Resources, Gender and Social Control: Sociocultural Factors for Husband-to-Wife Physical Assault in Hong Kong

Husband-to-wife violence is the most common form of gender-based violence and is much more prevalent than many other forms of interpersonal violence. In the literature, some theories are developed to explain the prevalence pattern of husband-to-wife violence. The focus of this thesis is on the applications and discussions of resource theories, gender ideology and a social control perspective. These theories are primarily developed in the Western context. However, empirical tests of these theories in Chinese societies are still rare.;A quantitative approach is adopted in this thesis to empirically test the hypotheses about the relationship between socio-cultural factors and husband-to-wife violence in Hong Kong. A household survey, with a probability sample, was conducted in a northwestern district of Hong Kong in 2007. In total, 871 couples (1,742 respondents) had completed the survey. The prevalence rate of husband-to-wife physical assault over the past year was 10.7%. The main body of this thesis contains three empirical papers analyzing the prevalence pattern of husband-to-wife violence in Hong Kong. Each of the papers addresses the limitations of a theoretical perspective and contributes by testing some of the ideas from the above perspectives that have not been empirically examined in past studies.;In the first paper, the analysis shows that a couple's income difference and the husband's full-time employment are negatively associated with the husband's desire to have more decision-making power in the relationship, while the husband's desire to have more power in the relationship is positively associated with husband-to-wife physical assault. Mediation tests confirm that a couple's income difference and the husband's full-time employment status have exerted indirect effects on husband-to-wife violence through the husband's power motive. In the second paper, the analysis shows that the interaction of couples' gender role attitudes plays important role in shaping the risk of husband-to-wife physical assault. Husbands' gender role traditionalism is positively associated with husband-to-wife physical assault only when they are coupled with wives who have non-traditional attitudes. Wives' gender role traditionalism is negatively associated with husband-to-wife physical assault only when they are coupled with traditional husbands. Non-traditional wives with traditional husbands face the highest risk of husband-to-wife violence, controlling for other factors. The third empirical paper shows that the strength of association between marital conflict and husband-to-wife violence in Hong Kong was conditioned by peer approval of spousal violence. The association between marital conflict and violence is stronger for couples who had at least some friends who approve spousal violence. Likewise, peer approval of spousal violence is positively associated with husband-to-wife violence only for couples that experienced marital conflict. In contrast, there is no significant association between peer approval of spousal violence and husband-to-wife violence for couples that experienced low-levels of marital conflict.;In sum, this thesis reveals the complexity of the causes of husband-to-wife violence that the correlates of husband-to-wife physical assault are interrelated and their associations with husband-to-wife violence are not independent of each other. This work calls for a comprehensive intervention and prevention package that requires efforts from multiple agencies operating at different levels.