Wife-beating among 'coloureds' in South Africa: its impact on the marital relationship

Abstract

The aim of this research was to assess the impact of wifebeating and marital satisfaction on the marital relationship. Due to research and interest in the area of wife abuse being only a recent phenomenon, the impact of wife-beating on the marital relationship had not previously been researched. The findings of this study would have important implications for the treatment of wife abuse. This study assessed the impact of wife-beating and marital satisfac ion on the following dimensions of the marital relationship: communication, sexual satisfaction, disharmony, feelings toward the spouse, commitment to the relationship and the dissolution potential of the relationship. Standardised self-report questionnaires measuring the above dimensions of the marital relationship were administered to three groups of women. These three groups of women comprised of a group of 15 satisfactorily married, non-abused women, a group of 20 unsatisfactorily married, non-abused women and a group of 20 unsatisfactorily married, abused women. Women were selected anj assigned to one of the three groups on the basis of scores obtained on the Short Locke-Wallace Marital Adjustment Scale (Locke & Wallace, 1959) and the Conflict Tactics Scale (Straus, 1979). The inclusion of the group of unsatisfactorily married, non-abused women was crucial and partially controlled for the effects of marital discord. The data from the above-cited dimensions of the marital relationships were statistically analysed using a multivariate statistic MANOVA, followed by , where appropriate, parametric ANOVAS and Schef f£ comparisons or non-parametr ic Mann Whitney U tests. Battered women were found to differ significantly (at the .05 level of significance) from both comparison groups in their commitment to the relationship, level of disharmony in the relationship and their feelings toward the spouse. The importance of these findings for the theory that battered women are masochistic was discussed. In addition, the implications of these findings for the treatment of abusive couples were discussed and suggestions for future research were made.