Multi-national Survey Research on Domestic Violence

2003 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary

• Project/Area Number: 13410072
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: 社会学(含社会福祉関係)
• Research Institution: Nara Women's University (2002-2003); National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry (2001)
• Principal Investigator: SHIMIZU Shinji Nara Women's University, Faculty of Human Life and Environment, Professor, 生活環境学部, 教授 (40113493)
• Project Period (FY): 2001 – 2003
• Keywords: domestic violence / marital violence / drinking behavior / alcohol dependence / family / gender / international exchange of researcher / international exchange of information

Research Abstract

The national representative sample survey on drinking behavior and domestic violence was conducted in collaboration with more than 20 countries over the world. The age range of the Japanese survey was set from 20 through 70, including both sexes. Another clinical survey was completed with collaboration with an alcohol outpatient clinic where the same questionnaire to the general community sample survey regarding domestic violence was applied. The main findings are 'as follows;
1)Community respondents reported that usual drinking practice, drinking frequency and volume consumption, has no significant effect over domestic violence behaviors, while alcohol abuse with experience of alcohol-related problems is vastly associated to domestic violence. Alcohol cannot be regarded as the key causal agent to induce domestic violence, but alcohol abuse has something much to do with domestic violence.
2)Issue in mutuality of violence between husbands and wives or partners was clearly observed particu larly in the heavily intoxicated situation, both from husbands and wives. But this mutuality should be understood with deliberate attention concerning if initiated or defensive. In a very small portion of female samples with alcohol abuse showed initiated aggression toward their husbands or partners.
3)Domestic violence was observed much more widely and with more severity among the clinical sample than the community sample. On the other hand, almost all violent behaviors significantly reduced after abstaining and recovery process from alcohol dependence.
4)In a tentative analysis of the international comparative data, verbal violence was more widely observed in the developed countries while Argentina has peculiar results showing the similar prevalence of verbal aggression as developed countries. Child sexual abuse was much more widely reported than usually expected. Respondents from African countries such as Nigeria, Uganda, experienced sexual abuse before their age of 16 wider than U.S., U.K., while Sri Lanka and Argentina with the lower prevalence than these countries. Another rather surprising finding is that every third of boys and girls of Uganda were victims of child sexual abuse by people outside families, every fifth of them from inside families and the similar results was detected in Nigeria as well. More boys than girls suffered from child sexual abuse in Sri Lanka. Culture, gender, possibly religion also, may affect this diversity of child sexual prevalence over countries.
5)This study clarified with data evidence the significant necessity to pay much attention to clinical intervention of alcoholics even for prevention and recovery practice of domestic violence. It should be taken into consideration to integrate the clinical approach in constructing useful and practical total support system for DV prevention. Meanwhile, DV issue should be socially placed in an array of various types of alcohol-related problems.