perceptions of intimate violence and attitudes toward interventions

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Perceptions of IntimateViolence and Attitudes TowardInterventionsHoan Bui aa Department of Sociology , University ofTennessee , 901 McClung Tower, Knoxville, TN,37996, USAPublished online: 04 Oct 2008.

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Perceptions of Intimate Violenceand Attitudes Toward Interventions:

The Role of Acculturation

Hoan Bui

ABSTRACT. The present study investigates the effects of perceptionsof intimate violence, knowledge of domestic violence policies, and atti-tudes toward domestic violence interventions among Vietnamese Amer-icans. Data analyses indicate that Vietnamese Americans tend to viewintimate violence as a problem and strongly support government inter-ventions, but they are not likely to support criminal justice interventions.Perceptions of the problems and attitudes toward interventions are notsignificantly affected by all indicators of acculturation. Particularly,English proficiency has no significant effects on all dependent variables.On the other hand, knowledge of domestic violence policies signifi-cantly increases support for government interventions in general and forcriminal justice interventions in particular. The study suggests the im-portance of understanding acculturation within the social, cultural, andpolitical contexts of the immigrant community, as well as the impor-tance of social integration and public education in improving knowledgeabout domestic violence and intervention policies among immigrants.[Article copies available for a fee from The Haworth Document Delivery Ser-vice: 1-800-HAWORTH. E-mail address: <[email protected]>Website: <http://www.HaworthPress.com> © 2005 by The Haworth Press, Inc.All rights reserved.]

Hoan Bui is affiliated with the Department of Sociology, 901 McClung Tower, Uni-versity of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996.

Journal of Ethnicity in Criminal Justice, Vol. 3(4) 2005Available online at http://www.haworthpress.com/web/JECJ

2005 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.doi:10.1300/J222v03n04_01 1

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KEYWORDS. Public perceptions, domestic violence, VietnameseAmericans, immigrants, acculturation

INTRODUCTION

Domestic violence policies have been changed substantially duringthe last two decades. Until the 1970s, the notions of the preciousness ofthe family, the sanctity of the home, and the inferior status of womenhad contributed to the social indifference toward the problem of domes-tic violence and the hands-off policies in the criminal justice system(Binder & Meeker, 1992). The most noticeable aspect of criminal jus-tice practices in intimate-partner violence cases was the lack of arrestand prosecution of wife assaulters (Dobash & Dobash, 1979; Fagan,1988; Ford, 1983; Parnas, 1967; Roy, 1977). Amidst the civil rightsmovements for social change, intimate-partner violence began to get at-tention from feminist organizations, women’s advocates, and scholarswho documented and publicized the problem. Advocates for batteredwomen charged criminal justice agencies for not providing victims ofintimate-partner violence the same protection they provided to victimsof assaults by strangers. Subsequently, grassroots organizations took aleadership role in initiating legislative changes, requesting moreprotections from the criminal justice system for battered women, andasking for changes in police and court procedures (Schechter, 1982). Asa result, criminal justice policies on domestic violence have switched topro-arrest, mandatory arrest, mandatory prosecution, and criminalsanctions.

Despite tremendous changes in domestic violence policies, the un-derstanding of public attitudes toward criminal justice approaches todomestic violence is still limited. The criminalization of domestic vio-lence resulting from the efforts and the demands of feminist groups maybe appealing to White, middle-class women, but it may not address theconcern of intimate violence victims who belong to different social andracial backgrounds (Radford & Stanko, 1991). Therefore, it is unclearif other segments of the society, especially immigrant groups, sharethe view of those who have campaigned for and initiated the change to-ward the criminal justice approach to domestic violence. Studies havebeen conducted to explore public perceptions of domestic violence andinterventions, but previous studies tended to focus on arrest policies(e.g., Breci & Murphy, 1997; Hilton, 1993; Johnson & Sigler, 1995,2000; Koski & Mangold, 1988; Robinson, 1999; Stalans & Lurigio,

2 JOURNAL OF ETHNICITY IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE

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1995), and little is known about public views on other types of criminaljustice intervention in domestic violence, such as mandatory prosecu-tion, enhanced penalty, and mandatory treatment. Particularly, researchon attitudes toward domestic violence policies among immigrants hasbeen largely neglected by the research community. Immigrants, com-pared to members of the mainstream society, may experience higherlevels of domestic violence and may have higher levels of tolerance fordomestic violence, especially when they came from a culture that em-phasized the subordination of women to men and the privacy of familylife (Klein et al., 1997; Rasche, 1988). On the other hand, the adaptationand acculturation process during immigration resettlement may changetheir perceptions and attitudes toward domestic violence.

Research on perceptions of domestic violence and attitudes towardintervention policies among racial/ethnic immigrants is important forunderstanding how immigrants adapt to legal norms of the host societyand for designing effective intervention strategies. Social control andsocial engineering are major functions of law, and the effectiveness ofthe legal approach in controlling human behavior and shaping socialvalues depends on public awareness of the problem and support for in-tervention policies (Vago, 2003). A lack of understanding of domesticviolence policies among the public can reduce people’s support of inter-vention strategies and the effectiveness of law in combating the prob-lem and shaping new social values against domestic violence. Indeed,when people do not agree with criminal justice interventions in domes-tic violence, they may not report violent incidents to law enforcementagencies, and those who are not aware of domestic violence laws couldnot use them to protect their safety.

