TesisAE

This dissertation for the Ph.D. Degree By Antonio Estrada has been approved at the Graduate School of Psychology Fuller' Theological Seminary October, 1995

GENDER DIFFERENCES IN PHYSICAL CHILO ABUSE A MEXICAN PERSPECTIVE

A Dissertation

Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Psychology Fuller Theological Seminary

In Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy (Marriage and Family Studies)

by Antonio Estrada Fall. 1995

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

A project such as this is a long and difficult process. I am grateful to the many people who have helped me to complete it. Without the help of'these people it would have been impossible. I am grateful to the Inter American Division of Seventh Day Adventists Church and Montemorelos University who sponsored my study economically. Being a student in the Unites States from a third world country, is impossible without a scholarship or grant from these institutions.

I want to express a deep appreciation to my dissertation committee, Dr. Jack Balswick, his friendship, availability and leadership have been invaluable. He provided many hours of his expertise in helping me on data analysis. My other two committee members, Dr. Janice Strength, and Dr. Cameron Lee, gave of their wisdom and insights which were essential in the completition of this project.

I am specially indebted to my English speaking friends (Dr. Loron Wase, Dr. Jaime Cruz) who provided valuable suggestion supervising my report-writing and proof-reading this manuscript. Their value is largely appreciated. I would also like to thank to Dr. Alfredo Mejia for his contribution in the computer analysis, his expertise in helping me was invaluable.

I want to thank the students who filled out the questionnaire. Their willingness to participate have been possible this task. The information that they gave me is the core of this dissertation. I want to express a deep gratitude to the Figueroa's family by his hospitality

iii

I am grateful to all my fellow coworkers at Montemorelos University. who encouraged and supported me in my teaching duties, who are committed to Christian education.

IV

DEDICATION

To the Almighty God: Who sustained me with his promises. Who allowed me to be his child and to know how he loves children. Because he let me be a child in a earthly family, and because he grants me the privilege and responsibility to be a father, and to care for my child as he cares for His children.

To Ms Ellen White: In memorial Whose books inspired me to dedicate my life to minister to the family of God.

To Olga: My lovely wife, by her support at all times, especially in stressful moments. By her love that encouraged me continue, to do the best. By her understanding when I did not dedicate enough time to be with the family in order to complete an assignment. For her sacrifice to live in a foreign country wit a limited budget. Because she is my traveling companion in the journey of life. I am grateful to her because of her effort and commitment to build a Christian family. This dissertation is as much hers as it mine, without her support. I would have never made it.

To Nisim: My beloved son who has been teaching me how to be a Christian parent. Who has been teaching me how loving, confident and confiding are the children in their

v

parents. How I should trust God's promises. I am grateful to him because he allows me to enjoy my parenting task.

To my mother Eulalia and (Father Rosendo, in memorial) \Nho gave me life, who cared for me, who reared me in poverty, but, in a happy family. I am grateful to her and to all my brothers and sisters who shared all the painful and enjoyable moments. They contributed to my being what I am.

VI

GENDER DIFFERENCES IN PHYSICAL CHILD ABUSE A MEXICAN PERSPECTIVE

A Dissertation

Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Psychology Fuller Theological Seminary

In Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy (Marriage and Family Studies)

by Antonio Estrada Fall,1995

2 ABSTRACT GENDER DIFFERENCES IN PHYSICAL CHILD ABUSE: A STUDY OF MEXICAN PARENTS

In the domestic violence literature, the issue of physical child abuse has been widely researched because of its impact on the family and on the society in general.

Children are the most vulnerable members of the family and are most in need of protection. Children need a healthy family environment free from physical abuse in order to develop a healthy personality.

Although a number of theories attempt to understand the problem of child abuse, little attention has been given to gender differences. The focus has usually been on the personality of the individual, or on socioeconomic variables as the source of parental abusiveness. Although gender has recently been taken into account, it has been utilized as part of an effort to identify the "profile" of the typical child abuser, or to understand how parents differ in their disciplinarian methods, rather than as a major variable in understanding child abuse.

Most importantly, the majority of studies have only focused on the mother, while they have completely ignored the father or attempted to make a comparative assessment of their role in abuse. Finally, little research has been conducted from the victim's point of view and none has asked the child to assess the relative abusiveness of their mother and father. This study focus upon gender differences between the abuser (mothers and fathers) and gender differences of the abused (sons and daughters) in regard to physical child

3 abuse. The results of the dissertation indicate the important relationship between gender of the parents, gender of the child, and abuse.

Theoretical, methodological, and practical implications of the findings are given.

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

Child abuse, "recently 'discovered' by researchers" (Steinmetz, 1987, p. 728), has been accepted as a twentieth - century phenomenon (Fontana, 1992). Although recently "discovered" it is not new. "It is simply attracting greater public awareness alongside the deteriorating image of the family as a warm, comfortable, and supportive environment" (Alexander, 1993, p. 229).

We now know that the magnitude of violence against children was previously underestimated. Our society refused to recognize the scope or the gravity of child abuse.

"Child abuse and neglect remained largely as hidden problems" (Besharov, 1990, p. 7), After Kempe (1962) and his colleagues coined the term "the battered child syndrome" three decades ago in a paper published in Journal ot the American Medical Association, the literature on domestic violence has increased tremendously. More than 15 theories have been formulated to explain the etiology of child mistreatment, such as intra-individual, psycho-social and socio-cultural theories (Belsky, 1978; Garbarino, 1977; Gelles, 1980; Steinmetz, 1987). Common characteristics of violent parents have been identified in the research literature. The accumulation of present research however shows that this is a complex issue. There are a number of factors that contribute to child abuse.

5 As a result, the initial attempt to give a "profile" of the typical child abuser has been largely abandoned.

Recently, the etiology and sequelae of child abuse have been approached from a broader base, taking into account not just the individual alone, but also the family, the community, and the culture in other words a macro-socio-cultural approach. This is because violence within the family is a complex and disturbing problem, which must be seen as a symptom of family distress. "Violence and extreme aggression in the family is a coping/problem-solving mechanism" (Flanzer, 1982, p. 9). It is an outward sign of problems within the family, a dysfunctional relationship between parents and children. and is a major and pervasive social problem.

Although this sensitive topic is a relatively new area of research, it has roots in the early history of civilization (Radbill, 1987; Zingler & Hall, 1991). Children from different cultures have suffered the effects of parental abuse. Although aggression toward children is a universal problem (Villanueva, 1992). it takes particular characteristics in different countries and in different families. No culture, no country, no family. no individual is immune to this problem (Garbarino. 1977) This "complex and insidious problem ... cuts across all sectors of the society" (Ciccheti & Carlson, 1989, p. xiii).

It also cuts across both time and national boundaries. Nine hundred years before Christ, Soranus, a Persian physician, in his pediatric treatise Practica Peurorutn, suggests that the prominent umbilicus and hernia seen in some

6 children in Baghdad harems, may indicate these children had been struck violently (Lynch, 1985). In Egypt and India, infanticide was practiced. In Greece, Seneca, Plato and Aristotle approved of the killing of defective newborn (Zigle & Hall, 1989). Early Roman law gave the parents a patria potestas that amounted to complete power over their children (Belsky, 1980). In Mexico, before the arrival of Spaniards, among the Nahuatl tribe punishment of children was prohibited during their first years of life. After that, it was permitted. Rebellious children could be punished by limiting them to half a tortilla or tying up their hands and feet and making them lie down on wet ground. Sometimes children were also forced to breath the smoke of a hot chile pepper (Preman reports, 1986).

In Europe, in the Middle Ages, children were ignored, neglected and forced to work as adults, sometimes at very dangerous jobs. They had to cooperate in supporting the family (Alzaga, 1983). Recently, in The United States, the American Medical Association stated that more than a million children are abused each year Some of these abused children (between 2,500 and 5,000) died as a result of injuries (Fink & McCloskey, 1990). In France, during 1983, 40,000 children were abused (Rivas. 1992).

In Iran, adolescents were used to detect mines in the Iran-Iraq war (Villanueva, 1992).

During 1992 in Mexico, 65,055 abused children were treated in public hospitals, and 10 million children between the ages of 8 to 17 years old were obliged to work in order to contribute to the family budget (Loredo, 1994). In the Dominican Republic, 33 out of 100 college students were victims of abusive

7 parents before 18 years of age (Ruiz, 1990). In Puerto Rico, during 1983, 35,344 children were mistreated, according to the Social Department (Lopez, 1992). In Bolivia, according to UNICEF reports, 3000 to 5000, children live on the streets, and 100,000 work there. In Colombia, during 1988, 4.5 million children out of a population 28 million live in extreme poverty (Loredo, 1994).

In Latin American, according to Dr. Rodrigo Crespo chairman of Inter American Institute for Children, almost 5 million children are neglected, and 20 to 25 million are semi-neglected by their parents (Castro. 1986). According to Ruiz (1993), in Latin American and Caribbean countries, nearly 30 million children are obliged to work. most of them on the streets.

According to the Executive director of UNICEF (Corrales, 1992, p.147), more than 25 million children are dying each week around the world, victims of malnutrition and controllable diseases. Corrales ask, "Can we remain indifferent when 3/4 of children and youth around the world are suffering from poverty, ignorance. And disease, while the other 1/4 are suffering the moral misery of our society. Idleness and abundance?"

