smith, 2012). Social psychology gets defined as the attempt of understanding as well as explaining how the feeling, behavior, and thought of individuals get influenced by the imagined, implied, or actual presence of other people (Hattery and Smith, 2012).

2.4.4 Social learning theory

Social theories can be found of different types, however, all these theories have a common argument to share: aggression and violence are not inherent aspects of an individual; they are more of learned behaviors. The social learning theory, which gets used most often to explain about women abuse in case of intimate relationships, happens to be the theory of intergenerational transmission (Lyman and Potter, 2007). In short, this theory’s proponents state that male children will have more likelihood of growing up into assaulting their female intimates in case they have been abused by their parents or if they have observed their father doing the same kind of assault to their mother (McCluskey and Hooper, 2000).

The theory of intergenerational transmission finds some empirical support along with being accepted in the political scenario. However, Mitchell and Anglin, (2009) argues that it would be wrong to place the entire burden of abuse or violence in learning, adopted from the family. For example, there are numerous instances that can be cited where people raised in the non-abusive families have shown instances of intimate violence towards the females. Similarly, there are ample instances where the individual has experienced child abuse along with watching their mother being beaten by their father and has never beaten their wife or the children (Stark and Buzawa, 2009).

2.4.5 Feminist theories

Unlike the other theories discussed till now, feminist theory tries to focus on the effect of broader social aspects like patriarchy has contributed to the violent acts against women. There are different definitions to patriarchy, however, “the power of sexual system where male is the possessor of superior power as well economic privilege” is predominant here. The feminist theories, in addition to paying a lot of attention on how patriarchy relates to the myriad assaults of males on females, they reject the narrow definitions to a great extent (Chesney-Lind and Morash, 2011). Reviewing feminist accounts within a limited scope is difficult, as various competing theories on feminism exist, according to various kinds of feminism.

While a variety of feminist theories are existing within the scope of women abuse in relationships that are adult heterosexual in nature, most of them share a common view that male violence towards women comes from a sense of maintaining power as well as control over the women (Adams et al., 2008). Most of the feminist concepts assert the following as well:

- Patriarchy, power and gender happen to be the main explanatory factors.
- Intimate relationships experience change as time passes and has to be essentially understood in the context.
- It is a must necessity to listen to the experiences women had to develop a women abuse theory.
- Research and scholarship has to be used to support the women (Barker, 2008).

There is one deep desire in feminists to unite and eliminate all kinds of inequality in gender and the injurious consequences they bring, like women abuse and violence. Moreover, the main goal with the feminists is not about pushing men out as for pulling women in, but to categorize according to gender and studying criminal justice and crime, along with other social issues like unemployment, poverty, health care, etc. (White, 2011). With gender, the reference is on psychological and socio-cultural patterning, shaping and evaluating of the male and female behavior (Resko, 2007).

2.5 Conclusion

Although there are various other theories that can place light onto the topic, the above-mentioned theories have been discussed because of their predominance in most cases. Feminists have pointed out that some women happen to be more vulnerable to violence than others, including those living in poverty. Stark and Buzawa, (2009) place arguments which states that because of displace of working men and women, who are often found shifting to public urban housing, they are found economically unable of supporting the families as well as live up to the culturally reinstated role of bread winner, and hence experience severe stress levels as their normal paths of having prestige and personal power has got cut off. Such kinds of stress prompt them on behaving the way with their intimate relationships, which turns out violent and abusive. And women, who are mostly vulnerable to such disclosures of weaknesses from their male counterparts, intend staying with such atrocities, thinking the situation would change with the change in social and economical circumstances around them.

Chapter 3

Methodology

3.0 Introduction:

Chapter 3 deals with the methods, which are required in any research so that the study is completed successfully. This acts as one guiding star to the researcher that guides him through entire research procedure (Knox, 2008). The entire research is focused on factors that lead to an abused woman’s staying with her abusive partner in case of a marriage or cohabiting relationship. The research has focused on the women in Pakistan who are in a disturbing and damaging relationship, which is life threatening.

This chapter works into using relevant concepts, strategies and philosophies so that final result can be attained. All of these aspects help to build the structural framework that is required in the research and is supported by various evidences. Bergh and Ketchen, (2009) state that, the methodology also describes which category of people have to be the target for interviewing based on a structured questionnaire, with number of people also mentioned. This is one aid the researcher uses to complete his study in step-wise systematic manner. The philosophies help to overcome some of the limitations that might crop up during the time the research is being carried out (Bryman and Bell, 2011).