To fill the gap in the literature, the present study examines percep-tions of intimate violence and attitudes toward interventions amongVietnamese Americans. The focus is to understand how adaptationand acculturation affect their perceptions of the seriousness of intimateviolence in the Vietnamese community, their knowledge of interventionpolicies, and their support for government and criminal justice interven-tions.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Americans began experiencing major changes in public attitudes to-ward domestic violence and gender equality in the latter part of the 20thcentury. Until then, religious teachings had been used to condone wife

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assaults (Hilton, 1993). The first legislation that condemned family vio-lence was created in the 17th century to preserve family values and todemonstrate Christian virtues rather than to reflect public attitudesagainst wife assaults (Pleck, 1987). Other efforts to condemn family vi-olence had goals other than the protection of women from male violenceand the promotion of gender equality. For example, feminist groups thatemerged in the late 19th century directed much of their attention towardalcoholic wife assaulters to support the temperament movement, andconservative women reformers proposed the protection for wives tosupport the survival of the family against divorce (Pleck, 1987; L.Gordon, 1988). In the 1970s, the women’s movement began paying at-tention to battered women. With the goal of liberating women frommale control and domination, the movement challenged the social indif-ference toward the problem of wife assault and called for criminal jus-tice protections of battered women. As a result, wife assault has beenrecognized as a social problem that deserves government interventions.Subsequently, the criminalization of domestic violence has led tomandatory arrest, mandatory prosecution and enhanced penalty policiesfor domestic violence cases in many jurisdictions.

Along with changes in domestic violence policies, there has been ashift in social perceptions of domestic violence. Studies showed that thepublic no longer accepted violence against women, and assaults by anintimate partner were not considered as less serious than assaults bystrangers (Frieze & Brown, 1989; Hilton, 1993; Koski & Mangold,1988). In a national survey in 1994, more than 80 percent of the Ameri-can public perceived domestic violence a very important social and le-gal issue that needed government interventions (Lieberman Research,reported in Klein et al., 1997). Studies also showed that a substantialmajority of the public (97%) thought that it was unacceptable for a manto slap his wife once in a while (Gentemann, 1984), and only a smallportion of the public (25% to 33%) believed that wife beating could bejustified when the wife was having an extramarital affair (Greenblat,1985). Shifts in attitudes toward domestic violence have been attributedto the media that devote more attention to broadcasting the message thatdomestic violence is not a private issue but a serious social problem(Klein et al., 1997).

Public’s perceptions about appropriate interventions have alsochanged over time. Although there are variances in the public’s views,the general normative climate has become less tolerant of domestic vio-lence, and public’s perceptions of the criminalization of wife assaulthave become increasingly harsher over time (Johnson & Sigler, 2000;


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Stalans & Lurigio, 1995). The national survey conducted in 1994 indi-cated a great public support (87%) for government interventions in casea man hit his wife even if she was not injured (Lieberman Research, re-ported in Klein et al., 1997). While research showed a decrease in thebelief that wife battering should be handled as a civil matter (Johnson &Sigler, 2000), there was an increasing belief among the public that do-mestic violence should be treated as a felony and that the legal approachwas effective in reducing and eliminating the problem of domestic vio-lence (Hilton, 1993; Johnson & Sigler, 2000). Arrest was supported bythe majority of the public, even among those who did not believe in thedeterrent effect of arrest (Lieberman Research, reported in Klein et al.,1997; Breci & Murphy, 1992).

Research has also shown that perceptions of domestic violence andattitudes toward interventions vary with gender, age, social class, andfamily life experiences. There are major gender differences in percep-tions about the seriousness of the problem and effective interventions.Studies indicated that women were more likely than men to consider do-mestic violence a serious problem and to perceive that social agencies,crisis hotlines, and women’s shelters were effective interventions(EKD Surveys and Lieberman Research, reported in Klein et al.,1997; Hilton, 1993; Koski & Mangold, 1988). Pro-arrest policy re-ceived higher levels of support from women, Caucasians, older peo-ple, the less educated, and wealthy people (Robinson, 1999); femalesin abusive relationships were more likely than others to believe in thedeterrent effect of arrest (Breci & Murphy, 1997). Research also foundthat women and victims were more likely than men and non-victims tosupport the use of restraining order (Stalans & Lurigio, 1995). On theother hand, mediation was preferred over other forms of interventionsby single people, people who were not in an abusive relationship,women who were still in love with their spouse, and women who placedmore importance on maintaining harmony in the relationship (Stalans &Lurigio, 1995). Women’s preference for mediation, however, was re-duced when they believed that their spouse was likely to harm themagain.

As prior studies tended to focus on the mainstream population, littleis known about perceptions of domestic violence among immigrantsand their attitudes toward intervention policies. Due to different culturalvalues and legal norms, immigrants’ views of the problem may be dif-ferent from the views of people in the mainstream society. For example,it may be difficult for immigrants who came from a culture that gave anabsolute privilege to the husband over the wife to understand and accept

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the idea that wife beating is a crime that could result in arrest and jailtime. On the other hand, the exposure of immigrants to the ideal of gen-der equality, and their understanding of new laws against domestic vio-lence through the process of adaptation and acculturation may changetheir attitudes toward the problem and interventions. If they are awareof and support domestic violence policies, they can use them to combatthe problems. Research in the mainstream population indicated limiteddeterrent effects of arrest and prosecution policies (Maxwell, 1998;Dunford, Huizingar & Elliot, 1990; Ford & Regoli, 1993; Sherman,1992), but these approaches, when used together with court-mandatedtreatment, were found to be more effective in reducing recidivism(Dutton et al., 1992). Recent research on domestic violence amongVietnamese immigrants also showed that for some women, arrests, oreven threats of calling the police, and prosecution were effectiveenough to prevent future attacks (Morash & Bui, 2004). Thus, it is im-portant to research immigrant populations to understand their views ofdomestic violence and interventions and to improve knowledge aboutthe effects of adaptation and acculturation on public perceptions andattitudes toward the problem, which in turn can be used as a guide topublic policies.

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

Assimilation has been a major framework for the study of immigra-tion and adaptation experiences. Park and Burgess (1921) have arguedthat immigrants soon acquire and share the memories, sentiments, andattitudes of the dominant groups as they penetrate and are integratedinto the mainstream society. Subsequently, they are incorporated in acommon cultural life with the dominant group. Park and Burgess (1921)distinguished four types of interaction between immigrants and mem-bers of the host society, including competition, conflict, accommoda-tion, and assimilation. Of these four, accommodation often takes placequickly and is facilitated through secondary contacts as an immigrant istrying to adjust to the new situation. On the other hand, the process ofassimilation often happens more slowly, gradually and subtly, unless animmigrant has primary, intimate, and intense social contacts with mem-bers of the mainstream society. According to M. Gordon (1964), the as-similation of immigrants and minority groups to American society takesplace through several steps, of which cultural assimilation, or accultura-tion, is the first step occurring when an immigrant group changes its cul-


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tural patterns to those of the host society. The assimilation is completewhen members of the immigrant group are integrated into American in-stitutions on the primary group level, experience large-scale intermar-riages, and face no prejudice, no discrimination, as well as no value andpower conflicts. Thus, accommodation or cultural assimilation is likelythe experience of first-generation immigrants.

