The Issue of Gender in Relation to Psychological Domestic Violence in China

Abstract

This article reports the results of a survey that addresses some of limitations of the earlier research on domestic violence in China. It begins by presenting a literature review of the existing research of domestic violence in China, particularly psychological violence, referring to its background, development, achievement, research, and issues. Domestic violence has not been seen as a “family/private” matter but as a “public” matter in the recent decade in China. However, researching domestic violence, particularly psychological violence is new in China that the research may be limited in some aspects by a lack of experience. This survey therefore focuses on an exploration of psychological violence, specifically of these non-verbal behaviors “glaring”, “threatening with fists” and “stamping of foot” because Chinese husbands and wives are likely to use/experience them in conflict. “Glaring” and “threatening with fists” can be classified as “active” non-verbal behavior, namely that which potentially precedes a physical attack upon victims, while “stamping of foot” can be classified as “passive” non-verbal behavior, namely that which doesn’t threaten or precede a real attack upon victims. The results of this survey presented here provide a more specific overview of how couples actually behave in conflict. First, these three non-verbal behaviors are frequently and more or less differently used by husbands and wives in their conflicts. Second, there is no significant difference in such non-verbal behaviors between intellectual and non-intellectual families. Finally, there is a gender difference in such non-verbal behaviors occurring between husbands and wives in conflict. The results show that husbands are more likely to use “active” non-verbal behaviors, while wives are more likely to use “passive” non-verbal behavior. Thus such a difference may be seen as gender inequality. Gender inequality, closely linked to factors such as history, society and culture, may influence the choice of using non-verbal behavior by husbands and wives in conflict. This inequality represents power and superiority: men as dominant and women as subordinate historically and socially in the Chinese family. Importantly, this survey has not only offered something new in comparison with the previous studies, but also overcome the limitations of the author’s research in relation to research design and to the sample of non-intellectual respondents. This article suggests that all society should do more (particularly in the area of education) in order to eliminate domestic violence and gender inequality.