Having these facts in mind we need to ask ourselves, Who physically abuses children? Who mistreats vulnerable babies and defenseless infants? Who are the batterers? Some perpetrators are strangers, but the vast majority of abusers are child's own the parents. Kashani (1992) states that "eighty five per cent (85%) of child abuse is inflicted by a person the child knows, usually the

8 father or the mother" (p.184). Children are at risk in their own homes. The perpetrators are those who are supposed to care for and love them.

But, why are children mistreated by their relatives? Who is the abusive parent in the family? Why would parents mistreat their own children? The earliest studies focused on mental illness or intra-individual pathologies of the abusive parent as an explanation. This approach considered individual personality characteristics as the causes of child abuse.

This emphasized chromosomal aberrations, alcohol, hormonal imbalance. Poor emotional control and narcissistic traits as causes that could lead parents to abuse their children. Later, other researchers, thought that child abuse was caused by social factors, such as poverty, unemployment, isolation, ignorance and stress. Some researchers tried to explain child abuse by taking into account the family context. They examined the structure of the family, and factors such as family size and family power as causes of child abuse. Others held that cultural values or lack of them were the causes of abuse against children. Altogether more than 15 theories about domestic violence have been developed trying to explain this complex problem. Recently. Garbarino (1977) and Belsky (1978).

Have developed an ecological approach as a model to explain this problem.

Now, researchers agree that no single factor can be used to explain child abuse.

To attribute domestic violence solely to individual characteristics or to social stress or to cultural values is to explain a complex problem from an unrealistically narrow point of view. Gelles and Straus (1988) stated that "stressful

9 life circumstances are the hallmark of the violent family. The greater the stress individuals are under, the more likely they are to be violent toward their children" (p. 85).

Since most child abuse cases occur within the family environment, it is important to understand why parents mistreat their children. It is even more important to discover who is the abusive parent in the family. This study focuses on the gender of the abusive parent.

Among the important questions are: Do fathers and mothers differ in regard to physical child abuse? Do gender differences exist among the abused children? Do fathers and mothers abuse sons and daughters equally?

Present literature concerning American society holds that the mother is more involved than the father in physical child abuse. In surveys, clinical, medical and police reports, the mother is more often mentioned as the source of violence. In a chapter in Oates' book, Child Abuse and Neglect, the researchers quoted by the author state that abusive mothers fall into the following groups. Those who are deficient in mothercraft skills, passive mothers with low affect, anxious mothers with an excess of stressors. and mothers having psychological disorders. Another classification of family profiles mentioned in the chapter is young, depressed and immature mothers, deprived mothers, angry and hostile mothers. But is this a correct family profile? What about the fathers?

Some researcher s point out that the father can be mare abusive that N? 8 mother.

Bradley and Peters (1991) state that "although the majority of child

10 abuse studies utilized only mothers; generalization of the results is weakened by the neglect of male abusers" (p. 459). Oates (1986) established that "there is also considerable mention of mothers, but little mention of fathers... There is a paucity of research data available on the fathers, so much of the literature quoted refers to mothers" (p. 21).

Most importantly, no research has yet been conducted from the point of view of the victims that is, the child, as to which parent is more abusive. For this reason, this study is of paramount importance, since it considers the response of the youngsters involved.

The purpose of this dissertation is to investigate who is the abusive parent, and who is the most abused adolescent (whether sons or daughters) in a Mexican milieu. Do fathers and mothers engage in the same type of abuse against their children? Do socio economic variables have the same influence upon mothers as upon fathers? Are the sons and daughters punished equally by fathers and mothers?

The overview of this dissertation is as follows: In chapter two, there will be a general literature review of physical child abuse in American families dealing with abuse by both fathers and mothers. We will then consider studies of Hispanics living in the USA. followed by studies of Mexican families living in Mexico. I will conclude the chapter by considering how the causes that lead to child abuse in the United States have relevance within a Mexican cultural context.

11 In chapter three, I will describe the methodological procedure used in constructing the questionnaire, defining the sample, gathering the data and the statistical procedure used to test the hypotheses. In chapter four the findings will be presented. Chapter five will be devoted to discussing the findings and addressing the following types of questions. Are there parallels between the findings of this study and American findings on child abuse? If so, how can these similarities and differences can be explained? Finally, the last chapter will be devoted to retrospective and prospective comments. In the light of the results, I will discuss methodological, theoretical, and practical implications and offer suggestions that might serve to enlighten our understanding of child abuse within a Mexican context.

12

CHAPTER II

GENDER DIFFERENCES IN PARENTAL CHILD ABUSE

The purpose of this chapter is to present a general review of the literature on physical child abuse, in the United States, and literature related to physical child abuse in the Mexican population.

Literature Review on Child Abuse In the early 1960s, almost no one was concerned about child abuse. To fear being hurt at home would have seemed absurd. Home was thought of as safe and the best possible place for a child to grow up. To fear a relative was an unthinkable idea. Parents and other family members were thought to be capable only of loving and caring for children. Children learned to fear strangers. They were taught that they might be molested by evil men on dark streets. but not by their loving relatives at home.

Scholars focusing on family issues also did not think of violence as a serious family problem. Violence was thought to be a rare social phenomenon. As a result, the Social Science literature of the day contained "virtually no articles on family violence" (Gelles, 1992, p. 17) prior to 1970. Steinmetz (1987) states that .O'Brien .could not find a single title in the Journal of Marriage and the Family from 1939 to 1970 that included the word violence.

13 But all this has changed. With the passing of time a large volume of literature has accumulated that points to the conclusion that family violence, and child abuse in particular are not rare, but are a significant family and social problem. Now the danger of the dark streets has penetrated the walls of the home and has become a part of our lifestyle. "Offenders are not strangers climbing through windows, but loved ones, family members" (Gelles and Straus, 1988, p. 18). This is a paradox.

Physical child abuse is a current problem in the United States as well as in other countries.

Child abuse is not only a family matter but a social problem, as well. The widespread violence against children is emphasized in a report by the U.S. Department of Justice, which states that there were at least 4.1 million cases of family violence between 1973-1981 (Kashani, et ai, 1992).

Gil (1970) estimated that between 2.53 and 4.07 million adults knew of families involved in child abuse. In 1985, studies affirmed that more than a million children are physically or emotionally injured by their parents each year and that more than 2,500 to 5,000 die (Fink and McClosky, 1990). The First National Family Violence Survey, conducted in 1976, revealed that 1.4 million of children aged three to seventeen were maltreated by their parents (Gelles and Straus, 1988). The findings showed that some American children were slapped, spanked, punched, beaten, and some were threatened with a weapon by the parents.

14 Ten years later, in 1985, the Second National Family Violence Survey was carried out (Straus and Gelles, 1992). Six thousand families were surveyed by telephone interviews. The survey showed that some forms of violence had declined, while others remained at the same level. The findings revealed that more than 700,000 children were victimized during the year of the survey.

In most of these studies, the mother appears to be the abusive parent. This finding agrees with the findings in other countries. But, is it true that the mother is in actuality the parent who commits more abuse toward her children? What about the father? If he is not an abuser, why not? If both parents abuse their children, are there differences in the levels of abuse and severity of injuries?

Some studies show that mothers and fathers differ in their methods of punishment. Eron, et al. (1971), established that fathers tend to use more instigation toward their children than mothers, and mothers use more punishment than fathers.

In the same study, it was found that fathers used withdrawal of love as punishment for girls but not for boys and less physical punishment for girls than the boys.

Evidence for Greater Abuse by Females Some writers believe that general violence is a male issue. But in a study carried out by Straus, Gelles, and Steinmetz (1980), rates of female violence were comparable to male violence. According to the 1985 report of the Federal Bureau of Investigation "in 1984, 806 husbands were killed by their wives, while 1,310 wives were slain by their husbands" (Gelles and Pedrick, 1990, p.67).

15 Data from a sample of 336 undergraduates in a study by Thompson (1991), reveal that physical aggression in dating relationships is not gender oriented.

Boys and girls reported equal use of physically aggressive behavior in dating relationships. In a small sample of 14 girls and 4 boys in Porto Alegre, Brazil, Frey and Hoppe-Graff (1994) found that there is no general difference in aggressive behavior between girls and boys. However, in the middle class group, they found that boys score higher in aggression than girls.

Summarizing findings on cross-cultural studies on societies, Hines and Fry (1994), citing other relevant studies, ( Burbank 1987; Cook, 1992: Frey, 1992; Glazer, 1992; Schuster, 1983) stress the idea that although the magnitude of male violence is greater, this does not mean that females are always nonviolent. Studies done in Venezuela, China, Zambia and Zapotec Mexicans reveal that women do engage in physical aggression.

It is well known that violence is a female issue, but in overall violence, men are more violent than women. Straus and Smith (1992: 247) state that "the rates of assault and murder by women are a fraction of the rates by men."