Although acculturation is expected for first-generation immigrants, anumber of factors cause some to move faster than the others in the ac-culturation process. First, language (English) proficiency has been con-sidered a factor facilitating acculturation and assimilation becauselearning English is one of the first basic steps to help a new immigrantparticipate in American life (Portes & Rumbaut, 1996; Roberts & Starr,1989). English proficiency also facilitates the acculturation processthrough communication with the mainstream society, either in person orvia the mass media (Rumbaut, 1999). The media not only reflect groupvalues and culture but also have a major role in shaping public percep-tions and social values (Klein et al., 1997). Second, education promotesacculturation through the exposure of immigrants to new knowledge,ideas, and perspectives. For instance, the ideology of gender equality,individualism, and personal independence taught in American schoolsand colleges can cause many immigrants to reassess the values of theirtraditional cultures that emphasize collectivism and women’s subordi-nation. High levels of education also increase immigrants’ ability tohold professional jobs and be integrated into the mainstream society andthe middle-class culture. On the other hand, immigrants with low levelsof education are more likely than others to remain in the margin ofAmerican society (Roberts & Starr, 1989). Third, age at the time of ar-rival in the host society also influences the acculturation process by af-fecting an immigrant’s ability to learn a new language and internalizenew culture. Scholars have observed higher capabilities to learn a newlanguage among the young than among more mature people (Rumbaut,1999; Lin, Tazuma & Masuda, 1979). Older immigrants tend to haveproblems with acculturation and assimilation because they had internal-ized their traditional beliefs for a long period of time before their arrivalin the new country, thus having difficulties to accept new ideas that arenot consistent with their belief system (Roberts & Starr, 1989). On theother hand, children tend to adjust themselves to the new cultural en-vironment faster than the adult group (L. Nguyen, 1987). In addition,length of residency also affects cultural adaptation and subsequent in-dividual outlooks. M. Gordon (1964) has argued that the longer an im-

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migrant resides in the host society, the more he/she has contacts with thehost culture and the more he/she achieves higher levels of assimilation.

In short, the literature suggests that English proficiency, US educa-tion, age at the time of arrival, and length of residency are indicators ofacculturation. As acculturation influences individuals’ perceptionsabout social phenomena, these indicators of acculturation could be use-ful for understanding perceptions of intimate violence and attitudes to-ward interventions among immigrants. Thus, it is expected thatimmigrants who have higher levels of English proficiency, who havehigher levels of US education, who came to the United States at a youn-ger age, and who have resided in the United States for a longer time willbe more likely than others to perceive intimate violence as a serious so-cial problem, know more about intervention policies; those who havemore knowledge on domestic violence policies will in turn have higherlevels of support for intervention policies. The next section presents themethods used to test these hypotheses.

METHODS

Sample and Data

Data for the study were drawn from the telephone survey of a randomsample of Vietnamese Americans selected in four locations in theUnited States. Vietnamese have resettled in the United States in largenumbers since 1975, after the end of the Vietnam War. By 2000, theVietnamese population in the United States had reached more than 1.2million, of which more than two-thirds were foreign-born (US CensusBureau, 2002; US Census Bureau, 2001). A large number of for-eign-born among Vietnamese Americans who have been exposed toAmerican culture at different levels allows an exploration of the effectsof acculturation on their perceptions of intimate violence and attitudestoward interventions. Literature suggests that the adaptation experi-ences of Vietnamese immigrants varied, depending on local resettle-ment programs and the formation of ethnic enclaves (Office of RefugeeResettlement, 1993; Song, 1992). To reflect the group’s diverse reset-tlement experiences, the present study selected Vietnamese Americansin four different Vietnamese communities with different populationsizes and characteristics. The first location was the Vietnamese commu-nity in Orange County (CA), also called Little Saigon, the home of thelargest Vietnamese community in the United States. Little Saigon, withmore than 100,000 residents and 2,000 small businesses, is considered


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the commercial and spiritual capital of Vietnamese Americans in theUnited States. The second location was the Vietnamese community inHouston (TX) with a population of 60,000. The third location wasBoston (MA) where a small Vietnamese population increased to morethan 10,000 in the mid-1990s due to a good labor market. The fourthlocation was a small Vietnamese community in Lansing (MI) with morethan 3,000 residents.

The research population, from which potential participants were ran-domly selected, was drawn from a list of Vietnamese surnames found intelephone directories.1 In order to have the numbers of respondents roughlyproportionate to the population size in each location, several pilot surveyswere conducted to estimate the response rate. The population sizes of fourlocations and response rates from the pilot surveys, which ranged from30% to 40%, were used to determine the numbers of potential participantsin each location.2 A total of 440 surveys were completed with respondentswho were 18 years old or older. Among the respondents, 224 were in Or-ange County, 145 in Houston, 40 in Boston, and 32 in Lansing.3

The survey was conducted via telephone in 2000. Literature suggeststhat telephone surveys can yield findings that are comparable to face-to-face interviews in terms of response rates and quality (Aneshensel,Frerichs, Clark & Yokopenic, 1982; Lavrakas, 1993). Other benefits ofusing the telephone survey include its ability to provide greater ano-nymity, decrease socially desirable responses, and reduce responsivebiases (Fenig, Lavav, Kohn & Yelin, 1993; Marin, Vanoss & Perez-Sta-ble, 1990). Given the domestic violence topic and the cultural back-ground of the research population (Vietnamese immigrants) thatemphasizes the notion of saving face, telephone surveys can promote agreater sense of confidentiality (Yick & Agbayani-Siewert, 1997). Thestudy questionnaire, which was prepared in two languages, Vietnameseand English, was designed to collect information on respondents’ de-mographic characteristics, immigration-related information (e.g., timein the United States, and age at the time of arrival), their perceptions ofthe seriousness of intimate violence among Vietnamese Americans,their knowledge of intimate violence policies, and their attitudes towardinterventions in general and criminal justice interventions in particular.Each survey took 20 to 30 minutes.

