Doctoral Dissertations

Date of Award

12-1999

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Major

Sociology

Major Professor

Michael Benson

Committee Members

Neal Shover, James Black, Greer Litton Fox

Abstract

This study investigates how individual and relationship-level factors interact with community context to affect male-to-female violence among married and cohabiting adults. The relevant dimensions of community context are derived from social disorganization theory. This theory indicates that disorganized areas lack formal and informal controls that inhibit violence. The data come from wave 2 of the National Survey of Families and Households that was completed in 1994, and the 1990 Census. Cross sectional analysis is used to assess relationships between individual, couple and community-level variables and male-to-female partner violence. Logistic regression is used to assess variation in the independent and dependent variables between neighborhood types and within them. The research finds that social disorganization significantly influences the likelihood of male-to-female partner violence controlling for the affects of other known individual and couple-level indicators. The affects of gender-role attitudes and financial satisfaction are assessed as are duration of union, race, socioeconomic status, and marital status among couples.

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