But on the issue of physical child abuse it is different. Generally, the mother appears as the abusive parent in the American family (Finkelor et al, 1983; Gelles, 1990; Gelles, 1972; Gelles and Cornell, 1990; Straus et al, 1980). The findings show that females appear more often as the abusive parent in violent American families. In one of the earliest studies conducted by David Gil, (1971), focusing on child abuse, the characteristics of the perpetrator and the

16 circumstances in which maltreatment occurred, mothers or mother substitutes (47%) were found to be more abusive than fathers (39.2%). It was found in this study that severe injury was committed more often by mothers than by fathers, especially by single women. This findings are consistent with Gelles's study (1980), where mothers are more likely to use physical violence against their offspring than fathers. Dibble and Straus (1992) found that mothers are more likely to slap their children that fathers. A study by Brayden (1993) of 949 maltreated children concluded that 37.5 % of the cases involved the mother as the abusive parent, 31.3% the father, 7.8% a relative or baby-sitter, and 23.4% an unknown or other person. Regarding child neglect, reports received by the police confirm that females are more abusive than males. Ninety four (94.3%) involved mother figures and 4.5% fathers, and 1.19 a relative or baby sitter.

Caliso and Miller (1979) found in their study of maltreated adolescents that mothers are more often cited as the source of abuse. This study also reported that mothers commit more mild forms of violence, and that the most common form of mild violence reported was hair pulling. Again mothers (58%) pulled hair more than fathers (45%).

In the "First National Survey of Family Violence," mothers were significantly more likely than fathers to report physical aggression towards their offspring (Straus and Gelles, 1990).

With regard to the Munchausen syndrome by proxy, the mother was usually the perpetrator, Jones (1986).

17 In the 1975 "Family Violence Survey" higher rates of physical punishment and physical abuse were found to be present for mothers than fathers. The rate for abusive fathers was 10.1 per hundred children, whereas the rate for mothers was 17.7 per hundred children, this represents a 75% difference. However, in 1985, in the Second National Family Survey, the rates for mothers and fathers were found to be more similar (Wauchope and Straus, 1992).

Oates (1986) presents research looking for the profile of the abuser. He comments that by far the greater number of studies focused on the mother as the abuser. In his book, he reports having found twenty - four studies that focused on mothers, whereas only three focused on fathers. Several studies (Farber and Joseph, 1985; Felzen and Showers, 1985; Gelles, 1980; Gil, 1971; Jones et aI., 1986; Kelly et aI., 1992; Ruiz, 1993; Sariola and Uutela, 1992; Van de Rijt-Plooij, 1993; Wolfner & Gelles 1993) have shown that the more frequent abuser was the mother.

Felzen and Showers (1985) stated that mothers were the most frequent perpetrators of abuse. Farber and Joseph (1985) state, "in the relationship of the primary abuser, out of the total number of natural parents studied 44 (57.1 %) of the mothers were abusive as compared to 24 (31.2%) of the fathers. In the Johnson and Showers (1985) study, mothers were found to be the most frequent perpetrators of maltreatment. A study by Justice and Justice (1976) found that mothers were the perpetrators in 50% of the reported cases, while fathers or father figures, were involved in 45%. Burne and Newberger (1979) stated that

18 females are more likely to use violence in the home setting. They found that 68% of mothers and 58% of fathers reported at least one abusive act toward their children during the survey year.

Looking for characteristics of abusive parents, Steele and Pollock found that mothers were more frequent abusers. In another sample of 20 couples, 50% of the abuses was committed by mothers, and 45% by fathers (Justice and Justice, 1976).

Studying the amount of marital violence witnessed and father-mother-child abuse in a sample of 185 children aged 7 to 13, O'Keefe (1994), found that the vast majority of mothers (90%) reported using some forms of abuse in order to discipline their children. Mothers also reported that 85% of fathers used some form of abuse in child discipline. Looking at Parent-Adolescent conflict, Wierson, et al, (1990) found that regardless of the gender of adolescent. mothers and their adolescents have more problems than fathers and their adolescents.

Evidence for Greater Abuse by Males Not all scholars agree with the idea that mothers are more aggressive than fathers. They claim that if mothers are seen as more aggressive, it is due to the fact that research and treatment programs are mostly designed to focus on mothers and therefore, females are overrepresented. Cicchetti and Carlson doubt "if any mother would actively and purposefully maltreat their children; instead, many are the victims of circumstances that lead them to lose control with

1 9 children, to neglect their children's emotional and physical needs" (1989, p.

246).

Some scholars think that if the studies would address them it would be shown that fathers are the more abusive parent in violent homes. This assumption is based on the idea that it is the man who is more violent in all types of violence (Kurt, 1993). In studying violence and aggression in general, we see over and over again that men commit more violent acts than women and are also more violent by nature than women. According to Archer (1994), Prodi, et al (1977) and Eagly and Steffen (1986), on the average, men were found to be more aggressive than women. Ahmand and Smith (1994) affirm that most research has found that, in general, males are consistently more aggressive than females. With regard to violence occurring in marriage, statistics show that it is the wife who is maltreated and injured approximately 95% of the times. Males are far more likely to produce physical injury in females than the reverse (Gerberg, 1991).

In a study on marital violence, Frude (1994) discovered that many more women have been hurt as a result of domestic violence than men. Moreover, because men are more aggressive than women, men commit more acts of aggression which result in injury or death (Archer, 1994). In his Brazilian middle class sample, Frey and Hope-Graff (1994) found that boys on the average are more 9ggressive than girls. Analyzing sex-differences in aggressive behavior, Eagly and Steffen (1986) found that men delivered and received more

2 0 aggression than women. Mangold and Koski (1990) stated that in their sample males were more likely to report being violent outside of home. They also found that males are more likely than females to be aggressive against a brother. Bjorkqvist, (1992) quoted by Hines and Fry (1994, p. 215), stated that "the results reveal that boys are consistently more physically aggressive than girls."

The feminist movement affirms that it is men who are violent (Oobash & 00bash, 1992, see also, Schechter 1982, quoted by Kurz 1994). Some writers such as Gilbert, Archer, and Lloyd go further, stating that "violence is a male problem rather than a human problem" he add that "male violence may even outrank disease and famine as the major source of human suffering" (Archer, 1994,p.1).

In regard to physical child abuse, fathers appear as abusers also. But several studies describe only possible factors related to child abuse, such as introversion of the fathers (Hyman, 1977), or psychopathological fathers (Oates, 1986). In a study

by Sariola and Uutela (in Finland, 1992), "fathers committed severe violent acts more often than mothers." In studies where single mothers and single fathers were compared, fathers used more severe violence than mothers, (Gelles, 1989; Sariola and Uutela, 1992).

In a Caliso and Milner (1992) study, fathers were cited as the main source of severe violence. This finding agrees with the Gelles study (1989) where fathers were found to commit more severe and very severe violence toward their offspring.

Comparing single fathers with single mothers regarding mild violence,

2 1 Caliso and Milner (1992) found that single fathers were the most common perpetrator. Gelles (1989) found that single fathers have higher rates of severe and very severe violence when compared with single mothers. This finding corresponds with that of Wolfner and Gelles (1993).

In a review of reported cases of abuse in England, Fowler and Stockford (1979) found that although mothers and fathers abuse their infants equally, three out of four adolescents were maltreated by their fathers. In looking for family characteristics of violence in Wisconsin families, Kadushin and Martin (1981), found that 492 (59%) fathers and 338 (41%) mothers were reported as abusive. Looking for ethnic differences and abuse among Anglo, Hispanics and Black families, Lindholm and Willey (1986), found that among Anglos and Hispanics, fathers were more frequently suspected of abuse.

Literature Review on Child Abuse by Hispanic Parents As we saw in the general literature review, there are contradictory findings as to whether American mothers or fathers abuse their children more. This contradiction seems to be due to the fact that research relies largely on responses from mothers.

We now need to know what is happening among Hispanic families living in the United States. Since poverty, age of the parents, cultural values, unemployment, family size, etc. are related to child abuse, and most Hispanic families face these issues, it is expected that more violence against children will occur in Hispanic families.

22 Straus and Smith (1992) states that "the violence rate in Hispanic families is much greater than the rate in non-Hispanic, white families ... Hispanic parents have a higher rate of child abuse even with statistical controls for poverty, youthfulness, urbanization, and other demographic factors" (p. 364). Tharp, et aI., (1968) found that Spanish-speaking Mexican-Americans when compared with English-speaking Mexican-Americans believe in greater parental strictness.

Comparing child-rearing attitudes among Chicanos, Anglos and Black parents, LeVine and Bartz (1979) discovered that Chicano parents are strictness oriented and were less egalitarian than Anglos and Blacks. Buriel, et aI., (1979) state that Mexican-Americans, in comparison to Anglo-Americans, "were referred for child abuse and neglect more often by professional public agencies" (p. 220).

According to Straus and Smith (1992), violence is a major problem in Hispanic families .. It is estimated that there are "about 288,000 severely assaulted Hispanic children per year" (p. 356). A report in American Association for Protecting Children, states that Hispanic children constituted 12% of all reported cases of physically abused children (in Straus and Smith, 1992). If it is true that Hispanic parents are more violent than non-Hispanics, who is the abusive parent in the Hispanic families?

