Low Intensity Intimate Partner Aggression, Physical Punishment, and Street Children : A Vicious Circle of Domestic Aggression in South Suda
Ndoromo, Owen (2019-06-05)
Åbo Akademi - Åbo Akademi University
05.06.2019
Publikationen är skyddad av upphovsrätten. Den får läsas och skrivas ut för personligt bruk. Användning i kommersiellt syfte är förbjuden.
Publikationens permanenta adress är
https://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-12-3821-5
https://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-12-3821-5
Abstrakt
Aims. The overall aim of the thesis was to investigate aspects of domestic aggression, in particular intimate partner aggression and physical punishment of children, and their concomitants, in South Sudan. One sub-aim was to investigate sex differences in victimisation and perpetration of low intensity intimate partner aggression in a sample of adults (Studies I and II). In relation to this, it was investigated whether the revised gender symmetry theory regarding intimate partner aggression could be applicable in an African developing country. A second sub-aim was to investigate the role of low intensity intimate partner aggression as a mediating factor in the intergenerational transmission of physical punishment of children (Study III). A third sub-aim was to investigate whether there was an association between victimisation from domestic aggression and the fact that some children chose to sleep in streets and markets although they had parents they could go home to, in comparison with children who were only working in the street by day but spent the nights at home (Study IV).
Methods. Two datasets were collected. Questionnaires were completed by 420 adults (302 females, 118 males), and 197 street children in South Sudan. The adults filled in the DIAS-Adult questionnaire, and the Brief Physical Punishment Scale. The children in the street completed a questionnaire constructed specifically for the current study. They were also interviewed, and they completed drawings. The first dataset was used for Studies I−III, and the second for Study IV.
Results. The results of Study I showed that males had been significantly more victimised from physical and verbal forms of low intensity intimate partner aggression than females. Males reported significantly more often than females having been bit, hit, had their belongings damaged, scratched, spit at, and shoved by their female partners. Regarding self-reported perpetration of IPA, Study II showed no significant difference between females and males on perpetration of five out of seven types of aggression. The results of Studies I and II provided support for the revised gender symmetry theory. The results of Study III showed that the intergenerational transmission of physical punishment of children in the sample was substantial, and that perpetration of IPA mediated the relationship for both mothers and fathers. Study IV examined whether children who slept in the streets in South Sudan although they had parents they could go home to had been victimised more from domestic violence than children working in the street by day but spending the nights at home. The hypothesis was corroborated: domestic violence, including physical aggression between parents, and physical punishment of children, was found to be associated with children not only working but also ending up sleeping in the streets of South Sudan.
Conclusions. The revised gender symmetry theory regarding intimate partner aggression was found to be applicable in an African country. The intergenerational transmission of physical punishment of children in the sample was substantial and mediated by perpetration of low intensity intimate partner aggression in the case of both mothers and fathers. Domestic aggression was associated with children not only working, but choosing to sleep in the streets of South Sudan.
Methods. Two datasets were collected. Questionnaires were completed by 420 adults (302 females, 118 males), and 197 street children in South Sudan. The adults filled in the DIAS-Adult questionnaire, and the Brief Physical Punishment Scale. The children in the street completed a questionnaire constructed specifically for the current study. They were also interviewed, and they completed drawings. The first dataset was used for Studies I−III, and the second for Study IV.
Results. The results of Study I showed that males had been significantly more victimised from physical and verbal forms of low intensity intimate partner aggression than females. Males reported significantly more often than females having been bit, hit, had their belongings damaged, scratched, spit at, and shoved by their female partners. Regarding self-reported perpetration of IPA, Study II showed no significant difference between females and males on perpetration of five out of seven types of aggression. The results of Studies I and II provided support for the revised gender symmetry theory. The results of Study III showed that the intergenerational transmission of physical punishment of children in the sample was substantial, and that perpetration of IPA mediated the relationship for both mothers and fathers. Study IV examined whether children who slept in the streets in South Sudan although they had parents they could go home to had been victimised more from domestic violence than children working in the street by day but spending the nights at home. The hypothesis was corroborated: domestic violence, including physical aggression between parents, and physical punishment of children, was found to be associated with children not only working but also ending up sleeping in the streets of South Sudan.
Conclusions. The revised gender symmetry theory regarding intimate partner aggression was found to be applicable in an African country. The intergenerational transmission of physical punishment of children in the sample was substantial and mediated by perpetration of low intensity intimate partner aggression in the case of both mothers and fathers. Domestic aggression was associated with children not only working, but choosing to sleep in the streets of South Sudan.
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