About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline

LOG IN
LOG IN


10 J. Fam. Violence 1 (1995)

handle is hein.journals/jfamv10 and id is 1 raw text is: Journal of Family Violence, Vol. 10, No. 1, 1995 Spousal Violence Among Anglos, Blacks, and Mexican Americans: The Role of Demographic Variables, Psychosocial Predictors, and Alcohol Consumption James Alan Neff,1 Bruce Holamon,2 and Tracy Davis Schluterl Racial/ethnic differences in the prevalence and correlates of self-reported spousal violence in a community sample of Anglo, Black, and Mexican American adults are examined. Females, the formerly married, and Black females in particular (up to 60% of formerly married) were most likely to report both being beaten by and beating a spouse. Multivariate analyses controlling for demographic variables, financial stress, social desirability, sex role traditionalism and drinking quantity (and spouse's drinking among the currently married) did not eliminate the greater likelihood of reports of both beating and being beaten among married Black females. There was little consistent evidence to suggest greater violence propensity among Mexican American than Anglo respondents. The findings raise questions about simplistic socioeconomic status or financial stress explanations of observed racial/ethnic differences in spousal violence. Further curvilinear effects of alcohol quantity and spouse drinking upon reported violence question simple disinhibition arguments and suggest the need for data regarding couple dynamics. KEY WORDS: spousal violence; Anglos; Blacks; Mexican Americans. INTRODUCTION Since Straus' (1980) 1975 national survey of family violence, both pub- lic and scientific interest in the subject have increased dramatically. How- 1Department of Psychiatry, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas 78285. 2Department of Psychology, University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, Colorado 80631. 1 0885-7482/95/0300-0001$07.50/0 0 1995 Plenum Publishing Corporation