According to stereotypes, men should be the violent parent. But what does the evidence available suggest?

Evidence for Greater Abuse by Hispanic Mothers Latino women are considered as hembras (as opposed to machos). Hembristic behavior requires a woman to be feminine, self-reliant, full of integrity,

23 honor, fidelity, docility and passivity. It is believed, according to Lara -Cantu and Navarro-Arias (1986) that Hispanic females contribute to the continuance of male superiority. Bermudez refers to Mexican women as "exaggeratedly submissive to the man to the point that she accepts infidelity as natural. This occasionally creates an emotional crisis resulting in mistreatment of the children" (Silva, 1975, p. 45).

In analyzing the mother-daughter relationship, Penaloza found that in the child's first year of life mothers care for and feed daughters more than they do sons.

Regarding mother-son relationships, he found that in early childhood the mother is not only close to him, but dominant over him. As the years pass, the mother become more permissive. However, it is "not unusual for children to be beaten, especially by a dissatisfied and bitter wife unable to strike her husband" (Penaloza, 1968, p. 695).

Mirande (1984) affirms that although Hispanic fathers inflict more severe punishment on their children, Hispanic mothers punish their children more often.

Evidence for Greater Abuse by Hispanic Fathers Hispanic males, and Mexican males in particular, are stereotyped as dominant.

This concept is sustained in popular and social science literature. as well as in the mass media. According to stereotypes of Latino culture appearing in social science literature, men are thought to be more violent toward their offspring. Generally, Latino men are stereotyped as machistas. In the existing literature (Diaz-Guerrero, 1955), the male status rests on strong, aggressive

24 behavior. Octavio Paz (quoted by Mirande, 1988), refers to Mexican men as the gran chingon. "The verb chingar has numerous and diverse meanings, but it always connotes some form of violence ... the gran chinqon is aggressive, insensitive, unpredictable, and invulnerable" (p.94).

Mexican family structure is described as patriarchal and authoritarian, based on the belief in man's superiority over woman. Penaloza states that "the woman's position on the other hand is completely tied in with her marital status, and her behavior is rigidly circumscribed by it" (1968:683). According to Penaloza, social scientists believe that the particular dynamic of the Mexican family structure is based on the rigid and authoritarian behavior of the fathers. He states that this model is also applicable to Mexicans living in the United States.

Tharp, et al. (1968) describe an Hispanic family as dominated by the male.

He states: "Masculine dominance is central to the family; the wife is expected to respect, obey, and serve her husband without question. One would expect to find strict authority values governing the parents relationship" (p. 405). It is believed that in Mexican- American Spanish - speaking families, parental strictness is greater than among English speaking Mexican American families. A popular belief about Mexican family life, is that Mexican-American parents are prone to abuse their children and that severe beating is an accepted means of controlling child misbehavior (Buriel et al, 1979)

25 Reviewing American and Hispanic writers description of Latino people, Cromwell and Ruiz (1979) found that the stereotype of Mexican male dominance is firmly believed. Quoting the well known Oscar Lewis book (1949), he says, "the husband is viewed as an authoritarian, patriarchal figure 'who is head and master of the household" (p. 357). Quoting Stanton (1972) he notes that "Three of the most obvious features retained by Mexican-American families are closely allied. They are masculine superiority, male dominance, and emphasis on submission and obedience to the father" (Cromwell and Ruiz, 1979, p. 357).

Grebled, et al., (1973) affirm that "A major feature of traditional Hispanic culture is machismo, and the adult male may devote considerable effort to maintain and prove his manliness. Male supremacy and sexual prowess must be demonstrated" (in Kantorowisky and Chavez, 1985, p. 318).

According to Lara-Cantu and Navarro-Arias (1986), many writings about Mexicans declare that "the masculine-feminine polarity usually takes dramatic dimensions" (p. 143). Elmendorf (1977) goes further by saying that machismo is a syndrome. "Mexico among the Latin American countries, is also said to be the most affected by the machismo syndrome" (in Lara-Cantu and Navarro-Arias, 1986, p.

143).

Mirande (1988), reviewing different authors (se also Carol, 1988; Hayden, 1966; and Madson, 1977), believes that the authoritarian Chicano family structure produces a very high level of violence, male dominance, strict discipline.

26 The submissive and quiet behavior of the woman leads the family towards a firm control by the father.

This viewpoint of male dominance in Hispanic societies presupposes that the father will abuse his children, and that he is the abusive parent in violent Hispanic families. The following studies seem to affirm this concept. In the Penaloza article (1968), it is alleged that the Mexican father-son relationship is distant and severe but respectful. In examining stereotypes of Hispanic people, It is believed that "child-rearing practices which include indulgent affection and harsh punishment are the basic components of family relationships" ( in Cromwell and Ruiz, 1979, p. 357). In the Hawkes and Taylor study (1975), it was stated that in Mexican American families, the husband is the authority in the family, and he is responsible for disciplining the children. These authors also stated that in Mexican and Mexican American families, males assume the dominant role in the family.

Lindhol and Willey (1986) analyzed 4,132 cases of child abuse contradicting the previous studies. He found that reported cases of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department "among Anglos and Hispanics, males were much more likely to abuse children than were females" (p. 115). According to Mirande (1984), Hispanic fathers not only abuse their children more frequently, but they inflict more severe punishment than do Hispanic mother.

Although the majority of studies on Hispanic people stresses the stereotyped idea of machismo and strictness of the Hispanic parents, the findings of

27 Cronwell and Ruiz (1982) lead them to conclude that "The patriarchal Hispanic family structure characterized by macho dominance in marital decision-makig is a myth which prevails in social science literature" (Ibarra, 1982: 171).

Evidence Indicating which Parent is more Abusive among Mexican Parents Studies in Mexico suggest that the mother is the more abusive parent in Mexican families. In a study of a sample from the city of Puebla, looking at psychological abuse Bleal et al. (1992), found that the mother appeared as the perpetrator in 44.7% (n=17) of the cases, and the father in 26.3% (n=10) of the cases.

In 1983 study based on 26 cases in the Mexico city Children's Hospital (Carrillo and Osorio, 1983), the most frequent perpetrators of child abuse were found to be mothers (47%) followed by fathers (27%), stepmothers (15%), uncles (10%) and grandfathers (5%).

In Mexico City, from 1983 to 1985, more mothers than fathers were suspected of abusing their children (Preman reports, 1986). In 1983, out of a total of 703 suspects of abuse 343 were mothers (49.3%), and 163 (23.5%) were fathers. In 1984, out of 696 suspects, 325 (46.7%) were mothers, 168 (24.2%) were fathers. In 1985, out of 704 suspects, 367 (52.1 %), were mothers and 132 (18.7%) were fathers. In 1986, out of a total of 1,271 suspects, 627 (49%) were mothers, and 299 (24%) were fathers.

In Bronstein's study (1984) of 78 Mexican parent-dyad's, it was found than there was no difference in punitive and authoritarian behavior between fathers

28 and mothers. Bronstein also found that mothers tended to treat girls and boys equally, whereas fathers treated girls in a distinctly different manner to their sons. He states that "a number of researchers (Hawkes and Taylor, 1975; Mirande, 1979) are beginn!ng to question the traditional image of the dominant, authoritarian Mexican father (p.1 001).

In summarizing the American and Mexican literature, we can affirm that both men and women are violent. Men seem to be more aggressive than women. If males are violent as well as females, and if men are more often represented in all cases of aggressiveness, why do mothers appear to be the more abusive parent?

Thus, the evidence on father/mother differences in abusing children is conflicting, and needs to be further studied. If fathers appear less abusive than mothers is it due to the fact that the father's role is clearly undervalued? (Martin, 1983). Or as Fowler and Stockforf stress in their review of domestic violence in England, "Fathers who mistreat their offspring are not studied" (in Martin (1986:3).

Bradley, et al. (1991), affirms that although the majority of child abuse studies target only mothers, generalization of the results is weakened by the neglect of male abusers.

Literature Related to Specific Hypotheses or Control Variables This study is based on the assumption that the gender of the parent is an important variable in predicting physical child abuse among Mexican parents. But there are several other variables which might be related to gender

29 differences in child abuse. These variables could have much weight in determining which parent is more abusive to their children. These variables to be considered include family size, employment status of parents, educational level of the parents, the age of the child (adolescent), and alcohol and drug abuse.

The Gender of the Parents Although much research has accumulated on the origins of gender differences, much is still uncertain on the subject. Differences in learning abilities, self-esteem, sociability, achievement orientation, auditory versus visual responsivity are considered to be myths by Maccoby and Jacklin (1974). On the other hand they found clear evidence for biological sex-related differences in verbal skills, aggression, quantitative and spatial visualization. For other differences they affirm that the current information is insufficient to validate those differences.

The fact that males and females are different is a undeniable, but why are the differences? Most scholars agree that "genetic factors, 'shaping' of boylike and girl-like behavior by parents and other socializing agents, and the child's spontaneous learning behavior" (Maccoby and Jacklin, 1974, p. 360) affect the development of sex differences.