3.1 Research process

The entire research gets carried out based on the research onion that describes the strategies and concepts elaborately. The research onion can be best used where the objectives have been clearly defined. There are different layers in a research onion, where first layer talks about the philosophies that the researcher can use or on which the main research body is made. The second layer of research approach helps in identifying the direction in which the research should be approached so that smooth results are obtained. The third layer aims at strategies that are to be aimed at in order to complete this research. The fourth layer describes the types of data that has to be collected depending on the research requirements. The fifth layer talks about the time schedule that will depict how much total time would be required to complete one entire research. This attribute of time will depend on the research length completely (Saunders et al., 2009). The sixth and last layer will talk about the process and technique employed in a time frame to collect suitable data and is considered as the stepping-stone in data analysis.

Abbildung in dieser Leseprobe nicht enthalten

Figure 1: Research Onion

Source: Saunders et al., 2009

3.2 Research Philosophy

Many philosophies are described within this heading that helps in carrying the research easily.

Positivism- Research gets carried out on the basis of logical events that are supported by certain facts as well as figures. The logical facts available support the entire survey and the aspect is termed as positivism (Cooper and Schindler, 2010).

Realism- It signifies that certain information and facts the researcher used are existent in the real world, irrespective of whether the researcher finds it believable or not. It helps in deriving real time data, as the data derived directly from the outside world keeps changing all the time. Hence, the existing concepts and models have not much use (Corbetta, 2009).

Objectivism- It refers that the data, which is gathered during a survey, is based on the human knowledge and values that are objective by nature. The philosophy gets created through one’s mind, so human thoughts are having no role-play in them (Denzin and Lincoln, 2011).

Pragmatism- The philosophy remains a little different as it tries to present one link between the theory underlying it and the process. This is an intelligent practice used for cases where the theory gets extracted from the practice and is applied in the process again. Here the researcher needs putting in lesser effort than that of normal study.

Subjectivism- This philosophy takes in the subjective data along with information that is extracted from practical world subjects. It describes the reactions that are shown after a certain action has happened. As there is subjective data collected, there is no human perception and thought consideration, however, it does consider human beings like subjects (Gulati, 2009).

Interpretive- The philosophy is on the basis of the fact that any survey would acquire its data that gets interpreted from practice. The information is gathered here by analysis of the qualitative data received from the target population. The questionnaire is prepared based on the research’s subject matter (Crowther and Lancaster, 2012).

3.2.1 Justifying the philosophy:

Positivism philosophy is used aptly in this research. As the incidents and events happen systematically along with the data collected being logical and relevant according to requirements, hence, positivism philosophy suits best here. The researcher has first formulated the aims and objectives along with the research questions and worked on the basis of these aspects into conducting the secondary research. After the theories and concepts have been studied and its salient points noted in the literature review chapter, the researcher has formulated a set of 11 multiple choice questions and 5 long answer interview questions to formulate the results.

3.3 Research Design

Before conducting any research, a properly planned design is essential that would act as one guideline for the next step. Starting from selecting a particular topic, which would reflect on the relevance of the study matter, appropriate models and theories would then have to be chosen through various theories and concepts (Hakim, 2007). Choosing a research onion to guide the research through a proper path, so that the methodology follows a structural framework, relevant data is to be collected from sample that has been targeted for the research survey. Using graphs and tables, the data as well as information is gathered and findings are shown. Finally all information and data collected during the entire research is concluded and a result is derived (Bryman, 2006).

3.4 Research approach

There are mainly two research approaches that the researcher can work with, inductive and deductive. As Handwerker (2008) opines, deductive approach finds the researcher identifying the result from the problem underlying. A tentative hypothesis gets formed for this using which the main problems solution is attempted. Here the researcher moves from general to specificity of the problem, and is most widely used in researches. Kothari (2008) states that, inductive approach is where the researcher is trying to find the underlying problem in a result, through back calculation. There are some specific hypotheses designed that leads towards the main problem of the research. From a specified result, the researcher moves to one general problem.

3.4.1 Justifying the approach:

Deductive approach has been used in this research in solving the aim of the research. As there were many existing theories and concepts on the topic available, the researcher has worked on collecting all the broad theories and coming into a specific conclusion through these theories. Hence, deductive approach is the best method to be applied.

