Through examining “Domestic Violence:  A Cross-Cultural View”, by Elaine Leeder, domestic violence is similar in India, Japan, and Africa depicted through the “reflection  of structural inequality and cultural attitudes about gender”(p. 248), presented as a major global issue.  Domestic violence in each society, is justified by beliefs, striving to achieve desired values held by that society, at the expense of others.  Specifically, partaking in violence using physical or emotional abuse to socially control a gender while empowering another, illuminated by the theoretical social-conflict approach.

      However, the reason giving rise to domestic violence varies.  For example, “many forms of domestic violence in India occur as a result of rising industrialization and modernization”(p. 248).  In contrast, Japan is a highly industrialized country, but “male violence in Japan seems to cross all socioeconomic strata” (p. 250).  In addition, society in Vietnam still values “the old Confucian ideas of ‘thinking highly of men and slightly of women’ seem to inform beliefs about hitting one’s wife” (p. 251).  Moreover, in Africa, specifically “Uganda, violence against one’s wife is accepted as legitimate” (p. 252), referred to as part of  “our culture” (p. 252). 

      With our focus on India, industrialization and modernization have led to increased child abuseIndia as a result from a “greater amount of stress”(p. 249), placed on middle class families, striving to gain upward social mobility, suggesting violence as an avenue used to release frustration created by not readily having the means to achieve goals.  Child abuse may also be a result of the traditional aspect of Indian culture, which entails a “pattern of corporal punishment in raising children,” in which the “children are socialized to obey their parents, with use of strict discipline” (p.249).  This statement proposes child abuse is considered a norm, passed from generation to generation.  Additionally, the “family is highly hierarchical, and now that more families are moving away from the joint family, there is less support for raising children and sharing household tasks” (p. 249).  This statement exemplifies the change in family life, causing strain from balancing the family and household needs with less support and more responsibility.  Indian society is also ingrained with the use of corporal punishment, exemplified in a study, which reported “56.9 percent report having used ‘acceptable’ forms of violence, while 41.9 percent engaged in ‘abusive’ violence”(p. 249).    

       Child abuse in India is an important concern, “particularly in rural villages”(p. 249).  According to Barbara Miller, who had “found significant discrimination against girl children there”(p. 249).  This discrimination incorporates many forms of thoughts and actions, ranging from being thought of as less than, to the “withholding of medical care for girls and preferential feeding of boy children” to “female infanticide”, supporting the social inequality faced by females starting at the time of conception, forward.  The discriminatory cultural attitudes in relation to gender snowballs from this point onward, spanning from one generation into another, being considered part of the norm.  This supports why wife battering is a prevalent issue, accented by the “normal” family dynamic tradition.

      Wife battering is referred to as “a fairly common occurrence”(p. 248), validated if the woman “does not behave herself” (p. 248), not “fulfilled societal  expectations”(p. 250), “dowry problems, a wife’s infidelity, her neglect to household duties, or her disobedience to her husband’s dictates” (p. 249).  Through examination of the text, wife battering in India has alarmed the attention of both the Indian government and feminist organizations. 

      Although Leeder refers to rising industrialization and modernization increase the likelihood of family violence, wife battering is common in high income countries such as Japan and the United States reflecting the cultural views attached by society in regard to gender.   Most women never complain about domestic violence because there is little or no help available to support great change and/or support the ideology behind the abuse.    

      The individual, legal, historical, and cultural factors that help explain their silence, are generated from the beliefs and values their society holds.  For example, India “having fulfilled societal expectations seems to provide a deterrent to abuse” (p. 249).  Japan, “unlike the United States, Japan has no specific laws against wife battering as a crime, and there is no governmental funding for services that address the problem”  (p. 250).  In Vietnam, “laws were passed to equalize the rights, positions, and interests of women” (p. 251),“unfortunately, today the vestiges of Confucian ideology still linger” (p. 251).  Historical factors in Africa, exemplified “if a woman attacks her husband, the violence is considered criminal,” but “there are no specific laws against wife battering” given that “it is hard to implement the law since law enforcement officials view the problem the way the public does, as not a problem”  (p. 252).

      In addition, the text depicts both “invisible violence”(p. 251) and “visible violence” (p. 251) in Vietnam.  Though laws were passed to attempt to level the playing field, a bit, today the “vestiges of Confucian ideology still lingers”(p. 251), supporting the social inequality of women in Vietnam today.    The “invisible violence” refers to panic and trepidation that “drives the relationships”(p. 251), justified by Confucian ideology.  The “visible violence” is the violence that has caused “numerous injuries and deaths related to violence in the home” (p. 251).    