Regarding parent-child socialization they found similarities on how parents rear boys and girls. According to their conclusion, both sexes are encouraged to be independent, both are treated with equal affection, and both are equally

30 discouraged from dependent conduct. However, there are also observable differences. Parents punish boys more than girls, and boys receive more criticisms from their caretakers (Maccoby and Jacklin, 1974).

In their review of sex differences, Noller and Callan (1991) found that the ways in which parents communicate with their children is quite different. Girls are found to communicate more with parents than boys, but both sons and daughters talk more with their mothers than with their fathers, and perceive their mother's communication as more positive. Fathers are perceived by adolescents as being more judgmental and less interested in discussing feelings. Fathers, more than mothers also perceived as trying to impose their authority on the adolescents. On the other hand, mothers are perceived by adolescents as better in negotiating agreements with them and more interested in the in day-today problems.

In regard to physical punishment, there are fairly clear differences in the amount of punishment received by boys. Listing 12 studies on physical punishment, Maccoby and Jacklin, found that "with few exceptions boys receive more physical punishment than girls do" (1974, p. 240). Noller and Callan (1991, p. 44), found that adolescents report having more conflicts with mothers than fathers. However, in a follow-up study, they found that children aged 12 to 17, report their "mothers initiating more discussions with them and recognizing and accepting their opinion more than their fathers." In a sample of 163 college aged females Scanzoni (1991), found that mothers and fathers differ in their

31 restrictiveness toward adolescents. Mothers tend to restrict daughters more than sons while fathers tend to be more restrictive with boys than girls. These findings correspond with the Bronstein (1984) literature review of sex differences in the child rearing process. He found that in children's perception of parental roles, fathers were reported as being more restrictive and punitive, especially to sons, while mothers were perceived as being more nurturant and using more psychological, rather than physical, methods of control (especially with daughters).

All of this evidence suggest that in some areas fathers and mothers differ in the way they interact with their children. In some ways they differ a great deal, while in other ways they do not (see Bentley and Fox, 1991; Block, 1973; Etaugh, Collins and Gerson, 1974; Rebelky and Hanks, 1971). It is not the purpose of this study to address the ongoing debate by philosophers and social scientists about the relative importance of biological versus experiential influences in determining sex differences. The focus of this dissertation is not the etiology of sex role differences. I will merely assume that human development is the result of the "dynamic interaction between an individual's biological makeup and experiences with the environment" (Pearsons, 1980:xiii). Since fathers and mothers differ in certain ways in parent - child interaction, I can expect gender differences regarding parental maltreatment of adolescents.

32 Unemployment and Fathers' Aggression There is research linking unemployment and low job satisfaction with child abuse.

Unemployment has been found to be one of the most powerful predictors of maltreatment. In Gil's study (1970), nearly half (48)% of the fathers in 13,000 cases of abuse had experienced unemployment during the year preceding the abuse. Light's study shows that the employment status of the parents is the single factor that most frequently differentiates abusive from non-abusive families (cited in Belsky, 1980).

Sariola and Utela (1992), report that unemployment in a family increases the likelihood of mild to severe abuse by fathers.

Caliso and Milner (1992) also found that unemployed or retired parents are more violent toward their children than working fathers. Enumerating causes of child abuse, Spineta and Riggles (1972) include, social isolation, economic stress, high mobility and unemployment as the risk factor of maltreatment. Belsky (1980, p. 327) stated that "The most direct evidence linking the world of work with maltreatment comes from research on unemployment."

In a Korean study, Kim and Ko (1990) report that unemployed fathers abuse more than employed fathers. Looking at psychosocial characteristics of abusers, Roberts (1987), found unemployment and a blue collar job to be related to abuse by fathers.

Scholars agree that joblessness affects men more than women. Hartnett and BradIey J1994J, citin..9 studies by Sinfield (1981), and Warr (1983), affirm that unemployment affects the physical and mental health of men more than women. According to the research, the effects of unemployment upon the

33 physical and mental health of men is due to the fact that work is so important to men's self-esteem. Skevington confirms that work is important in maintaining men's psychological well-being. According to Belsky (1980), joblessness is a frustrating experience for men due to financial problems, and because it contributes to their feelings of being powerless without a job. Men feel themselves dethroned as the breadwinner when they are unemployed.

The difference in the way joblessness affects men and women may be the result of woman's dual role. For men, losing a job means not only losing economic benefits, but also as Hartnett and Bradley (1994) states, "unemployment means losing the latent benefits of employment status, confirmation of identity, giving status, independence and purpose, relief from feelings of isolation" (p. 225).

If Hispanic parents score higher than those of other groups in child abuse, it is due to the fact that Hispanics people are chronically faced with the problem of unemployment and lesser paying jobs. Most Hispanics (generally Mexicans) that immigrated to the United States before 1970, legally or not, are uneducated and poor, and lacking skills needed to get the higher paying jobs. Thus they are engaged in lower paying jobs. Thus we conclude as Straus and Smith (1992), pointed out that Hispanic families in which the husband had a lowincome, low-status occupations or were unemployed had considerably higher rates of child abuse and spouse abuse.

34 Employment Status of the Mothers Research evidence on employment status of mothers and child abuse is also contradictory. Gelles and Hargreaves (1992) cite a number of studies (Conger, 1978; Delli 1978; Fontana, 1973; Galston, 1965; James, 1975; Justice and Duncan, 1975; Mahmood, 1978; Quadri,1978), which suggest that the physical abuse of children is greater among working mothers. In a study of Korean parents, Kim and Ko (1990) report that abusive behavior was more serious and frequent in families where mothers were employed and fathers were unemployed.

However, the same authors cited in the above studies, who suggest that working mothers have a high risk of abusing their children, also report research that contradicts this idea, (see also, Chapa, 1978; Korbin, 1978; Oakland & Kane, 1973; Whiting, 1972), suggesting that the working status of mothers is not related to child abuse.

The employment status of both parents is related to child abuse if two conditions are present: (a) if the mother is working full-time, and (b) she is married to an unemployed husband. These conditions greatly increase the likelihood that she will strike her children (Gelles and Hargreaves 1992).

Age of Child Another difference between fathers and mothers, regarding parental physical child abuse, is the age of their children. Martin (1978), found that "men and women are equally likely to abuse infants, but three out of four adolescents were

35 mistreated by their fathers" (p. 294). Gelles and Hargreaves (1992) found two variables related to child abuse: the part-time employment status of the mother, and the age of the child. They found that when the mother is working part-time, the likelihood of abusing pre-school children increases. If the mother is working full time and has young, school-aged children the likelihood that the mother will abuse them also increases. In a Mexican study, the risk of abuse reaches its peak between one to three years (Castillo and Osorio, 1983).

Much attention has been directed to the abuse of children, but relatively little attention has been paid to abuse of adolescents. The American Humane Association report that 25% of official reports of child abuse deal with adolescents (Farber and Joseph, 1985).

In the First National Survey of Family Violence (1975) the most frequently reported age of abused children were 3 to 5 and 15 to 17 (Wolfner and Gelles, 1993).

However, in Faber and Joseph study (1985) the more abusive parent figure of adolescent appears to be the mother.

The Gender of the Children According to some studies boys are more likely to be physically abused by a parent than girls. Wauchope and Straus (1992), citing the American Humane Association report of 1986, states that boys are at higher risk of physical abuse than girls. As was stated above, Noller and Callan (1991) and Maccoby and Jacklin found that boys more than girls are the target of abuse. The Office of Human Development Services, in 1981, reported that younger more than older

36 boys are the target of physical abuse (Wauchope and Straus, 1992). Although the evidence shows that boys more than girls are at a higher risk, some authors affirm that the differences are often small (Gil, 1970). A 1985 Mexican report showed no significant gender differences in the maltreatment of children (49% for boys, 50.9% for girls) (Preman, 1985).

Both the First (1975) and the Second (1985) national Survey of Family Violence, revealed that males were the victims of abuse more often than females. Studies by Wolfner and Gelles (1992) and Lindholm and Willey (1986) also reveals that young males have a higher rates than girls in overall and physical abuse. Thus boys received much more abuse than girls. However, taking gender of the child and ethnicity, into account, they found that female Anglos (55.1 %) and female Hispanics (60.6%) received more abuse than male Anglos (44.9%) and males Hispanics (39.4%).

Severe Abuse by Fathers Because males are more violent than females in all types of violence, we would expect fathers to inflict more severe abuse on their children than mothers. As we saw in the literature review, the evidence suggests that fathers do in fact, inflict more severe punishment upon their children. "Fathers committed severe violent acts more often than mothers." In studies where single mothers and single fathers were compared, "fathers used more severe violence than mothers" (Gelles, 1989; Sariola and Uutela, 1992). In a sample of 185 children aged 7

37 to 13, O'Keefe (1994), found that fathers scored higher in frequency and severity of abuse toward their children than mothers.

Alcohol and Drugs Use Another condition conducive to child abuse is use of alcohol and drugs by parents.

Although the findings are contradictory, the evidence appears to show that alcohol is associated with child maltreatment (Kaufman and Straus, 1992). In studying the father's aggressiveness towards his children, it was found that personality disorders and alcoholism contribute to higher rates of physical child abuse (Andrews, 1994).

