Dating violence and culture

Abstract

This paper examines dating violence from an anthropological point of view. We use Mary Douglas cultural theory as conceptual framework. Narratives of four young women who suffered dating violence are analyzed. They represent the four thought styles of cultural theory: individualistic, fatalistic, hierarchical and egalitarian. The aim of this paper is to show how the way these women understand social relations (cultural bias) affects the form they organize their relationships (behavioral strategy) and their interpretation of their experiences as battered women (narrative identity). Information has been collected through in-depth personal interviews. Narrative analysis shows how cultural preferences are related to the approval or disapproval of using violence in intimate partner relationships, to the aggressions suffered during romance, and to the way of understanding and interpreting them. Individualistic and hierarchical people accept to employ instrumental violence in intimate partner relationships. On the contrary, egalitarians are entirely against of it. Isolated persons generally try to avoid it, although they do not consider its use discordant with their style of thought. Conclusions in this study point to the necessity of taking into account cultural preferences of women who suffer aggressions by their intimate partners, when it comes to design interventions or primary prevention programs with adolescents and young people.