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A study of domestic violence against academic working wives in Medan

William S. Rowe, Nurasiah FakihSutan and Iryna M. Dulka International Social Work 2006 49: 41 DOI: 10.1177/0020872806059400 The online version of this article can be found at: http://isw.sagepub.com/content/49/1/41

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International Social Work 49(1): 4150 Sage Publications: London, Thousand Oaks, CA and New Delhi DOI: 10.1177/0020872806059400

i s w *

A study of domestic violence against academic working wives in Medan

William S. Rowe, Nurasiah FakihSutan and Iryna M. Dulka

This article studies domestic violence experienced by women working in different roles in academic sectors of Medan, the capital of North Sumatra in Indonesia. Although the majority of Indonesians are Muslim, Medan is heterogeneous in terms of ethnicity, culture, socioeconomic status and religious beliefs. Not only is it situated in a developing country plagued by the stresses of modernization, civil disorder and ethnic conict, but local newspapers in Medan and other Indonesian cities continue to document ongoing human rights violations, including the disregard of womens rights (Kalingga, 2001). It is commonly thought that the more traditional cultural norms in developing countries like Indonesia may be linked to high rates of conjugal violence (Campbell, 1999). It is normally difcult to gather reliable data in such settings, but the opportunity to interview working wives allowed for a glimpse into the situation. Given the limited demography, one of the key questions is whether or not the experience of women with independent economic resources would be representative. Background Wife beating is frequently identied as a common and universal occurrence (Brinkerhoff and Lupri, 1988). Cross-cultural studies
Key words * developing country * domestic violence * Islamic society * working wives

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have revealed that wife abuse is common in patriarchal societies (Bui and Morash, 1999; Gallin, 1992; Levinson, 1988). McWilliams (1998) and others have questioned whether the social and economic ramications of women in the workforce contribute to domestic violence. As more women enjoy higher socioeconomic status, tensions that result from the demands of traditional gender roles may increase. Other studies point to structural determinants within a marriage as precipitators of conjugal violence. Walsh (1989) found equitability and shared power between spouses to be characteristics of a happy and successful marriage. Asymmetrical relationship patterns distinguished by male dominance were associated with conict and a heightened risk of family violence (Coleman and Strauss, 1986; Yllo, 1984, 1993). In a Korean study of domestic violence, Kim and Sung (2000) identied a strong tendency towards violence among male-dominated couples. Barnett et al. (1997) provide a review of studies on wife abuse, which focus on personality and psychological proles of battered women and their abusers. Studies reveal that women tend to blame themselves for their failed relationships, and develop low self-esteem and a fear of loneliness (Kaner et al., 1993; Turner and Shapiro, 1986). Women living in what Walker (1979) described as a cycle of violence experience anger exacerbated by an escalation of violent behavior, then respite and a renewed sense of hope (Barnett and Lopez-Real, 1985; Graham et al., 1988). Women exposed to prolonged stress associated with abuse learn to accommodate the violence through psychological defense mechanisms such as denial and believing in myths. The stress experienced by abused women produces an array of physical symptoms, including confusion, poor judgement, anxiety, anger, depression and illness. Women nd themselves experiencing learned helplessness (Walker, 1977) and cease trying to escape. Despite feeling psychologically trapped, women may form a traumatic bond with their abuser, thwarting any possibility to leave the relationship (Aguirre, 1985; Barnett et al., 1996; Graham et al., 1995). Research has explored traditional sex-role socialization as a precursor to cultural determinants of conjugal violence. Such a perspective posits that children may be socialized to expect that women will obey their husbands (Birns et al., 1994; Watts and Courtois, 1981). Social analysts caution that cultural explanations must take into

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account that not all men who are socialized to be dominant abuse their wives (Breines and Gordon, 1983; Maertz, 1990). This article presents ndings from a study of abused professional women working in Medan and sought to identify the causes and outcomes of reported family violence, physical, mental, nancial and sexual.