3.5 Research Strategies

Says Hesse-Biber (2010), a number of strategies exist and the researcher can resort to these to complete the study. Only one of the suitable strategies needs to be selected according to the topic and research method.

Experiment- Used in cases where more than one topic needs to be resolved, which means, multiple problems exist, where relevant data is collected following the requirements and a sequence of steps are followed (Leedy and Ormrod, 2012).

Survey- Required in case of single problem solving and needs quality information, and is a much more time consuming process than others. The analysis of data is done based on the problem and data collection starts way before the research. Here the sample population is larger than it is for others as the information is based upon large population according to the research needs (Lodico and Spaulding, 2010).

Case Study- It involves incorporating opinions, concepts and thoughts of common people that would make it more fruitful. It has data, which is derived from the practical world that helps in smoothly carrying out the research.

Grounded theory- The strategy is used in arriving at a key point of the problem by the process of conglomerating all relevant data through which proper hypothesis is formed and results into proposition formation (Roger, 2009). This strategy has no common use in case of studies and gets used only in cases where there is the use of inductive approach by the researcher in finding the result. The data derived from this gets used in arriving at results through back calculation.

3.5.1 Justifying the strategy

Here survey strategy is best suitable as there is only one topic. The research takes long time in conducting and the data collection is also huge. A survey questionnaire of 11 multiple choices is prepared and distributed to some 75 women who are either married, divorced, separated or in a live-together relationship, to which this target population is asked to respond to (Somekh and Lewin, 2011). The results obtained through survey have the maximum accuracy.

3.6 Research Choices

To carry out any research, data is required, which is primarily of two types, quantitative and qualitative. In certain researches a mixed form of both the data are used, which depends on how difficult the study is (VanderStoep and Johnson, 2009). Three types of options are basically available to the researcher:

Mono method- Here, only one data type gets used which depends on the quality of research. Here either only quantitative or qualitative data gets used. This method is used when the data topic is not very vast and collecting data by single method is sufficient so that a conclusion can be reached.

Mixed method- Both types of data is used here, that means, the researcher will use both questionnaire survey and interview or thematic analysis in completing the research. For topics too vast, where data collected through a single method cannot be resorted to, mixed method is adopted. Cameron (2009) says that, it helps the researcher with a large collection having useful information pack ready to be used.

Multi method- The method is based on collection of data of various types like qualitative, quantitative, as well as other types that exist beyond these two. Here real time data is collected, related and updated to the practical world and incorporates models as well as theories related with the modern world (Ellis and Levy, 2009).

3.6.1 Justifying the research choice:

Multi method has been used in this research as both primary and secondary research is used in conducting the study. The researcher has conducted a questionnaire survey, a set of interviews and the comparison of literature review to come to a conclusion.

3.7 Time Horizon

Two types of time horizon are generally used in a research, longitudinal and cross sectional. It shows the time that is taken to complete the research.

Cross sectional - Here the research is to be finished within specified time frame. Through cross sectional model, researcher usually conducts research only once within the given short framework of time.

Longitudinal- Here the time span is longer as the topic is very vast and involves an in-depth subject research, requiring a lot more time than normal research.

3.8 Data Collection- Source

Two ways the data can be sourced, primary as well as secondary. Primary data is collected through surveys and interviews of the target population. Secondary details collect its resources from articles, books, websites, and journals of the organization. In case of primary source of data a proper survey questionnaire is designed on the basis of research subject as well as sample size (Knox, 2008). In this research both primary data, containing the quantitative questionnaire survey and qualitative data by conducting interview is collected. Secondary research whose findings have been collated in the 2nd chapter (literature review) is also used in arriving at certain specific conclusions to the research.

3.9 Sampling

This method is used in targeting a small population based on the research topic and subject. The target population gets interviewed based on a structured questionnaire that is prepared by the researcher, pointing directly to the research aim.

3.9.1 Population sampling

The reference here is to the section of people targeted by the researcher for the purpose of interview. The assumption here is that answers provided by the sample population are the overall representation of the whole community. There are two types of sampling, non-probability and probability sampling.

As Bergh and Ketchen, (2009) highlighted, probability sampling has the responses that are received from the target population considered as the default response for the entire community. In case of non-probability sampling, there is no formation of target population and response is acquired from the whole community, which leads to the accumulation of a huge data.

Here in this study, probability sampling using a population of 75 women who are either married, living in, annulled, divorced, or separated are surveyed using a questionnaire.

