Study of Wife Abuse Among Vietnamese Immigrants to the US, 2000-2001

Involved a purposive sample of 129 Vietnamese immigrant women to the United States, 57 of whom experienced domestic violence. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected on abuse, efforts to stop the abuse, immigration experiences, current and prior relationship with partners, and many facets of life. One year after the 1st interview, the women who had experienced abuse were re-interviewed to determine whether their circumstances had changed and why they had or had not changed. For both interviews, data were collected on contacts with the justice system and satisfaction with those contacts. To measure abuse and one-year outcomes, variables included: values/norms promoting husband's domination, conflict over expectations about gender roles and other aspects of family life, immigration (reasons for immigration, sequencing of husband's and wife's move, each person's legal status), and circumstances related to immigration (discrimination, employment and occupational status, proximity of extended family, wife's support network). Qualitative data on the pattern, nature, and context of the abuse was collected to provide description of why the abuse occurred, and to support findings from the quantitative analysis and/or better specify the causative model. Additional variables included wife's perceptions of immigration law and the outcome of criminal justice involvement; wife's perception of the consequences of divorce (financial, legal realities and cultural norms regarding child custody, effect of marital status on woman's social status and quality of life); need for and effects of wife moving from the ethnic community to the mainstream to escape abuse (need of identification with the ethnic group, support network of relatives and friends, social reactions to abuse); wife's economic power (ability to speak English, earn a living); wife's experience in seeking help (knowledge of United States legal system, availability of legal and victim assistance for abused women, experience with the justice system and victim assistance programs). Demographic variables included age, race, citizenship status, religion, education, and number of children.