      Leeder urges us to suspend “any ethnocentric value judgments” about family violence, meaning to examine without judging from our own biased perspective, to use sociology to engage in cultural relativism for more of a correct understanding of what it is and why, and not what it should be.  This does not mean that the global community shouldn’t interfere with a country’s violent practices against women and children, but when we need to this proposes that we need to have an unbiased understanding about their culture, in order to obtain a widely accepted solution.

Jessica

           Domestic violence and child abuse are both world wide issues that are still culturally allowable in some societies. In India wife beating is a normal family dynamic and very prevelant. These  women have no other option available, outside of getting married and having children. Families of women that are to be married have to pay the male husbands family a dowry for the marriage to go forward.  Women are seen just has how an animal would be, that they only have really one purpose. That purpose is to get married and make babies, male babies. The women are beaten for any and all reasons, bad day, too drunk, not enough dowry paid, just to name a few. This isnt even sneeredat until the abuse is so great that she is permanately injured or killed; even then the repercutions are few and far between. It is seemed as normal because women are not allowed to have any rights outside of caring for the family. They dont bring home any money so therefor are inconsequential in Indian hierchy. Their views towards child abuse is seen in a similar light.

           Child abuse has increased with the modernization that has occured in India. As the hierchy dynamic diminishes and families get smaller, child abuse increases. These families have less support than they had in previous generations with the lack of numbers in the immediate family. This is done to control them, males and females both. But, females get thee brunt of it as they are seen as a financial burden. Indian families are dissapointed when they have a femalke baby. As a result of this medical care and even food are rationed more for the male children. It doesnt stop there, females are even killed in utero and  after they are born. This is not seen as illeagal or wrong. Females, adult or child are seen as a societal hindrance.

         Vietnam also has violence towards women.  There is invisible violence along with a visible violence like in India. The invisible violence in Vietnam is because many men still hold a confucian ideaology where men are the only ones thought highly of. Even with equal rights laws, the women there are forced to work seperate hours such as the “second shift” at factories as well as take care of the household. The physical violence there is that many women are forced into and sold as sex slaves and prostitutes.

         While I, and anyone reading this thinks this is extremely F’d up. These cultures do not. These people need a personal change as well as a societal one. Violence against others is rediculous on its own, but even more so when its your own family. Maybe its just how I see it, but why ? Whats the point ? Even though they have their own belief system, “Confusionism” seems to be the common one with these people.

BY ZACERY

Chapter 41 helps open your eyes to the on goings of the world we live in. While spouses in America bicker over favorite performers on American Idol there are women getting beat on a consistent basis. Women are only reporting it when it gets life threatening but they put up with everyday harassment and abuse like it’s something that is deserved. The culture accepts these beatings especially if the woman acts out of the norms, or if the man is drunk. These actions cause women of India to feel not only depressed but almost not human.
What causes this to occur? Well in industrialized nations there seems to be a strong sense of stress placed on males. This stress seems to be caused because the males feel as though they are responsible for the family and to relieve their stress they beat up their wives. For any American to hear of this results in immediate emotion. Unfortunately the morals and laws of India do not support the women as they should and domestic abuse is the result.
Vietnamese women are looked down at even though they tend to bring home the abundance of the money. Women are just looked at as the bottom of the totem pole it seems in Vietnam. They suffer from two types of abuse, visible and invisible. Visible is the beatings and the roughing up that is thought of when you hear domestic abuse but invisible is a whole other story. Invisible is the repetition of insults and intimidation. Invisible domestic abuse makes one feel like they are always under the thumb of the husband. Obviously this isn’t the way to live so it is important to inform and educate the public about these occurrences.

BY HUNTER

While reading Chapter 41 of the book “Seeing Ourselves” the article “Domestic Violence: a cross cultural view” by Elaine Leeder, we were asked to “suspend any ethnocentric value judgments”. This was difficult for me to do, especially when she wrote about child abuse, neglect and infanticide which is “the killing of a child under one year old”. I was appalled that in India killing a child is only considered homicide if the child is over 12 months old. Leeder discussed how rising industrialization and modernization have raised family’s economic expectations and it is causing problems to be acted out at home. “Mild” forms of wife beating are common and freely admitted as justified f the women does not “behave”. It is only admitted by about 22 percent of women, however, because women do not think it is worth mentioning. Only when the abuse is extreme they will admit it. Being under the influence of alcohol, sterilization, neglecting household duties, infidelity or disobedience is “justified” excuses for abuse. Women cannot realistically choose not to get married in India because of low paying and minimal employment opportunities available to them. Females are considered a financial drain since they move away when married, and cannot help the family financially. Therefore, male children are preferred and get better treatment, including better medical care and preferential feeding.
In Japan more than ¾ of the wives reported abuse and 2/3 resulted in serious injury. Japan has no laws against beating your wife and has no government funding to help woman. It is not recognized, there is not even a word for it in Japanese.
Vietnam has “invisible violence” which is when woman work there job outside of the home and then come home and work 5-6 hours on household chores. 17.5 percent of deaths are from family violence and 87.5 percent of divorces are caused by family violence. Men sometimes take loves into the home against the wives will.
In Africa when men were asked why they beat their wives they shrugged and replies “it is our culture”. Law enforcement does not view abuse as a problem, therefore they are unhelpful. Abuse is worse in the countryside then in the cities.
i think that it is sad to see so many women and children beaten and not protected. everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and respect.
BY ASHLEY