3.9.2 Sample size:

It is the population of people interviewed by researcher, whose awareness is considered as a useful data is analyzed to find the result. In this research, the questionnaire survey is conducted of 75 women and 5 psychologists from Pakistan. These women are either married, in a living-in relationship, divorced, or separated. An attachment containing 11 multiple-choice questions are sent across to them either through their postal address or via email. The completely filled documents were then collected, and luckily all 75 women had responded the complete questionnaire, which made the population and the sample size remain the same.

3.10 Limitations of the research

The limitations found in conducting this research can actually be studied as a separate topic for conducting further research. The main problem lies with collecting data, as many respondents either do not submit their papers or send them incomplete. Moreover, finding a suitable time from the busy schedules for the interviewees to answer the qualitative questions was also an issue. The topic being very vast, not everything could be encompassed in the literature review.

3.11 Conclusion

The chapter 3 has helped in completing the study in a structured manner. The methods used had a better application as they were justified with good reasoning and the need for adopting specific methods. Overall, the chapter has been able to hold the entire research through a systematic chain of events, one process carrying the research further to the next and so on. Moreover, this chapter will help future researchers in understanding how to approach a topic so that best and the most appropriate results are obtained.

Chapter 4

Data Analysis and Findings

4.0 Introduction:

The chapter on data analysis and findings is the most important portion of any research. After literature review, this chapter helps in drawing out the information that is required. As Johnson (2011) says, data analysis happens to be the filtering process where the collected data is taken to bring right judgment. In this process of analysis, the data collected gets analyzed in detail. The researcher takes into analyzing the data both through its demerits and merits.

4.1 Data Analysis

4.1.1 Quantitative Data- Questionnaire Survey

The researcher distributed a questionnaire of 11 multiple choice questions to 75 ladies, who had been either married or in a cohabiting relationship. Collecting their feedback and tabulating them, followed by their graphical representation has been done in this section.

1. What is your marital status?

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Table 2: Marital Status

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Figure 2: Marital Status

Analysis: Of the 75 women respondents, none was single, 44% were married, 6.66% living in, 33.33% divorced and 16% separated. This is more of a demographic question just to understand whether they understood and the questions asked to them would bring in responses on the basis of practical experiences or not.

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Table 3: No. of years in marriage

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Figure 3: No. of years into marriage

Analysis: This too is a demographic question asked to find out if some of the serious questions would find a genuine answer from them, based on years of experience of living together or just a faint surface level response. Luckily majority of the respondents had been married for at least 3 years and above.

3. Where does your husband work?

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Table 4: Employment of the Husband

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Figure 4: Employment of the husband

Analysis: This question has been placed to understand if engagement or economic factors were a major role player in the behavior of the spouses. This question is more capable of answering to the queries when analyzed with the common findings in the secondary research of literature review.

4. How often does your husband smoke and drink?

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Table 5: Smoking and Drinking Habits of the Spouse

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Figure 5: Smoking and Drinking Habits of the Husband

Analysis: As can be observed, almost 28% of the spouses smoked and drank every day, there were high number of spouses who were drinking and smoking if not regularly, on special occasions and weekends. Only 9% respondents said that their spouses never smoked or drank. As has been found in the common study, that men or women tend to lose their control once they are in the influence of intoxicants, this trait could be one of the reasons for the aggravation.

5. Your husband is generally calm and quiet but starts getting violent and abusive after drinking?

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Table 6: Whether Husbands get violent after they are drunk

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Figure 6: Whether Husbands get violent after they drink

Analysis: It was found that about 43% of the respondents felt that their husbands would be abusive after they had drunk too much, some 19% percent said that most of the time they would find their husband abusive after drinking, and 30% said though the abusive attitude was there, they did not do so all the time. Only 8% of the respondents said their husbands never abused even after they drank.

6. Your husband gets restless and really angry because of the family pressure as well the pressure at work.

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Table 7: Heavy Work Pressure and family Pressure causes husband seek violence

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Figure 7: Heavy Work Pressure and family Pressure causes husband seek violence

Analysis: Around 66% respondents were of the opinion that because of the extensive amount of work pressure men had to take both at work and home, they felt very stressed out and could be one of the reasons they brought out their frustration in the manner. Only 21.33% were not conceding that the act of abuse was due to the pressure in family or at work. Only 2.66% were not sure of the situation.

