Fighting Families: Family Characteristics Associated with Domestic Violence in Five Latin American Countries

Keywords

Latin America, spouse abuse, family violence, marital violence

Abstract

This study uses data from Demographic and Health Surveys (DHSs) to examine the relationship between familial characteristics and the likelihood of experiencing domestic violence in Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Peru. Logistic regression techniques are used to measure relationships between marital status, family size, partner alcohol use, socioeconomic status (SES), decision-making power, and education homogamy and the likelihood of experiencing partner violence. Cohabitation, female-dominant decision making, and partner alcohol are positively associated with domestic violence across datasets. Family size, SES, and education homogamy emerged as statistically significant in some, but not all of the datasets. This study helps clarify the profile of the abused Latina and also tests the applicability of current abuse research to a non-Western setting.

Original Publication Citation

Flake, Dallan F. and Renata Forste. 2006“Fighting Families: Family Characteristics Associated with Domestic Violence in Five Latin American Countries.” Journal of Family Violence,21(1):19-29

Document Type

Peer-Reviewed Article

Publication Date

2006-1

Permanent URL

http://hdl.lib.byu.edu/1877/5616

Publisher

Journal of Family Violence

Language

English

College

Family, Home, and Social Sciences

Department

Sociology

University Standing at Time of Publication

Full Professor

Link to Full Text

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