Hasselt (1992), citing Kandel (1973) and Newcomb et al. (1983), states that one factor consistently related to child abuse is parental alcoholism and drug use. Nord and Blow (1992), concluded that abuse was associated with alcohol-dependent parents. Steinmetz (1982) states that studies conducted by Gil (1970), Wertham (1972), and Young (1964), found a relationship between the use of alcohol and child maltreatment. A Wolfner and Gelles (1993) study revealed that drug users reported 20% more incidents of minor violence and 46% more of severe violence than abstainers. In a study of abusers that were prosecuted, Roberts (1987) found that batterers were likely to be excessive drinkers and/or drug users. An overwhelming number of physical abusers have a history of alcohol-related problems.

Educational Level Of Parents Educational level of parents is associated with abuse, due largely to unrealistic expectations that parents have and because "inadequate educational

38 resources undermine the functioning of parents, particularly mothers" (Garbarino, 1976: 180). Many uneducated parents expect behavior from children that they themselves cannot produce. Thus these parents get furious when a child seems fails to meet their expectations. Steinmetz (1980) found that the level of education among males has a strong negative correlation with domestic violence (spouse and child abuse), and that the wife's level of education showed similar a relationship with spouse abuse, but not with mother-child abuse. Connelly and Straus' (1992) and Kadushin and Martin (1981) studies, both support the view that children from poorly educated parents are at risk to be maltreated.

Other studies reveal that parents with college education were the least abusive.

But, those parents who completed less than high school imparted the highest rate of severe abuse (Wolfner and Gelles, 1993). Straus et al also found a negative correlation between education and violence (Steinmetz, 1980). In comparing an American sample with a Swedish sample, Gelles and Edfeldt (1986) found a curvilinear relationship between violence and education in the United States. Parents with the highest and lowest level of education were the least likely to abuse their children. But in Sweden, education was not related to abuse. This finding is consistent with Wolfner and Gelles' (1993) findings that the least educated fathers and mothers reported the lowest rate of violence against children.

With regard to child abuse and parental education in Mexico, aggressive behavior by parents are related to low education. Forty two percent (42.7%) of

39 the battering parents have only completed the first grade of elementary school (Preman, 1985).

Family Size and Abuse Another factor related to child abuse is family size. Studies reveal that abuse occurs with disproportionate frequency in large families (Belsky, 1980). Bolton (1983) states that the number of children at home is a factor contributing to the risk of maltreatment. He found that the risk of abuse increases with the size of the family.

Parents of two children have a rate of abuse 50% higher than parents who have one child to care for. Bolton points out that the highest rate of child abuse occurs in families with five children or more. Wolfner and Gelles (1993) found a curvilinear relationship between abuse and the number of children at home, with a peak at four and five children at home. Belsky (1939), Bolton (1983), Connelly and Straus (1992), and Wolfner and Gelles all agree that a larger number of children at home adds to the risk of child maltreatment. Other studies also add support to the conclusion that children from large families are at greater risk of being beaten by a family member (see Kadushin and Martin, 1981; Kim and Ko, 1990).

This chapter has attempted to focus on the evidence for gender differnces in the literature on the etiology of child abuse. In doing so, I have noted how gender differences in child abuse might be related to such factors as poverty, unemployment, isolation, drug abuse and alcohol use, educational level, and family ize.

40 Hypotheses With this in mind, the following list of hypotheses are presented for testing: 1. Mothers and fathers will differ significantly on general abusiveness as measured by the CTS. 2. Mothers more than fathers will display verbal aggression toward their children.

3. Fathers, more than mothers, will display more severe and very severe abuse toward their children.

4. Mothers, more than fathers, will use minor forms of abuse toward their child.

5. The number of children at home will be positively related to parental abuse. The relationship will be stronger among mothers than fathers.

6. Unemployed fathers more than employed fathers will be abusive of their children.

7. The employed mothers will be more abusive than unemployed mothers.

8. The educational level of the parents will be inversely related to physical child abuse. The correlation will be stronger among mothers.

9.Fathers are likely to be more abusive toward sons than daughters. 10.

Mothers are likely to be more abusive toward daughters than sons.

41

CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY FOR EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF GENDER DIFFERENCES IN CHILD ABUSE Purpose and Method of Study The major purpose of this study, as it was stated in the introduction, was to provide an empirical study of gender differences between fathers and mothers regarding child abuse among Mexican children.

The basic methodology is based on the Gelles and Straus literature about family violence, the theoretical concept of sex differences by Maccoby and Jacklin, and on data collected by a demographic questionnaire and The Conflict Tactic scale which measures several areas of domestic violence.

Sample and Data To gather the desired data on physical child abuse a sample of 832 children enrolled in ninth grade, who were attending public schools in the city of Monterrey, Mexico, were surveyed. These students were randomly selected from among the 15,215 students who attend public school in the Monterrey district.

A written letter was sent to the director of secondary education in the state of Nuevo Leon, requesting permission to do the survey. At the same time, the names and addresses of all the high schools with grades 7 to 9 were requested,

42 with the intent to survey some from poor communities, some from the middle class communities, and some from the upper class communities.

The public education office chose from the 105 public schools, 20 schools from the middle and low socioeconomic levels. There were no public schools in an upper level community. After that, three schools of each socioeconomic class were randomly selected.

Some of these schools have two to four ninth grade classrooms. We chose randomly one or two of these classrooms.

All students in the classes randomly selected received a package of questionnaires to be filled out during class time within the classroom. The questionnaires contained written instructions on how to fill them out. Nevertheless, they were verbally instructed by the author and an assistant professor as to how to complete the questionnaire. Issues like anonymity, time expected, and confidentiality were discussed with all the students before they completed questionnaire.

Questionnaire and Instrument Two instruments were used to collect the desired data for this study: the Conflict Tactics Scales (CTS), which includes 20 items, and a demographic questionnaire which includes 19 items. The Conflict Tactics Scales (CTS) ( Straus 1979) measures family violence. It is formed by three different subscales: reasoning, verbal aggression and physical violence. The CTS has been used in many studies of intrafamily violence between spouses, by parents towards their children (Connelly & Straus 1992), and violence between siblings. The first version (form A) of the CTS was administered in questionnaire format to

43 students when they were seniors in high school during 1973, 1974 by Straus (Gelles & Straus, 1992).

The CTS is a self report questionnaire, however, it has been used in different formats with little differences in the results. It has been used in "face -to-face interviews (Kennedy and Dutton, 1989; Smith 1986, 1987; Gelles and Steinmetz, 1980); telephone interviews (Gelles and Straus; Kennedy and Dutton, 1989; Smith, 1986, 1987, 1988); and a self-administered questionnaire (Dutton, 1988; O'Leary and Murphy, 1990; O'Leary and Vivian, 1990; Margolin, 1988; Straus, 1974,1978)." (Straus, 1993:147).

This instrument has been modified since 1971 and used extensively in numerous studies of domestic violence (Wolfner & Gelles, 1993). The CTS has become the most widely used questionnaire for studies on spouse abuse, (Straus, 1990). By 1989, the CTS questionnaire had been used in more than two hundred papers. It has been used for assessment in clinical work also (Straus, 1992).

The CTS was used in the 1975-1976 National Family Violence Survey by Straus, Gelles and Steinmetz, and in the Second National Family Violence Survey during 1985 (Straus & Gelles, 1992; Sariola & Uutela, 1992, and Connelly & Strauss, 1992). Gelles and Edfeldt, using CTS, conducted another research in Sweden in 1980 (Sariola & Uutela, 1992).

There are three different English versions of the Conflict Tactic Scale: form A, N, and R. Straus (1992) pointed out that these versions are fundamentally

44 the same. They differ in the number of items for each scale and the response categories given to the subjects.

The CTS, is intended to measure two types of maltreatment: Verbal Aggression, and Physical Aggression. It is divided in seven scales. The list begins with items from the Reasoning Scale (A, S, C), followed by items from the Verbal Aggression Scale (0, E, F, H, I, J) follow with items from the Physical Aggression Scale. The items from physical scale are divided into two indexes: The Minor Violence Index (K, L, M), Very Severe Violence Index (N, P, Q, R, and S). The Severe Violence Index ad items a to the former scale.

Overall Violence Index include all nine items of physical violence regardless of whether it was severe or minor. The Severity Weighted Scale takes into account not only the frequency, but also the potential injury, The scales start with items with low in coersiveness and follow with more coersiveness and end With more aggressive items. The list begins with items from the Reasoning Scale, such as "Discussed an issue calmly," followed with items from the Verbal Aggression Scale, such as "Swore at, or insulted him/her," and ends with items from the Physical Scale, that contain items like "spanked, kicked or bit him/her." The items from the Physical Scale are divided into two indexes: The Minor Violence Index and the Severe Violence Index.

The response categories for each item are: 0= never; 1 = once; 2= twice; 3= 3-5 times; 4= 6-10 times, and 5= 11-20 or more times. The following values should be recoded as: 3= 4; 4= 8; 5= 15. Values 0, 1 and 2 do not need to be recoded (Straus, 1990).

