A comparison between strategies used on prisoners of war and battered wives |
| |
Authors: | Mary Romero |
| |
Institution: | 1. Dean's Office, Yale Station, P.O. Box 1604A, 06520, New Haven, Connecticut
|
| |
Abstract: | Comparisons were made between strategies used on prisoners of war (POWs) and battered wives to determine whether battering tactics are gender specific and thus a result of sexism, or whether battering is a reflection of societal violence. Similarities found between strategies used by captors and batterers were (a) psychological abuse within the context of violence; (b) the use of emotional dependency based on intermittent reinforcement; and (c) isolation from the victim's support system resulting in validation of assailant's beliefs and behavior. Both captors and batterers were successful in destroying the individual's self-identity, as well as eliciting and controlling certain kinds of behavior, when the victim remained isolated from a democratic setting. Differences in the experiences of POWs and battered wives center around the type of a hierarchical structure. In the case of battered wives, a patriarchal family legitimates male domination over women; therefore, the violence occurs within a sexist context. |
| |
Keywords: | |
本文献已被 SpringerLink 等数据库收录! |
|