7. Your husband brings his friends over at your house most of the time and expects you to serve them excellently.

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Table 8: Act of socializing by the Husband and expecting the wife to serve

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Figure 8:Act of socializing by the Husband and expecting the wife to serve

Analysis: The found data shows that 22.66% respondents said their husbands were always socializing and expecting full co-operation from their spouses. 17.33% of the respondents had their husbands calling their friends in most of the time expected them to be adequately served. 24% had their husbands calling in friends only in case of special occasions. 25.33% said their spouses did not bring in friends but visited them regularly. Only 10.66% women had their husbands not socializing much. The responses show that there was a general expectation from the husbands that their spouses would serve them the way they wanted and for any amount of time.

8. How many times has your husband spoken really rudely to you or used physical force?

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Table 9: No. of times husband has been abusive and rude

Figure 9: No. of times husband has been abusive and rude

Analysis: Only 6.66% said their spouse have never been abusive or rude, while 25.33%said they had their spouses abusing them when they are stressed. Rest 21.33% have mentioned that abusive behavior existed and almost all along. 29.33% felt their husbands were abusive very rarely and 17.33% said the husbands are abusive often.

9. Do you think marital relations should be continued only if there is compatibility between the couple and both share an understanding?

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Table 10: Idea about marital relationship and compatibility

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Figure 10: Idea about marital relationship and compatibility

Analysis: Majority of the females agreed strongly with the thought that marital relations changes and became better if there was mutual compatibility existing. This shows that women also wanted to be understood by their husbands in a relationship.

10. How often do you raise a protest when your husband treats you unfairly without any reason?

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Table 11: Protest against unfair behavior of the husband

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Figure 11: Protest against unfair behavior of the husband

Analysis: It is found that most of the women keep quiet in case their spouse is furious (51%). Only 9% women didn’t find any need for them to protest, as their spouses are supposedly not abusive. 8% reason with the husband immediately so that he is not able to carry the behavior further. However, there are 27% women who have never protested against the violent acts of their husbands.

11. Do you think your patience could help in changing the abusive habit of your husband?

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Table 12: Could the patience of the wife change the behavior of the husband

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Figure 12: Could the patience of the wife change the behavior of her husband

Analysis: Most of the respondents were hopeful that their spouses’ behavior would change if the women co-operated with the husbands and some of them were also suggestive that any relationship have it ups and downs and needs to be observed from all perspectives. However, some were also of the opinion that since they had no other option but to live the relationship, they were forced to live it without a choice.

4.1.2 Qualitative data- Interview

Five psychologists who have specialized in criminal psychology were interviewed and 5 questions were placed before them regarding the abusive behavior of men in an intimate relationship. Based on their answers the following analysis was made.

1. What according to you is the reason behind men going violent in any intimate relationship?

Most of the cases I deal with are subject to tremendous pressure and stress at work, which makes them abusive, however, there are some cases, which show the habit of intimate relation violence in their personality traits as well, said the 1st interviewee. The 2nd interviewee was of the opinion that most men are led into this behavior because of the patriarchal culture that is predominant, which says a man is the lord of his wife. The 3rd and 4th interviewee stressed on the point that most of the abusive men have a track record of bad parenting, or has been abused themselves by their fathers or other senior men in the family. The 5th psychologist was of the opinion that it could be a mix of many factors that has brought in the trait into the abusive men. Most men, who were unemployed or did their own business, took to drinking and smoking to release their tensions and would get into abusing their wives or partners they are cohabiting with.

2. Do you think women are to be blamed for the abusive and violent behavior men show to them?

1st psychologist says, lack of proper education and social structure is the main factor for such violent actions in intimacy. In most of the cases women are naïve and simply keep accepting the torture silently without speaking about it to anyone fearing worse consequences. 2nd and 5th psychologists said that there were certain women who were responsible directly for the violent interactions, like being extremely materialistic and demanding. 3rd psychologist said in the South East Asian countries like Pakistan, the girls are usually much lower in education and economic status than their spouses, which brought in a sense of insecurity and inferiority complex in these women to stand up and raise their voice against such atrocities. The 4th psychologist was of the opinion that modern urban women are acquiring the traits that are commonly seen in the Western countries. Infidelity, multiple relationships, exorbitant material demands would push their spouses into getting violent with such women, however, the percentage of such women was not very high in Pakistan.

3. What role does society and the family has to play for a women’s decision to continue living with an unhealthy relationship?