Variable Definitions and Measurements

a. Intimate violence was defined as the use of force to attack one’s inti-mate partner, including spouse, girlfriend, boyfriend, ex-spouse,

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ex-girlfriend, or ex-boyfriend (the use of force for self-defensewas not considered as intimate violence in the study).

b. Perceptions of intimate violence were measured with a questionasking the respondents to rank the seriousness of intimate vio-lence in their local community based on a four-point scale (1 = in-timate violence is not a problem; 2 = intimate violence is aproblem, but not serious; 3 = intimate violence is a serious prob-lem; 4 = intimate violence is a very serious problem).

c. Knowledge of intervention policies was measured by a scale con-sisting of four dichotomous items (1 = Yes; 0 = No) asking the re-spondents if they were aware of the fact that (1) intimate violenceis illegal in the United States; (2) a person who commits intimateviolence could be arrested, (3) a person who commits intimateviolence could be prosecuted and tried at the criminal court,and (4) a person who commits intimate violence could receivevarious types of punishment, including fines, court-mandatedtreatment, probation, and jail term (see Appendix for the question-naire). The scale had values ranging from 4 to 8; the Alpha valuefor scale internal consistency was 0.68.

d. Attitudes toward interventions were measured by 9 variables thatreflected respondents’ opinions about the various intervention approaches:(1) intimate violence should be stopped, (2) the government should inter-vene to stop the problem, (3) the police should be called when intimateviolence incidents occur, (4) intimate violence perpetrator should bearrested; (5) intimate violence perpetrator should be prosecuted; (6) in-timate violence perpetrator should be placed on probation; (7) intimateviolence perpetrator should be jailed; (8) intimate violence perpe-trator should be fined; (9) intimate violence perpetrator should re-ceive mandatory counseling treatment. Respondents’ opinionswere based on a five-point scale (1 = disagree in all situations; 2 =disagree in most situations; 3 = agree in some situations, 4 = agreein most situations; 5 = agree in all situations). Factor analysisidentified two separate concepts from these 9 variables. One re-flected attitudes toward general interventions and included 3 variables:(1) intimate violence should be stopped, (2) the government should in-tervene to stop the problem, and (3) the police should be called whenintimate violence incidents occur. These three variables were com-bined to create the scale of attitudes toward general interventionthat had values ranging from 3 to 15 and an Alpha value for scaleinternal consistency of 0.71. The other concept reflected attitudestoward criminal justice interventions and included the remaining 6


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variables about particular criminal justice interventions. These 6 vari-ables were combined to form the scale of attitudes toward criminaljustice interventions that had values ranging from 8 to 30 and an Alphavalue for scale internal consistency of 0.85.

e. Acculturation was measured by 4 separate items reflecting the re-spondents’ (1) English proficiency (1 = poor; 2 = average; 3 =good); (2) US education achievement (1 = no formal US educa-tion; 2 = less than college; 3 = college degree or above); (3) age atthe time of arrival (range = 0-69); (4) length of their US residency(range = 1-30).

Sample Characteristics

The sample consisted of 246 women (56%) and 194 men (44%).Most of the respondents were born in Vietnam (97.5%), and only 11 re-spondents (2.5%) were born in the United States.4 The majority of re-spondents (55%) were married; one-third were never married, and therest were either separate, divorced, or widows. Their age ranged from18 to 75 years with the mean of 40 years. Their age at the time of reset-tlement in the Unites States ranged from 0 year (those who were born inthe United States) to 69 years, with the mean of 29 years. The time theyhad lived in the United States prior to the survey ranged from 1 year to30 years with the mean of 11 years. More than half of the respondents(52%) had no formal education in the United States; a quarter had lessthan a college degree, and almost a quarter (23%) had a college degreeor higher earned in the United States. Forty-one percent of the respon-dents considered their English proficiency as good, or very good; a thirdreported an average level of English proficiency, and a quarter of re-spondents said that their English were poor, or they did not understandEnglish at all (see Table 1). Almost a quarter of the respondents (22%)worked as professionals; one-third were manual laborers; those whowere retired, unemployed, and students accounted for one-fourth of thesample.

FINDINGS

Perceptions of Intimate Violence, Knowledgeof Domestic Violence Policies, and Attitudes Toward Interventions

The percentages of respondents who ranked the seriousness of inti-mate violence and who knew various domestic violence polices were

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calculated to understand the perceptions of intimate violence andknowledge of domestic violence policies. Results of the analysis indi-cated that a majority of respondents (70%) considered intimate violencea problem in the Vietnamese community, but only less than half of them(40%) perceived it as a serious or very serious problem. In terms ofknowledge about intervention policies, a majority of respondents knewthat intimate violence was a crime (61.9%), knew that those who com-mitted intimate violence could be arrested (80%), and understood thatthose who committed intimate violence could receive some sort of pun-ishment (fine, probation, jail terms, or mandatory treatment) (75.8%).However, only less than half of the respondents knew that those whocommitted intimate violence could be prosecuted and tried at thecriminal court (46.8%).