Methodology This qualitative, multi-method study involved an interpretive and naturalistic approach. It builds on other studies (Frye and DAvanzo, 1994; Keenan et al., 1998), which show that the often neglected anthropological and qualitative evidence provides insight into the causes, impact and outcomes of abuse. The study used purposive and snowball sampling techniques based on the principles of non-probability theory. Snowball sampling, as suggested by Russell (1995), facilitates the recruitment of key individuals for participation in studies that deal with matters considered to be very private, such as family violence. Two focus groups, each consisting of 12 women and led by two female researchers, took place. The tape-recorded discussions lasted about three hours each. In-depth interviews with individual subjects followed. These were carried out in the language the respondent preferred (Bahasa Indonesian, English or Sumatran) and formed the basis of the data collection. Following appropriate ethical guidelines for research, each informant was interviewed for approximately two and a half hours by a principal investigator and a co-researcher. In contrast to typical anthropological studies, semistructured interviewing techniques were applied.

Findings Forms of abuse The intensity and frequency of incidents of conjugal violence varied among the informants. Some reported being beaten, having dishes thrown at them, having their hair pulled and getting kicked. Women also experienced psychological abuse, including insults, ridicule and unfounded accusations. Their husbands would threaten to have extramarital affairs and to divorce, beat and even murder them.

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Financially independent women experienced nancial abuse, including dishonesty, unfairness and in some instances their husbands outright refusal to support the family. Some husbands refused to share in household chores and women had to bear a double burden. Another factor associated with domestic violence included husbands having extramarital affairs and even marrying other women. Some husbands left their wives, while others remained married to them. Spousal abuse often followed a wifes complaint about her husbands affair. Context of violence An analysis of the context in which violence occurs can be divided into two situations: those with and those without family conict. In situations of family conict, abuse occurred with previously existing problems, such as difculties in communication or conditions that had given rise to chronic stress. On the other hand, wife abuse as a normal feature of conict-free family life occurred in the apparent absence of other family problems. Women interviewed usually did not perceive this as violence. Conversely, aggression that took place during ghts and arguments was identied as violence by abused women. Occurrence Physical violence took place mostly in the informants own homes, both in and out of the presence of other family members. The screaming that usually accompanied physical violence also drew the neighbors attention, since the informants tended to live in crowded sections of town that afforded them little privacy. Instances of conjugal violence were a source of deep embarrassment and shame for the battered women. Women subsequently became socially alienated as they avoided involvement in neighborhood interactions and were simultaneously shunned by neighbors. Some informants reported that their husbands subjected them to obscenities and threats of abuse and divorce. The presence of continuous underlying tension in the marriage even with regard to trivial matters reportedly exacerbated the frequency of abuse. Financial abuse committed against the informants included husbands concealing portions of their salaries or stealing money and property from their wives. Some husbands did not provide enough money for basic daily needs, while others did not provide any money at all. Many of them demanded that their wives earn more, while paradoxically forbidding them to advance in their careers.
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The interviewees reacted to abuse by ghting back, being accepting and quiet, or displaying a combination of the two reactions. When faced with physical force, the wives tended to counter violent behavior only when they felt that they were not in any physical danger. When they knew that they might suffer more physical harm, they chose to accept and remain silent. Most informants attempted to react when their husbands belittled or degraded them. Others simply forgave their husbands and considered these outbursts as mistakes committed in anger because of stress. The wives reactions to being nancially abused varied greatly. Some did not seem to mind that their husbands failed to contribute nancially. Some women brought legal charges against their husbands or quarreled with them. It became obvious that in addition to extramarital love affairs, nancial exploitation was the second most important factor that contributed to divorce. Ironically, nancial independence was identied by many wives as the reason they were able to endure their marriages and not seek divorce.

Quality of marriages Only three of the abused wives took action to end their marriages, citing the importance of family support. Other women were denied divorce, necessitating an acceptance of their abuse. Some made efforts to change their husbands abusive behavior within the marriage. The context and nature of abuse seemed to determine whether marriages remained intact. Women who ended their marriages reported more severe and more prevalent acts of violence over longer periods of time. They stated their decisions to divorce were supported by their relatives and were benecial to their children. The economic independence of the informants also clearly inuenced their decisions to end their abusive relationships. However, divorce did not guarantee that they would be safe, as some continued to be terrorized by ex-husbands. Those who remained married made efforts to change their husbands abusive behavior and focused their attention on their children and other activities. They had been in abusive marriages for between two and ve years, and had neither experienced an escalation of violence nor been abused on a regular basis. In one situation of typical denial, the informant kept making excuses for her husbands battering and tried to calm him down when he was
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angry. Her husband was a drug user, and she believed that he beat her because of this.