45 To compute any of the CTS scales the items must be recoded as follow: Reasoning: ItemA + ItemS + ItemC. Verbal Aggression: ItemD + ItemE + ltemF + ItemH + Iteml + ItemJ. Very Severe: ItemN + ItemP + ItemQ + ItemR + ItemS. The Severe Scale differ of Very Severe Scale, because Severe scale contain item O. In the items of Severity Weighted Scale, must be weighted as: ItemN= 2, ItemO= 3; ItemP and ItemQ= 5; ItemR=6 and S=8. Must be computed also as: K+M+N (N*2)+(O*3)+(P*5)+(Q*5)+(R*6)+(S*8). Minor Violence: ItemK + ItemL + ItemM. The Overall Violence Index, includes all nine items containing physical violence; Items K through S are included in form R. (Straus, 1990, pp. 79).

In regard to internal consistency, the reliability and validity of the CTS has been tested and continues to be assessed over the 20-year history of this instrument (Wolfner & Gelles 1993). The internal consistency reliability of the instrument has been tested by two different techniques. The form A was computed to determine the correlation of the items making up the Conflict Tactic Scales with the total score. The Alpha coefficient of reliability was used in form N. The reliability of coefficient is high for the Verbal Aggression and Violence Scales, and low for the Reasoning Scale (Straus, 1979).

The work of Sulcroft and Straus in 1975 confirms a concurrent validity for CTS. Other studies confirm construct validity (Straus, 1979). The view point of Wolfner and Gelles (1993) is: "there is evidence of adequate internal consistency reliability, concurrent validity and construct validity."

46 There are two Spanish translations, forms Nand R. Form N was used in the First National Family Violence Survey and was prepared by Response Analysis Corporation. Form R, prepared by Etiony Aldorino, was used by Glenda Kaufman Kantor in the National Alcohol and Family Survey in 1992 (Straus, 1993).

For the Spanish version, to test concurrent validity, a Pearson correlation coefficient was calculated between the score on the CTS and clinician's evaluation of the subject's abusive behavior. The outcome was that the clinician's evaluation did not concur with the subject's score on the questionnaire (r= .21, R=.12), (Olona, 1993). To test construct validity of the form R, a t-test was utilized. The study showed that there was a significant difference between the mean score of CTS for the group of battered and the group of the non-batterers. The batterers group scoring significantly higher than the non-batterer's group (t=4.00, P _ < .001) (Olona, 1993). Although concurrent validity would be good to have, the reported construct validity, taken together with the other research reported using the CTS, points to the CTS as the instrument of choice for this study. Regarding Reliability, the Alpha coefficient for the whole group was found to be at .8380 and the standard item Alpha was .8484. The Alpha coefficient for the batterers group was .8292 and the standard item alpha was .8541, indicating extremely high reliability for the batterers as well as for the whole group for this instrument (OI6na,

1993).

47 The demographic section of the questionnaire included 19 items and requested information regarding education, employment status, gender of the participant, age, family size, economic and marital status.

Operationalization of Key Variables Three primary concepts were utilized in this study. The definition of the concepts of physical abuse, reasoning and verbal aggression as understood in this study are utlined below along with how each was measured.

1. General abusiveness: Based on the sum of all responses to the CTS. 2. Reasoning: Based on the sum of responses to CTS items a, b, c.

3. Verbal aggression: Based on the sum of responses to CTS items d, e, f, h, i and j.

4. Overall Violence: Based on the sum of responses to CTS items, k through s.

5. Minor violence: Based on the sum of responses to CTS items k, I, m.

6. Severe violence: Based on the sum of responses to CTS items n, 0, p, q, r, s.

7. Very Severe: Based on the sum of responses to CTS items n, p, q, r, s.

8. Severity Weighted Scale: The Severity Weighted Scale was computed as: K+M+N (N*2)+(O*3)+(P*5)+(Q*5)+(R*6)+(S*8) 9.Employment status: Based upon responses to questionnaire items 6, 7, 8, 9.

10. Number of children: Based upon responses to questionnaire item 10.

48 11. Education level: Based upon responses to questionnaire item 17.

12. Gender of child: Based upon responses to questionnaire item 2.

13. Economic status: Based upon responses to questionnaire items 11, 12, 13, 14.

Statistical Analysis A t-test will be used to test hypotheses 1 to 4, 6 and 7. A Pearson correlation will be used to assess differences between mothers and fathers, the number of children at home and the educational level of the parents, on hypotheses 5 and 8. A t-test will be used to assess differences between the abuse received by sons and daughters from the parents, as expressed in hypotheses 9 and 10.

A note for reading the tables. Statistical significance for p<O.OS is set up at p<O.007 to reduce errors due to multiple testing, according to the t-test (See Bonferroni adjustment SPSS Manual, 1993). Regarding missing values: When a respondent did not answer a specific item, that variable was not counted for this specific case. Referring to missing values, the SPSS manual says "cases of missing values either on the grouping variables or the test variables are excluded from the analysis of that variable (1993, p. 263). When specific hypotheses are given and the direction of the relationship between variables is predicted, a one-tailed test will be used.

49 Hypotheses

In the light of the literature reviewed, the following general hypotheses have been presented for testing.

1. Mothers and fathers will differ significantly on general abusiveness as measured by the CTS. 2. Mothers more than fathers will display verbal aggression toward their children.

3. Fathers, more than mothers, will display more severe and very severe abuse toward their children.

4. Mothers, more than fathers, will use minor forms of abuse toward their child.

5. The number of children at home will be positively related to parental abuse. The relationship will be stronger among mothers than fathers.

6. Unemployed fathers more than employed fathers will be abusive of their children.

7. The employed mothers will be more abusive than unemployed mothers.

8. The educational level of the parents will be inversely related to physical child abuse. The correlation will be stronger among mothers.

9.Fathers are likely to be more abusive toward sons than daughters. 10.

Mothers are likely to be more abusive toward daughters than sons.

51 Parental Profile The students' parents ranged in age as follows: 7 (0.8%) of the fathers were younger than 30 years of age; 87 (10.5%) were 31 to 35; 231 (27.8%) were 36 to 40; 216 (26.0%) were 41 to 45; 135 (16.2%) were 46 to 50; 71 (8.5%) were 51 to 55; 19 (2.3%) were 56 to 60; and 32 (3.9%) were over 60 years age. The item was not answered in 53 (6.4%) of the cases. The students' mothers ranged as follows: 29 (3.5%) of the mothers were younger than 30 years of age; 188 (22.6%) were 31 to 35; 288 ( 34.6%) were 36 to 40; 182 (21.9%) were 41 to 45; 78 (9.4%) were 46 to 50; 35 (4.2%) were 51 to 55: 9 (1.1 %) were 56 to 60; and 1 (0.1 %) were over 60 years age. The item was not answered in 22 (2.6%) of the cases.

Forty eight percent (48%) of the fathers and 57% of the mothers had a junior-high education or less, 11 % of the fathers had graduated from high school and 18% had a college education. Ten percent of the mothers had graduated from high school and 11 % had obtained a college degree education (See Table 1 for a breakdown of the parents' educational background). Eighty one percent of the parents were currently married, and 88% of the fathers and 37% of the mothers were employed (See Table 2 for a breakdown of their occupations). Sixty percent owned a car which they drove to work, and 32% took the bus to work. Eighty five percent of the parents owned their own home, of which 58% had 2 or 3 bedrooms and 37% had four or more bedrooms. Only 21 % of the fathers and 3% of the mothers have been reported using alcohol or drugs.

53 Inferential Statistical Analysis on the Gender of the Parent and Child Abuse Level of Violence The first variable we will analyze is the gender of the parent with regard to the level of violence inflicted on the child. We have already noted from the literature reviewed that mothers are reported as sometimes being more abusive as sometimes less abusive than fathers. Now we need to see if the parents surveyed differ in the level of violence committed against their children.

Since gender of parents is thought to be related to child abuse, Hypothesis 1: Mothers and fathers will differ in physical child abuse, is presented for testing. Presented in Table 3 are the means, the standard error of mean, the t value, and the level of probability between the six dimensions of child abuse

54 and gender of the parents. It can be noted that Table 3 presents information which will be used for testing hypotheses two to four as well as hypothesis one.

Table 3 shows that mothers inflict more minor abuse (t= -4-46; p<.OOO), severe abuse (t= -3.06; p<.001), very severe abuse (t= -2.62, p<.OOO), and severity weighted abuse (t= -3.44, p<.001) on their children than do the fathers. Thus, according to the children's perceptions as measured by the Conflict Tactic Scale questionnaire, the overall violence committed by mothers is greater than that committed by fathers (t= -4.25; p<.OOO).

Table 4 presents evidence on the relationship between parents gender and abuse, controlling for gender of the child. Controlling by the gender of the child significantly increases the specificity of our understanding of hypothesis 1. As can be seen in table 4, the tendency for mothers to be more abusive than fathers is intensified when the target of abuse is a daughter. Taken together, controlling by gender of the child rather dramatically alters the zero order findings with regard to all types of physical abuse. A comparison of means show us that when the target of severity weighted violence is a daughter, the findings reveal that the mother more than the father is intensified.