To understand respondents’ attitudes toward intimate violence inter-vention, mean scores of single variables measuring their attitudes werecalculated. Based on a five-point scale ranging from 1 (disagree in allsituations) to 5 (agree in all situations), higher mean scores indicatedhigher levels of support for interventions. Results of the analysisshowed very high levels of support for general interventions among therespondents. The statement “Intimate violence should be stopped” had


TABLE 1. Sample Characteristics

Total N = 440Age Range = 18-75; Mean = 40Age at the time of arrival Range = 0-69; Mean = 29Length of residency Range = 1-30; Mean = 11

Sex Place of BirthMale 194 (44%) Vietnam 429 (97.5%)Female 246 (56%) The United States 11 (2.5%)

US Education English ProficiencyNo formal US education 229 (52%) Poor or not at all 115 (26%)Less than college degree 110 (25%) Average 145 (33%)College degree or higher 101 (23%) Good or very good 180 (41%)

Marital Status OccupationNever married 145 (33%) Professionals 97 (22%)Married 243 (55%) Manual laborers 123 (28%)Separated, divorced, widowed 52 (12%) Technician, clerical 62 (14%)

Self-employed 30 (7%)Unemployed, retired, students 128 (29%)

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the highest mean score (4.72), followed by the statements “Governmentshould intervene to stop intimate violence” (4.50) and “Police should becalled when intimate violence occurs” (4.39). Although the respondentsshowed very high levels of support for interventions to stop intimate vi-olence, they had lower levels of support for criminal justice approaches.Of specific interventions, mandatory counseling treatment received thehighest, and jail terms for intimate perpetrators the lowest, level of sup-port (mean scores = 4.43 and 3.30 respectively). The mean scores forsupport of arrest and prosecution were 4.03 and 3.74 respectively. Finesand probation received the same levels of support (mean scores = 3.81).Table 2 presents statistics on perceptions of intimate violence andattitudes toward interventions.

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TABLE 2. Perceptions of Intimate Violence, Knowledge of Domestic ViolencePolicies, and Attitudes Toward Interventions

Seriousness of the Intimate Violence Problem N (%)

Intimate violence is not a problem 122 (27.7)Intimate violence is a problem, but not serious 131 (29.8)Intimate violence is a serious problem 118 (26.8)Intimate violence is a very serious problem 58 (13.2)Don’t know 11 (2.5)

Knowledge About Intervention Policies N (%)

Know that intimate violence is a crime 272 (61.9)Know arrest policy 353 (80.0)Know prosecution policy 206 (46.8)Know punishment policies 329 (74.8)

Attitudes Toward Interventions Mean Scores

Intimate violence should be stopped 4.72Government should intervene 4.50Police should be called 4.39Intimate violence perpetrators should be arrested 4.03Intimate violence perpetrators should be prosecuted 3.74Intimate violence perpetrators should receive probation 3.81Intimate violence perpetrators should be jailed 3.30Intimate violence perpetrators should be fined 3.81Intimate violence perpetrators should have mandatory treatment 4.43

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Relationships of Perceptions of Intimate Violence, Knowledgeof Domestic Violence Policies, and Attitudes Toward Interventionswith Acculturation

Before multivariate analyses were performed to identify the sole ef-fect of acculturation on four dependent variables (perceptions of inti-mate violence, knowledge of domestic violence policies, attitudestoward general interventions, and attitudes toward criminal justice in-terventions), bivariate analyses were used to explore the distribution offour dependent variables on different levels of acculturation and the re-lationship of four dependent variables with indicators of acculturation(English proficiency, US education achievement, age at arrival to theUS, and length of US residency). For coding schemes, English profi-ciency and US education achievement were coded as they appeared inthe original variables described earlier in the method section. For age atthe time of arrival to the US, literature suggests important differences inphysical and psychological developmental states, in the socializationprocesses in the family, the school, and the society at large, and in theorientation toward one’s homeland between people who came to theUnited States at an early age (around their adolescence) and those whocame at an older age (Zhou, 1999). Based on the literature, age at thetime of arrival was divided into two groups: under 16 years old (codedas 1), and 16 years old or older (coded as 0). Length of residency wasdivided into three groups: 0-10 years, 11-20 years, and above 20 years.

Results of the analysis indicated that perceptions of intimate violencewere significantly related only to education and age at arrival, but notEnglish proficiency and length of US residency. Respondents who wereunder 16 years old when they arrived in the United States tended to per-ceive intimate violence in the Vietnamese community as more seriousthan those who came at an older age. The score of perception of respon-dents who came at the age of 15 or younger were 2.36 compared to 1.95among those who came at an older age. These scores were significantlydifferent at .05 level (F = 8.36; p = .003). However, education appearedto have an inverse relationship with perceptions of intimate violence.Those who had no education in the United States tended to perceive inti-mate violence in the Vietnamese community as more serious than thosewho had higher levels of education. The scores of perceptions of inti-mate violence correspondent with three levels of US education (no USeducation, less than college, and college education) were 2.39, 2.17, and2.10 respectively. These were significantly different at .05 level (F =4.6; p = 0.011).


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Knowledge of intimate violence policies was significantly related toEnglish proficiency, US education, and age of arrival, but not length ofUS residency. Low levels of English proficiency and education were as-sociated with low levels of knowledge of intimate violence policy. Onthe other hand, those who had higher levels of English proficiency andUS education were more knowledgeable about domestic violence poli-cies. The scores of knowledge of intimate violence correspondent withthree levels of English proficiency (poor, average, and good) were 2.52,2.46, and 3.03 respectively. These differences were significant at .05level (F = 9.57; p < .000). The scores of knowledge of intimate violencecorrespondent with three levels of US education (no US education, lessthan college education, and college education or above) were 2.40,2.93, and 3.12; these differences were significant at .05 level (F = 14.62;p < .000). Those who came to the US at a younger age were more likelythan those who came at an older age to know more about domestic vio-lence policies. The mean score of knowledge on domestic violence poli-cies among those who were 15 years old or younger at the time of arrivalto the US were 3.23 compared to 2.60 among those who were 16 yearsold or older at the time of arrival. These scores were significantlydifferent at .05 level (F = 16.88; p < .000).

Attitudes toward general interventions were significantly related toEnglish proficiency, and age at arrival to the US, but not US educationand length of residency. For English proficiency, an average Englishproficiency was associated with the lowest score on attitudes towardgeneral interventions (13.26), while poor English and good Englishwere associated with higher scores (13.60 and 13.90 respectively), andthese differences were significant at .05 level (F = 5.24; p = .006). Ageat arrival to the US had an inverse relationship with attitudes towardgeneral interventions. Those who came to the US at the age of 15 oryounger appeared to have higher levels of support for general interven-tions. Their mean score was 14.10 compared to 13.51 among those whocame at an older age. These scores were significantly different at .05level (F = 20.83; p < .000).