The 1st and 2nd psychologists said in the Pakistani society and culture, domination over women was a common practice. However, with lots of people migrating to the USA and other European countries, the situation is changing. Rest of the psychologists felt that in most of the cases, it was the in-laws of the girl who were mainly responsible for the violence that happened between the couple. As most of the families are still joint family, where the husband goes out for work and the wife is left to do the household work, it is a common tendency found with in-laws to instigate the man against the woman at a regular basis.

4. Do you think intimate relationship violence is predominant amongst women who are less educated and more dependent?

All the psychologists said that there is definitely more cases coming in from those families where the women were less educated, but that was not the only case. 1st and the 2nd psychologists said there were also ample instances where both the man and the woman was working and professional jealousy and a feeling of incompetency in the man led to the violent act. 3rd psychologist said there were also curious cases where the woman would unnecessarily disbelieve in her husband and create a violent situation. 4th and 5th psychologist said there was a certain category of women who actually thought that macho men were real men, and that it is a show of manhood to be able to control a relation. However, these were mostly poor and uneducated women who came from the rural areas.

5. Why do women keep staying in the violent and abusive relationship?

1st psychologist feels that the socio-economic condition of most of the women in South East Asian countries including Pakistan is such that they have to depend upon either their father or their husband for survival, and hence they are bound to compromise. 2nd, 4th and 5th psychologists made statements along similar lines, indicating the culture and religious teachings which makes the husband of a woman her God and protector, one to whom they are supposed to show ultimate dedication. These women do not have the knowledge they need to step out of the social shackles and start a life the way they wanted to. The 3rd psychologists said, that the men who were mostly abusive were either very passionate or could cheat their partners with false repentance after doing the act, begging for forgiveness and promising never to repeat again, and the women mostly get wooed by these false assurances, thereby, staying in the relationship.

4.2 Conclusion

This analysis is very important to find a solution of the research topic. First the researcher collected the raw materials for the research by the process of distributing questionnaire to some 75 married ladies. The researcher has very efficiently analyzed the questionnaire as well as the information gathered through the interviews with professional psychologists. Through the discussions using the interview and the survey, the researcher could come to find at least one reason why the women who are abused by their partners in an intimate relationship, prefer not to disclose it and stay with the partner as well.

Chapter 5 Conclusion and Recommendation

5.1 Introduction:

The present society is more of one with global aptitude and thinking. Those who are living in the developing countries are also experiencing a vast sea of change in their lifestyles. While there is growth in education level of people in developing countries, the basic cultural and religious rudimentary ideas still prevail and have not left the lives of common people. The domination of the patriarchal thoughts and the usual norms of a woman being dependent on men for their entire lives still runs in and around the society today. However, the urban cities and towns of most of the South East Asian countries are experiencing a huge surge of modernization and corporatization, where many women are finding opportunities to work, the inner expectations of people in these societies from their women has not changed much. The modern woman, hence, having to balance two roles, of an independent worker and a lady of the house, has to face a lot more stress and pressure. On top of that, if there is no understanding and co-operation from her spouse, it leaves the lady in an extremely vulnerable condition.

The present research is an attempt to understand why women in a violent and abusive intimate relationship with their spouse choose not to disclose the atrocities happening on them and also do not leave such partners. In this chapter, the effort is to try and understand if the data analysis and findings has been able to meet with the requirements of the objectives that the researcher had proposed in chapter 1.

5.2 Linking data findings with the objective:

5.2.1 Evaluation of main reasons behind why a husband or a partner acts in a violent and abusive manner towards their partners.

According to the primary research conducted, question number 5, 6 and 7 of the questionnaire survey clearly show some of the prime reasons why men acts in violent manner with their partners in an intimate relationship. Apart from the survey questionnaire, all the five questions asked in the interview with industry experts also clearly try to delve on the reasons why men misbehave with their partners. The secondary research through the literature review has also been able to place forward certain opinions of other researchers who say that due to the extreme stress at work and family, some men are unable to cope with the pressure and lose it all on the relation they are closest to. Moreover, some men love to indulge in extreme socializing and show off by bringing in their friends, and expect to be superbly treated by their wives, and abuse their wives when these demands of theirs are not adequately met.