Discussion We arrive at two central theoretical points: rst, that domestic violence is at least as much as, if not more than, the product of patriarchy in the culture than material dependence of the wives on the husbands; and second, that the material wellbeing and presumed independence of wives actually contributes to the violence because it challenges cultural patriarchy and makes it nancially and socially easier for the man to engage in some forms of violence. Womens economic independence A study by Meiyanti (1999) suggests the nancial dependence of women contributes to situations of conjugal violence. In this study it was found that womens economic independence also contributes to the incidence of conjugal violence. Husbands decreased nancial contribution to their households provided them with the money needed to have extramarital affairs and to support new wives and families. This elucidates the tremendous complexity and multifaceted nature of domestic violence. Shared characteristics Many informants contended that the causes of their husbands violent behavior were unrelated to the marriage. This notion is supported by a number of studies, which have determined that abusers are themselves unaware of what triggers their abusive behavior (Barnett et al., 1995). Other research found that battering is actually a stress reducer for some men (Jacobson and Gottman, 1993). Some male abusers exhibit characteristics similar to their female victims. Many have low self-esteem and are more depressed compared with men who are violent in other contexts (Goldstein and Rosenbaum, 1985; Hamberger and Hastings, 1988; Neidig et al., 1986). Heightened dependency needs are prevalent among men who abuse their wives (Dutton and Painter, 1993; Margolin et al., 1988). Men reported feeling powerless (Petrik et al., 1994) and highly sensitive to feelings of abandonment by women (Dutton and Strachan, 1987; Holtzworth-Munroe and Hutchinson, 1993). While this does not justify verbal or physical aggression, it indicates that men and women may have different ways of expressing themselves.
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The situations of violence described here reect the need of husbands to exert power over their wives. This corroborates the fact that men still saw themselves as the heads of their families, notwithstanding the economic independence of their wives. While studies of conjugal violence demonstrate that women attempt to keep their marriages intact (Bauserman and Arias, 1992; Ferraro and Johnson, 1984), future studies could explore the extent to which the prevailing cultural, social and religious values determine how abusers and victims perceive and respond to conjugal violence. Implications for social work The use of focus groups in this study demonstrates that group discussion is quite valuable and provided the study subjects with the opportunity to discuss their abusive experiences and to help them bring the issue of marital abuse into the open. As was found by Bhatia et al. (1992), Iraqi women had great difculty speaking openly about the conjugal violence they experienced upon their husbands return from war. Koval et al. (1982) found certain interventions helpful in mitigating the male dominant structure, such as stress management techniques. Focusing the treatment on the perpetrator is not usually very effective, because such treatments are involuntary and must be court-ordered. The process is further impeded by high drop-out rates (Barnett et al., 1995). This research suggests the need to ensure that the problem of conjugal violence is brought to the attention of the public as well as the helping professions.

Conclusion A startling nding of this study is that a womans nancial independence from her husband does not protect her from conjugal violence. Although this study did not compare the experiences of wives employed in the academic sector with those at home or in other professions, the reported abuses were comparable with those experienced by women in other countries. This provides strong evidence that conjugal violence occurs across all socioeconomic strata, challenging assumptions that only less educated and nancially dependent women are vulnerable. This was a small study and to our knowledge the rst of its kind in Medan. After completion the ndings were shared at a large public meeting and a womens helpline was established at the Institute.
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Future studies must face the challenge of investigating the experiences of a wider range of women who are traditionally less accessible for social and cultural reasons. Meanwhile, this is an area that requires increased attention from social and community development workers in Indonesia, as in many other countries.

Acknowledgements Co-investigators who assisted with interviewing and leading focus groups were from IAIN Sumatera/Utara-Medan, as follows: Rustam Pakpaham, MA; Musganti Sitorus, MA; Chuzaemah Batubara, MA; and Fathul Djannah, MA.

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William S. Rowe is Professor and Director, School of Social Work, University of South Florida, 4202, East Fowler Ave., MGY 132 Tampa, Florida, FL 336206600, USA. [email: wrowe@cas.usf.edu] Nurasiah FakihSutan is Project Coordinator at IAIN Sumatera/Utara-Medan, Indonesia. Iryna M. Dulka is a research coordinator at the Centre for Applied Family Studies at the School of Social Work, McGill University, Montreal, Canada.

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