Cultural Variation in Male Partner Violence Against Women

Abstract

This study investigates the question of whether Québec possesses a different culture of male partner violence against women than the rest of Canada. It is hypothesized that Québec will have a lower prevalence of violence than the rest of Canada and that men in Québec who hold patriarchal attitudes will be more likely to be violent than those who do not. Using a large-scale representative sample of Canadian women, tests provide support for both hypotheses. The key to understanding the difference in prevalence between the two cultural groups is patriarchal domination, and the common thread for interpretation of many cultural differences in risk markers is patriarchy.