India is rife with domestic violence. Relatively minor wife battering is commonplace, and Indian men and women alike readily agree it is justifiable. Why does it occur? There are several reasons. A man who beats his wife will not be objurgated if he is intoxicated. Wife battering will also occur as a dowry demand. These women are held as prisoners in an attempt extort money from their families. Also, women who are sterilized (sterilization is a common form of birth control in India) are more likely to be beaten. After all, there are basically no repercussions for hitting a woman who can’t bear you a son, right? Wives who are adulterous or disobedient in general will garner beatings, as well. The only time there are consequences for wife battering are if the beating exceptionally violent, or if none of the above conditions are met.

Child abuse is another problem in India. You would think that modernization would lead to a decrease in domestic violence, but that has not been the case. This is apparent in that people of all classes, NOT just lower class people, admit to corporal punishment of their children—56.9% of parents, in fact. Industrialization has hugely increased intrafamilial stress, which contributes to this violence. Young girls are especially victimized, because Indian culture labels them as nearly worthless compared to boys. Modernization contributes to this too: feticide is used to kill off baby girls in utero. This could not happen without modernization because how would people know the sex of their fetus without ultrasound?

Vietnam is another arena of domestic violence. The beautiful Vietnamese scenery belies what is going on in the homes of the citizens. In fact, there is more than one type of domestic violence here: invisible violence and visible violence. The invisible violence is not physical violence. Instead, the men of society dominate the women through terror and intimidation. This continues even though Vietnamese women are far more productive than men; the women earn more money AND do the housework. Visible violence—which leads to many divorces—is more akin to the wife battering in India. Dissatisfied, poor men take out their aggravations on their defenseless spouses. The problem is also spurred by the adherence to old Confucian beliefs, including that everything is a hierarchy—and in family life, men are higher up this hierarchy. In Vietnamese visible violence, we also see some of the same justifications that we saw in Indian wife battering, such as alcohol and unfaithfulness (on the part of the wife).

By Roy

In chapter 41, Leeder discusses domestic violence in India, Japan, Vietnam, and Africa. In India many forms of domestic violence occur as a result of rising industrialization and moderization. Families have rising economic expectations, and the problems are acted out at home. Mild forms of wife beating are commonplace, and many men and women admit freely in interviews that t s justified if the woman does not “behave herself”. In rural india, women believe that alcohol and inadequate dowries provoke the abuse. Some drunken husbands beat thei wives without provocation, and women who are beaten complain that the problem is exacerbated by the drunken fits of their husbands. Abuse is tolerated under certain circumstances in india, which include dowry problems, a wife’s infidelity, her neglect of household duties, or her disobedience to her husbands dictates. Abuse is also tolerated if a husband beats his wife when he is drunk but is otherwise a good husband. Female infanticide and child neglect are also major child abuse issues in India, particulary in rural villages. There is a strong preference for sons. Boys are needed as economic assets, for farming and for the money they send home if they move away. They are more likely to stay with their families after marriage and maintan their parents in old age. Girls move away when they marry and cannot contribute to the family upkeep.
In Japan, they have no specific laws against wife battering as a crime, and there is no governmental funding for services that address the problem. Domestic violence in Japan is still an unrecognized problem. There is not even a word for it in Japanese.
In Vietnam, men act as kings in their homes even whie the women in the workforce make more money than their husbands. Women are employed in the labor market in great numbers, but still do the “second shift” thats commone in the United States. After work in the factory, Vietnamese women spend five to six hours a night on housework at hom. This has been called “invisible violence” of Vietnam, because while there may not be physical violence between men and women, intimidation and fear drive the relationships. Then there is the “visable violence” that recently has led to a large number of divorces in Vietnam. In Vietnamese law, men and women are considered equal. Violence toward wives and children is specifically prohibited and is considered a violation of human rights, and the government has established a series of local and state programs for intervention.
In Africa, violence against ones wife is accepted as legitimate; when it is mentioned, most men just shrug ad say, “It’s our culture”. If a woman attacks her husband, the violence is considered criminal. There is no specific laws against wife battering, although a law passed in 1997 provides protection for families, including wives ad children. But it is hard to implement the law since law enforcement officials view the problem the way the police does, as not a problem.

