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The Status and Characteristics of Couple Violence in China

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Abstract

A couple’s relationship is very important to marital well-being as well as the harmony of family and society. Violent behaviors in marriage have bad effects on people’s physical and mental health and cause large social burdens. In this study, we investigated 194 couples in Beijing to explore the status and characteristics of couple violence from three aspects by using Revised Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS2). We conclude that: (1) Couple violence is universal, although the frequency is not so high. Prevalence and frequency of psychological violence are higher than physical and sexual violence; rate of wives’ victimization is significantly higher than that of husbands; frequency of the perpetration of sexual violence by husbands is significantly higher than that by wives. (2) There is concurrence of different types of couple violence. Specifically, physical and sexual violence are usually accompanied by psychological violence; however, psychological violence exists independently. (3) Couple violence is often bidirectional, especially in psychological violence. (4) Marital length is negatively correlated to wives’ perpetration of physical violence and their victimization of sexual violence.

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Acknowledgments

The Revised Conflict Tactics Scale was provided by Prof. Norman Epstein at University of Maryland, College Park.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Developmental Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, People’s Republic of China

    Juan Hou, Yee Tak Sze & Xiaoyi Fang

  2. Beijing No. 5 Middle School, Beijing, People’s Republic of China

    Li Yu

  3. Department of Curriculum and Instruction and Counselor Education, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA

    Siu-Man Raymond Ting

Authors
  1. Juan Hou
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  2. Li Yu
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  3. Siu-Man Raymond Ting
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  4. Yee Tak Sze
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  5. Xiaoyi Fang
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Xiaoyi Fang.

Additional information

This study was supported by National Demonstrative Study on Comprehensive Screening, Evaluation and Intervention for Issues of Family, Marriage and Parent–child Relation (Project Number: 2009BAI77B05), and Program of Ministry of Education for New Century Excellent Talents (NCET-04-0147).

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Hou, J., Yu, L., Ting, SM.R. et al. The Status and Characteristics of Couple Violence in China. J Fam Viol 26, 81–92 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-010-9343-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-010-9343-3

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