Attitudes toward criminal justice interventions were significantly re-lated with all measures of acculturation. Low levels of English profi-ciency and US education were associated with low scores on attitudestoward criminal justice interventions; those who had higher levels ofEnglish proficiency and US education had higher levels of support forcriminal justice interventions. The scores of attitudes toward criminaljustice interventions correspondent with three levels of English profi-ciency (poor, average, and good) were 21.32, 22.10, and 23.26 respec-

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tively. These differences were significant at .05 level (F = 5.44; p =.005). The scores of attitudes toward criminal justice interventions cor-respondent with three levels of US education (no US education, lessthan college, and college degree or above) were 21.51, 22.62, and 23.54respectively. These differences were significant at .05 level (F = 6.53, p =.002). Age at arrival had an inverse relationship with attitudes toward crim-inal justice interventions, and respondents who were younger at the time ofarrival had higher levels of support for criminal justice intervention. Re-spondents who came to the US at the age of 15 or younger had a highermean score on attitudes (24.56) than the mean score of those who came atan older age (21.76). These two scores were significantly different at .05level (F = 20.83; p < .000). On the other hand, US residency had positiverelationships with support for criminal justice interventions. The meanscores of those who had more than 20 years of residency, those who had 11years to 20 years of residency, and those who had under 11 years of resi-dency were 25.25, 22.95, and 21.73 respectively. These scores were signif-icantly different at .05 level (F = 10.10; p < .000). Table 3 summarizes theresults of bivariate analyses of relationships of acculturation with per-ceptions of intimate violence, knowledge of criminal justice policies,and attitudes toward interventions.

Effects of Acculturation on Perceptions of Intimate Violence,Knowledge of Domestic Violence Policies, and AttitudesToward Interventions

Although bivariate analyses show relationships of four dependentvariables with several acculturation indicators, the bivariate relation-ship between one acculturation indicator and one dependent variablemay be confounded by the effects of other acculturation indicators andfactors. Therefore, four OLS regression models were created to isolatethe sole effect of each acculturation indicator on perceptions of intimateviolence, knowledge of domestic violence policies, and attitudes to-ward interventions, while the effects of other variables were controlled.Perception of the seriousness of intimate violence was the dependentvariable in Model 15; knowledge of intimate violence policy in Model 2;attitudes toward general intervention in Model 3; and attitudes towardcriminal justice interventions in Model 4. For all four models, inde-pendent variables included English proficiency, US education, age atthe time of arrival in the US, and length of US residency (original con-tinuous measures). As knowledge of domestic violence policy may pos-itively influence support for intervention approaches, this variable was


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included as an independent variable in Model 3 and Model 4. Genderand marital status were included in all four models as control variablesbecause literature has suggested their relationships with perceptions ofdomestic violence and attitudes toward domestic violence policies (seeEKD Surveys and Liberman Research, reported in Klein et al., 1997;also see Breci & Murphy, 1997; Hilton, 1993; Koski & Mangold, 1988;Stalans & Lurigio, 1995). Gender was a dichotomous variable (male =0; female = 1). Marital status consisted of two dichotomous variables.One for singles and one for those who were divorced, separated andwidows.6 Table 4 presents the coding scheme for the regressionanalysis.

Results of the regression analysis indicated that all independent andcontrol variables significantly contributed to the variances in percep-tions of the seriousness of intimate violence (Model 1; F = 2.75; p =

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TABLE 3. Relationships Between Acculturation, Perceptions on Intimate Vio-lence, and Attitudes Toward Interventions

Seriousness Knowledge Attitude Attitudeof Intimate of Intimate Toward TowardViolence Violence General Criminal

Policy Intervention JusticeInterventions

English Proficiency (Means) (Mean) (Mean) (Means)Poor 2.38 2.52 13.60 21.32Average 2.32 2.46 13.26 22.10Good 2.11 3.03 13.90 23.26

F = 2.87 F = 9.57** F = 5.24** F = 5.44**EducationNo US education 2.39 2.40 13.67 21.51Less than college 2.17 2.93 13.62 22.62College 2.10 3.12 13.48 23.54

F = 4.6* F = 14.62** F = .46 F = 6.53**Age at Arrival15 years old or younger 2.36 3.23 14.10 24.5616 years old or or older 1.95 2.60 13.51 21.76

F = 8.36* F = 16.88** F = 7.15** F = 20.83**Length of ResidencyUp to 10 years 2.22 2.60 13.60 21.7311-20 years 2.32 2.87 13.56 22.95Above 20 years 2.21 3.00 13.95 25.25

F = .34 F = 2.79 F = .75 F = 10.1**

* Significant at .05 level.** Significant at .001 level.

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.008), knowledge of domestic violence policies (Model 2; F = 3.99; p <

.000), attitudes toward general interventions (Model 3; F = 4.91; p <

.000), and attitudes toward criminal justice interventions (Model 4; F =12.77; p < .000). These variables better explained attitudes toward forcriminal justice interventions (R2 = .212) than perceptions of the seri-ousness of the problem (R2 = .049), knowledge of domestic violencepolicies (R2 = .066), and attitudes toward general interventions (R2 =.094).