5.2.2 The main reasons that make the wife or the partner not report about the abuses being done to her to anybody.

The theories that are explained in the literature review have attempted to provide certain hints that show why many women prefer not leaving their abusive partners. Moreover, questions 9, 10, and 11 of the survey questionnaire have tried to work on this objective. Question 4 and 5 of the qualitative analysis tries to find out in a more direct manner why women tend to stay with their abusive partners. It has been found that most women do not have proper education to support themselves financially. Moreover, there are the common social and religious rudimentary beliefs that keep a woman dependent on her husband or partner forever in her life.

5.2.3 The prime reasons that leads a woman to continue living with her abusive, violent partner or husband and not leave him/her even after repeated atrocities.

The primary findings, both quantitative and qualitative data analysis helps in identifying the main reasons why women continue living with their abusive, violent partners and do not leave them after repeated atrocities. The responses provided to the questions 5, 6, 9, and 11 as well as all the questions in the interviews try to help realize this objective of the research. The secondary research has many psychologists put in their findings about why most of the women keep living with their abusive partners, only with the hope that with time and patience, things will be better for them.

5.3 Recommendations

Based upon the current research, it is found that the role that socio-economic cultural conditioning towards shaping the perceptions in a marital relationship and especially what a woman thinks of her husband has not been covered in detail. There is scope for researchers to try to identify the socio-economic and cultural factors that lead into a woman being abused by her husband or intimate partner.

Moreover there is scope of studying if violence or relationship violence is evident only in heterosexual conjugal intimacies, or is also seen in homosexual relationships as well. If so, what are the main conditions that drive a relation to such thin ends.

5.4 Limitations of the research study

The topic chosen had certain emotional and cultural-term research limitations, which stopped the researcher from asking more personal and intriguing questions to come up with a more distinct picture of the situation.

As the time was limited and the research had to be conducted with limited amount of funds, a more wide, extensive and longitudinal research could have brought in some really interesting observations on the topic.

5.5 Further scope of research

Different theories relating to intimate relationship abuse can help the researcher look into this subject matter in detail. A longitudinal research can be continued on this very topic to see whether the abuse reduced over the period through patience and perseverance.

Moreover, researchers could look into the areas where women are forced into a polyandrous relationship by their intimate relationship partners and are forced to live it.

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Appendix

Appendix 1

Quantitative analysis- Questionnaire Survey

1. What is your marital status?

- Single
- Married
- Living in
- Divorced
- Separated

2. How long have you been married?

- Less than a year
- Between 1 and 3 years
- Between 3 and 5 years
- More than 5 years

3. Where does your husband work?

- Private Company
- Business
- Government Services
- Farmer
- Unemployed

4. How often does your husband smoke and drink?

- Everyday
- Only on parties and special occasions
- On weekends
- When he is very tired
- Never

5. Your husband is generally calm and quiet but starts getting violent and abusive after drinking?

- Most of the time
- Not always
- Only when he drinks too much
- He is very quiet after he drinks
- Never

6. Your husband gets restless and really angry because of the family pressure as well the pressure at work.

- Strongly agree
- Agree
- Not sure
- Disagree
- Strongly Disagree

7. Your husband is brings his friends over at your house most of the time and expects you to serve them excellently.

- Always
- Most of the time
- Only on special occasions
- He does not bring his friends but visits them regularly
- He hardly brings his friends over

8. How many times has your husband spoken really rudely to you or used physical force?

- Never
- Only when he is very stressed out
- Once in a while
- Often
- All the time

9. Do you think marital relations should be continued only if there is compatibility between the couple and both share an understanding?

- Strongly agree
- Agree
- Not sure
- Disagree
- Strongly Disagree

10. How often do you raise a protest when your husband treats you unfairly without any reason?

- I don’t protest ever
- I try to keep quiet when he is furious but reason with him later
- There was never any need for me to protest
- I try to reason with him right away so that he cannot escalate the matter further
- I have never allowed my husband to raise his voice at me

11. Do you think your patience could help in changing the abusive habit of your husband?

- No, men never change
- He is usually good, but, only when there’s too much pressure around
- I have to adjust as there is no other option
- Any relationship would have its good and bad, and one has to learn to accommodate
- I want to try and change his behavior towards me

Appendix 2

Qualitative analysis- Interview

1. What according to you is the reason behind men going violent in any intimate relationship?
2. Do you think women are to be blamed for the abusive and violent behavior men show to them?
3. What role does society and the family has to play for a women’s decision to continue living with an unhealthy relationship?
4. Do you think intimate relationship violence is predominant amongst women who are less educated and more dependent?
5. Why do women keep staying in the violent and abusive relationship?