BY Alyssa

In Chapter 41 of Seeing Ourselves by John J. Macionis and Nijole V. Benokraitis, Elaine Leeder discusses how Domestic Violence is a Global Problem and how it reflects structural inequality.

1) Domestic Violence is similar in India, Japan, Vietnam, and Africa in that it is a common occurance. While Vietnam considers men and woman as equals by law, the rest of these locations treat domestic violence (especially toward spouses) as justified. The extent and degree to which it is permitted does differ per society however. In the reading, Leeder notes that rising industrialization and modernization increase likelihood of family violence. Why then is wife battering prevalent in industrialized societies like Japan and the U.S.? In Japan there are no services provided to help address the issue, and it is considered a part of family life in Japanese Society as there are no laws against it at the moment. As far as the United States is concerned, I feel that no matter what class a person is, how much money they make, or even the fact that there are laws against Domestic Violence, that it comes down to the abuser (wife batterer) as feeling that they are in control, while treating their wife as just an object. Once this cycle occurs, the abused wife or child fear for their safety, but are too afraid to report the issue to outside help due to fear of repercussions from the abuser.

2) There are several reasons why most of the women in the above mentioned countries never complain about domestic violence. Starting with India; it’s an everyday occurrence there, and even the women admit justification of it to a degree, referring to it as ok when “not behaved”. In severe cases or abuse that isn’t “justified”, they’ll send an elder to try and take care of the problem. As mentioned before women in Japan are most likely to stay silent about Domestic Violence because it is not considered an issue and there are no laws passed against it or services provided for victims of Domestic Violence. I found it interesting in the reading that many times these victims end up at shelters for prostitutes just to get away from it. In Vietnam, while there are laws that state equality between men and women, I think the old Confucius ideology still contributes to those that stay quiet. The basic idea is that a woman will leave a family behind with nothing, while a son will provide for and take care of a family and its aging elders. This would indicate that favoritism of males over females still occurs as many people still believe in that ideology. Luckily, they have the Vietnamese Woman’s Union that watches out for Women’s Rights. In Africa (Uganda), violence towards women is culture wide and is quoted as legitimate, viewed not as a problem due to the fact that it is “their culture”… At the same time however, if a woman attacks a husband it is criminally wrong. So in Retrospect, women are prisoners to males in that society.

3) When Leeder urged us as readers to suspend ethnocentric value judgments, she wanted us to keep in thought the sociological perspective and an open mind. While this is tough to do since in our Society, (U.S) it is wrongful to harm women and children, we might miss cultural clues as to why it is permitted in other societies, and how one might be able to remedy the issue especially if it is a culturally engrained thing. This does not mean that we turn a blind eye to the problem and say that it is an issue to be dealt with per culture, but instead make use of this information to take educated steps towards helping women and children globally.

BY BRANDON

In chapter 41: Domestic Violence by Elaine Leeder she discusses three countries, India, Japan and Vietnam. Wife battering is normal family dynamic in India because many women see it as that did not listen to their husband. It is discussed in this chapter that many women is India are domestically abused for different reasons. In rural India, there are a couple of the reason why wife battering is a normal family dynamic which is if they do not keep up on their house work like their supposed to, or they have been disobedient to their husband then its okay if they get beaten. Also women that live in rural India believe that husbands they have been drinking cause them to be abusive because drinking leads feeling hopeless.  Domestic violence is viewed as being “normal” unless seen as extreme. When seen as extreme a village elder or a monk will step in and intervene.

Industrialization and modernization has led to an increase in child abuse in India because India is become more urban. Middle-class families are experiencing competition to try and move upward in their class. In India children are brought up to a high level of obedience towards their parents. If children do not obey their parents there is strict discipline. Leeder says in her article “In north India, the killing of female infants is quite an old phenomenon” Reading this sentence is absolutely crazy to me. Reading about child abuse towards children in India seems like it is almost no big deal just like its no big deal when a wife is beaten by their husband.

Discussed in the section on Vietnam “invisible violence” is viewed as when a Vietnamese women are forced to do housework for 5 to six hours. Where “visible violence” is viewed violence as actually having injuries or death. Reason for this may be low socioeconomic status when has to do with poor men thinking its okay to take their anger and frustration out on their women. Another reason is feudal attitude which is basically “thinking highly of men and slightly of women.” Other reasons may be drinking, gambling, adultery, and jealousy and “intra-individual theory” which basically means that people who are angry blame issues onto other. Violence is not tolerated in Vietnam and the government has local state programs.