The sole effects of single acculturation variables on the dependentvariables were reflected in regression coefficient statistics. Standard-ized regression coefficients were used to show the relative strength ofindependent variables in each model. Data analyses indicated that eachindependent variable significantly contributed to only one or two mod-els, and the relative strength of these variables in each model also var-


TABLE 4. Coding Scheme for Regression Analysis

Variable Measurement

Dependent Variables

Perceptions of the seriousness of the problem Ordinal (1 = not a problem; 2 = problembut not serious; 3 = serious problem;4 = very serious problem)

Knowledge of intimate violence policies Continuous, range = 4-8Attitudes toward government interventions Continuous, range = 3-15Attitudes toward criminal justice interventions Continuous, range = 8-30

Independent Variables

English proficiency Ordinal (1 = poor; 2 = average;3 = good)

US education Ordinal (1 = no US education; 2 = lessthan college; 3 = college and above)

Age at the time of arrival Dichotomous (1 = 15 or under; 0 = 16or older)

Length of residency Continuous, range = 1-30Knowledge of domestic violence policies Only in Model 3 and Model 4

Control Variables

Gender Dichotomous (1 = female; 0 = male)Marital status: single Dichotomous (1 = single; 0 = others)Marital status: separated, divorced, or Dichotomous (1 = separated, divorced,widowed or widowed; 0 = others)D

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ied. English proficiency did not significantly contribute to any model.US education affected attitudes toward general interventions (Model 3)and knowledge of intimate violence policies (Model 2). Higher US edu-cation positively affected knowledge of domestic violence policies(Beta = 177; p = .007) but negatively affected support for general inter-ventions (Beta = �.221; p = .001). As expected, age at the time of ar-rival significantly contributed to perceptions of intimate violence(Model 1) and attitudes toward general interventions (Model 3). Being15 years old or younger at the time of arrival significantly increasedthe perception of the seriousness of intimate violence (Beta =.138; p = .026) and support for general interventions (Beta = .125; p =.037). Length of residency only affected perceptions of the seriousnessof intimate violence (Beta = .133, p = .032). As expected, knowledge ofdomestic violence policies positively contributed to support for govern-ment interventions (Beta = .235; p < .000) and criminal justice interven-tions (Beta = .363, p < .000). Gender and marital status also affectedattitudes toward criminal justice interventions. However, being female,and being separated, divorced, or widows negatively affected supportfor criminal justice interventions.

In terms of the relative strength of each variable in the model, an ex-amination of standardized regression coefficients indicated that age atthe time of arrival contributed the most to perceptions of intimate vio-lence (Beta = .138), followed by the length of residency (Beta = .133).US education was the only variable that had the regression coefficient(Beta = .177) significant at 0.05 level in Model 2 (knowledge of domes-tic violence policies). On the other hand, knowledge of domestic vio-lence had the strongest effect on attitudes toward general interventions(Beta = .235), followed by US education (Beta = �.221) and age at ar-rival (Beta = .125). Knowledge of domestic violence also had the stron-gest effect on attitudes toward criminal justice interventions (Beta =.363), followed by gender (Beta = �.114) and marital status (Beta =�.093). Table 5 presents the results of the regression analyses.

DISCUSSIONS AND CONCLUSION

In summary, data analyses indicated that a majority of respondentsconsidered intimate violence in the Vietnamese community a problem,but not a serious problem. Most of them were aware of the prohibitionof intimate violence in the United States, but they were less likely to un-derstand that those who commit intimate violence could receive crimi-

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nal sanctions. Although a substantial majority of the respondentssupported the idea that intimate violence should be stopped and the gov-ernment should intervene, they had lower levels of support for criminaljustice interventions, particularly punishment in jails. The acculturationframework for understanding perceptions of intimate violence and atti-tudes toward interventions was partially supported by data from thestudy. Contrary to the study expectation, English proficiency did notcontribute to any of the four models. US education negatively affectedsupport for general interventions, but it positively affected knowledgeof domestic violence policies, which in turn increased support for bothgeneral and criminal justice interventions. On the other hand, length ofUS residency positively affected perceptions of the seriousness ofintimate violence.

Immigrant life and resettlement experience may explain the insignifi-cant effects of English proficiency on perceptions of intimate violence,knowledge of domestic violence policies, and attitudes toward interven-tions. First-generation immigrants may need to improve their Englishskills for job and work requirements, but they may not have many op-


TABLE 5. Results of Regression Analyses

Model 1 Model 2 Model 3 Model 4

Model fit (F) 2.75* 3.98** 4.91** 12.77**R2 .049 .068 .094 .212

Standardized Coefficient (Beta)

English proficiency �.048 .012 .095 .017US education �.123 .177* �.221** .001Arrival at 15 or younger .138* .103 .125* .098Length of residency .133* .008 .013 .081Knowledge of DV policies – – .235** .363**Female �.079 .031 .040 �.114*Single .027 .017 .001 �.042Separated, divorced, or widowed �.004 .003 �.063 �.093*

Model 1 = Perceptions of the seriousness of domestic violence.Model 2 = Knowledge of domestic violence policies.Model 3 = Attitudes toward general interventions.Model 4 = Attitudes toward criminal justice interventions.* Significant at .05 level.** Significant at .001 level.

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portunities to contact the mainstream society and be exposed to Ameri-can culture and legal norms. Literature has indicated that manyVietnamese immigrants are living in the two worlds, the world of theirjobs in which they need to use English and the world of the Vietnamesecommunity in which Vietnamese traditional culture is reinforced byVietnamese media and frequent contacts between people of the sameethnic background (H. Nguyen & Haines, 1996). A similar explanationmay apply to understand why US education only affects knowledge ofdomestic violence policies (Model 2) but not perceptions of intimate vi-olence (Model 1) and attitudes toward criminal justice interventions(Model 4). The insignificant effects of US residency on knowledge ofdomestic violence policies and attitudes toward interventions may beexplained by emotional isolations resulted from the process of immigra-tion and lack of US education. In fact, many Vietnamese immigrantshave low levels of US education regardless of how long they have livedin the US. Consequently, they may not know much about domestic vio-lence policies. For many immigrants, isolations from the mainstreamsociety and the absence of the personal network of relatives and friendsleft behind in their country of origin may create a desire to preserve fam-ily relationships and, thus, reduce their support for criminal justice in-terventions. The effects of age at the time of arrival on perceptions ofthe seriousness of the problem and support for general interventions areconsistent with the literature, but it is unclear why age at the time ofarrival has no significant effects on knowledge of domestic violencepolicies and attitudes toward criminal justice interventions.

Findings from the study suggest the limitation of the current accultur-ation framework in understanding perceptions of domestic violence andattitudes toward intervention policies among immigrants. The studyalso highlights the importance of understanding acculturation withinthe social and political contexts of immigration resettlement. Englishproficiency and US education alone may not be enough to help immi-grants adapt to American culture and share the perspectives of people inthe mainstream society, especially when immigrants only use languageskills and education in the technical areas of their jobs, but they do nothave opportunities to be integrated into the cultural life of the main-stream society. In addition, longer US residency is not necessarily asso-ciated with more knowledge of domestic violence policies whenimmigrants still have low levels of education, or when they confinethemselves in their ethnic community and have few contacts withAmerican culture. Literature has indicated that the relationship be-tween length of residency and acculturation is not always a straight

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line, but it tends to be mediated by other factors, including economic re-sources, opportunities, education, language, and residential integration(Rumbaut, 1999). Moreover, regardless of the length of residency, emo-tional and economic isolations resulting from the process of immigra-tion may create a need among immigrant women to maintain family lifeand, thus, may prevent them from supporting criminal justice interven-tions that could disrupt family relationships. Similarly, those who areseparated, divorced, or widows do not support criminal justice interven-tions because they may have experienced negative effects of family dis-ruptions caused by divorce, separation, and the death of a spouse duringthe process of immigration resettlement.

In terms of policy implications, the study suggests the importance ofsocial integration and public education in promoting and improving un-derstandings of intimate violence policies among immigrants, becauseknowledge of domestic violence policies would increase support for in-terventions to end intimate violence. High levels of support for govern-ment interventions to stop domestic violence, but low levels of supportfor criminal sanctions, imply the need for social policies that take intoaccount the socioeconomic conditions of immigrant families and pro-vide alternatives to prosecution and criminal sanctions as solutions tothe problem of intimate violence.

1. There may be some problems associated with using telephone di-rectories because people who do not have telephone services orwho have their numbers unlisted are excluded. However, giventhe characteristic of the research population (Vietnamese Ameri-cans) as a small ethnic group, there is no better choice.

2. The actual response rate was highest in Houston (45%), followedby Orange County (40%) and Boston (38%); the lowest responserate was in Lansing (36%).

3. Over-sampling was performed in Lansing to have enough casesfor detailed analysis.

4. Only more than 2% of the sample were American-born Vietnam-ese because most American-born Vietnamese are younger than20, and the study only included people who were 18 years old orolder.

5. The Ordinary Least Square (OLS) procedure can be used for ordi-nal variables when values of the ordinal variables assigned to theranked categories approximately representing the true intervalsbetween them, such as in the case of variable measuring percep-tions of the seriousness of intimate violence in the present study.


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For more information on regression analysis for ordinal variables,see McClendon (1994): Multiple Regression and Causal Analy-sis. Itasca, IL: E. E. Peacock Publishers.

6. In preliminary analyses, two variables, dummy single and dummymarried, were strongly related and caused the problem of multi-collinearity in the regression analysis. Therefore, a dummy vari-able for those who were separated, divorced, and widowed wasincluded in the models in place of dummy married.

NOTES

1. There may be some problems associated with using telephone directories to createresearch population that may exclude those who do not have telephone services orthose who have their numbers unlisted. However, given the fact that the research popu-lation is a small ethnic group, there is no better choice.

2. The actual response rate was highest in Houston (45%), followed by OrangeCounty (40%) and Boston (38%); the lowest response rate was in Lansing (36%).

3. Over-sampling was performed in Lansing to have enough numbers for detailedanalysis.

4. Only less than more than 2% of the sample were American-born Vietnamese be-cause most American-born Vietnamese are younger than 20 years old, and the studyonly included people 18 years old or older.

5. The Ordinary Least Square procedure can be used for ordinal variables when val-ues of the ordinal variables assigned to the ranked categories approximately represent-ing the true intervals between them, such as in the case of variable measuringperceptions of the seriousness of intimate violence in the present study. For more infor-mation on regression analysis for ordinal variables, see McClendon (1994). MultipleRegression and Causal Analysis. Itasca, IL: E. E. Peacock Publishers.

6. In the preliminary analysis, dummy single and dummy married were strongly re-lated and created the problem of collinearity in the regression analysis. Therefore, adummy variable for those who were separated, divorced and widowed was included inthe model in place of dummy married.

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Amerasia Journal, 25, 1-27.

Submitted: March 2004Resubmitted: November 2004

Accepted: January 2005

APPENDIXQuestions on Perceptions of Intimate Violence, Knowledge

of Criminal Justice Interventions, and Attitudes Toward Interventions

Perceptions of Intimate Violence

How do you feel about intimate violence in the Vietnamese community?(Select one)

1. Domestic violence is not a problem in the Vietnamese community.2. Domestic violence is a problem, but not serious, in the Vietnamese

community.3. Domestic violence is a serious problem in the Vietnamese commu-

nity.4. Domestic violence is a very serious problem in the Vietnamese com-

munity.

Knowledge of Domestic Violence Policies

1. Do you know that intimate violence is illegal in the US?Yes No

2. Do you know that a person who commits intimate violence could bearrested?

Yes No3. Do you know that a person who commits intimate violence could be

prosecuted?Yes No


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4. Do you know that a person who commits intimate violence could re-ceive various types of punishment, including fines, probation, man-datory treatment, and jail terms?

Yes No

Attitudes Toward Interventions

How do you feel about the following intervention approaches to intimateviolence? (Answers are based on a five-point scale: (1) disagree in all situa-tions; (2) disagree in most situations; (3) agree in some situations; (4) agreein most situations; (5) agree in all situations.)

1. Intimate violence should be stopped.2. The government should intervene to stop the problem.3. The police should be called when intimate violence incidents occur.4. Intimate violence perpetrators should be arrested.5. Intimate violence perpetrators should be prosecuted.6. Intimate violence perpetrators should receive probation.7. Intimate violence perpetrators should be jailed.8. Intimate violence perpetrators should be fined.9. Intimate violence perpetrators should receive mandatory counseling

treatment.

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perceptions of intimate violence and attitudes toward interventions

Documents