Hypothesis 2. Mothers more than fathers will display verbal aggression toward their children. As can be seen in table 3 and 4, this hypothesis was not supported. The results were in the opposite direction from what was predicted as children report their fathers as being more verbally abusive than mothers (t= 2.70; p<.003). When controlling by gender of the child, (see table 4) we find a approaching significant difference between fathers' and mothers' verbal abuse of sons (t= 2.52; p< .006), than the difference in their verbal abuse of their daughters (t= 1.41; ns). Parenthetically, it can be noted that mothers are more apt than fathers to use reasoning in disciplining their children (see table 3). As table 4 reveals, this is truth for both sons (t=3.78,; p<.OOO) and daughters !t= 5.69; p<.OOO).

56 Hypothesis 3. Fathers more than mothers will display more severe and very severe abuse toward their children. The results contradict this hypothesis. Table 3 reveals that in severe abuse, mothers score higher than fathers (t= -3.06: p<.001), with very severe abuse, mothers also score higher than fathers (t= -2.62; p<.008), and severity weighted abuse (t= -3.44, p<.001) on their children than do the fathers. Thus, according to the children's perceptions as measured by the CTS questionnaire, the overall violence committed by mothers is greater than committed by fathers (t= -4.25; p<.OOO). In other words, the survey indicates that mothers show more severe abuse toward their children than fathers. This is entirely explained by mothers showing a greater incidence of severe abuse toward their daughters than do fathers (t= -4.24 p<.OOO) and t= -4.24; p<.OOO for severe and very severe abuse respectively).

Hypothesis 4. Mothers more than fathers will use more minor forms of abuse toward their children. The results support this hypothesis (see table 3), as mothers score higher in using minor forms of abuse toward children than fathers, (t= -4.46; p<.OOO). Although controlling by gender of the child does not significantly alter this finding, it can be noted that the amount of difference between mothers and fathers in the expression of minor abuse is greater for daughters than for sons. As can be seen in table 4, mothers express statistically significant more minor abuse to daughters than fathers (t= -5.20; p<.OOO) but not to sons (t=-0.85, ns)

57 Hypothesis 5. The number of children at home will be positively related to parental abuse. The relationship will be stronger among mothers than among fathers.

Table 5 reveals the existing correlations between the different types of abuse, and the number of children at home. The correlations were small and non significant.

Controlling by gender of parent fails to alter the zero order findings.

Hypothesis 6. Unemployed fathers more than employed fathers will be abusive of their children. Table 6 reveals the results comparing employment and unemployment fathers for all types of abuse. We can see that unemployed fathers are noticeably higher than the employed in every type of abuse.

58 Unemployed fathers score higher than employed fathers in verbal abuse (t= 5.8; p<.008), in severe abuse (t=8.4; p<.002) in very severe abuse (t= 9.92; p<.001), in Severity Weighted abuse (t= 13.6; p<.OOO), Minor abuse (t= 17.1; p<.OOO) and Overall abuse (t= 15.8; p<.OOO).

The results however were quite different for the mother in regard to the relationship between mother's employment status and abuse. The proposed hypothesis is not supported. Hypothesis 7. The employed mothers will be more abusive than unemployed mothers. There is virtually no differences between employed and unemployed mothers in the extent to which they abuse their children.

Hypothesis 8. The educational level of the parents will be inversely related to physical child abuse. The correlation will be stronger among mothers. Table 8 shows the relationship between educational level and all types of abuse for all parents and by gender of parents. The findings do not reveal a statistically significant difference when all parents are included in the analysis. There is, however, a low correlation between parental education and the use of reasoning (.19; p<.001). This finding holds true when analyzing the relationship between fathers (r=.23; p<.OOO) and mothers (r=.18; p<.OOO) separately. In addition, there is a statistically significant, although small, relationship between educational level and verbal abuse. When controlling by gender of parents, we find that this relationship holds only among mothers. A similar finding results for the relationships between educational level and severe abuse, where again the small significant zero order relationship continue to hold only

60 among mothers. When controlled by the gender of the parent, no dramatic additional findings emerge.

Hypothesis 9. Fathers are likely to be more abusive toward sons than daughters. Hypothesis 10. Mothers are likely to be more abusive toward daughters than sons. As we have seen in the previously reported findings, mothers are in general more abusive than fathers to both sons and daughters. Here we examine differences in the abuse of sons and daughters among fathers and among mothers.

Although the pattern found is for fathers to be more physically abusive of sons that daughters, these differences are slight. Only in the case of very severe abuse do we find that fathers are significantly more abusive of their sons than their daughters (t= 4.5; p<.016). It can be noted that fathers are significantly more verbally abusive of theirs daughters than their sons.

61 The differing amount of abuse shown by mothers to sons and daughters is, however, clear cut. In all regards, including all types of verbal and physical abuse, mothers are more abusive of daughters than sons. The differences are especially noticeable in regard to physical abuse, where every t- test is significant at the .002 level or greater.

Although not a direct focus of study in this research, two research questions which have been the focus of previous research on the causes of child abuse in the Anglo population are addressed in this last section. These questions are, (1) does the use of alcohol and drugs increase the likelihood that Mexi.cap..QamDt.~IWiJ}JlJ?,It':C:frlttJi'Fe-nlllcN@fC~3na"t2ns there a difference b~tween Catholic and Evangelical Protestant Mexican parents in the likelihood of abusing their children?

62 As can be seen in table 10, child abuse is consistently higher among fathers who use alcohol and drugs than among those who do not. Although there is only one statistically significant finding among mothers, there is a hint that child abuse might be higher among mothers who do not use alcohol and drugs. Mothers who do not use alcohol or drugs more than those who do, are more abusive in minor abuse (t= 5.3; p<.01).

Table 11 reveals that Catholic mothers score significant higher than evangelical mothers in verbal abuse, severe abuse, and very severe abuse. (t= 8.8; p<.002; t=5.8; p<.008; t= 6.9; p<.004 respectively).

1.

13

4 CHAPTER V

DISCUSSION The Gender of the Parents The evidence generated from testing the first four hypotheses reveals that Mexican mothers display more violence toward their children than Mexican fathers.

This section will interpret these findings in the light of previous research and the particular cultural context in which this parental behavior takes place.

It is believed that Mexican culture approves of violence in child rearing practices.

Cromwell and Ruiz (1979), citing Padilla and Ruiz (1973), affirm that child-rearing practices which include permissive affection and harsh punishment "are the basic components of family relationships" (p. 357). Also, according to Buriel et al (1979), there exists the "pervasive belief that Mexican-American parents frequently rely on severe beatings as an acceptable means of controlling their children's behavior" (p.

217). And, since it is well known that Mexican males are macho, it might be assumed that the fathers would be more physically abusive since that would fit their "macho" image. Therefore. we would conclude that: (Hypothesis 1) Mothers and fathers will differ in physical child abuse; and (Hypothesis 4) Mothers will use more minor forms of violence toward their children than fathers.

65 Why are mothers more abusive than fathers?

Hypothesis 1 was supported in that Mexican teens do report a difference in the way their parents treat them. The findings from this study reveal that Mexican teens experience their mothers as more abusive than their fathers. In almost all types of abuse measured by the Conflict Tactic Scale, mothers were more abusive toward their children than fathers. Our findings agree with studies made by other authors such as Markovich (1977) Carrillo and Osorio (1983), Preman (1985, 1986), Villanueva (1993), Bleal, et ai, (1992) and Loredo (1994). In all of these studies, Mexican mothers were reported to be more abusive toward their children than were the fathers.

From these findings, it would be easy to conclude that females are more violent than males. It has been established that mothers appear as the more abusive parent in the family. However, it is a well-known in social science literature that in overall aggressiveness males are more violent than females. Perhaps these two conclusions are not such a complete contradiction as it would appear on the surface, however. Let's look at some of the factors which may contribute to the higher scores received by mothers.

In the Mexican milieu, mothers were reported as being more abusive than fathers.

These findings could result from the fact that mothers are the primary caretakers.

Maccoby (1980) affirms that in all cultures we can see a female dominance of the child rearing activity, even in societies where couples practice an egalitarian role. In societies where women are an integral part of the labor

66 force, most mothers are still the primary caretakers. In Wolfner and Gelles' (1993) study, females were the primary perpetrators of abuse, but at the same time they were found to be the primary caretaker and to spend much more time caring for their children than do fathers. Bronstein (1984) studied 78 Mexican parent-child dyads and, focusing on the mothers' and fathers' interaction with their school-aged children, found that mothers spent more time with their children in caretaking activities than did fathers. Therefore, it is possible that mothers may appear more abusive to their children than fathers do, simply because the mother is the one who is with them the most.

Another reason might be that Mexican fathers and mothers do not have equal responsibility for the discipline of their children. In Mexico, the mother

IS

responsible

for disciplining children, since she, rather than the father, is responsible for the child's overall behavior. If a child misbehaves, the mother tends to be the one who is blamed by anyone or all of the following: her husband, her husband's family, her own family, society, and, many times, herself. Because of these expectations, mothers are more prone to punish their children. Thus, it is "not unusual for children to be beaten, especially by a dissatisfied and bitter wife" (Penaloza, 1968, p. 695).

Another possible explanation for this could be the difference in the way fathers and mothers respond to conflict within family relationships. While mothers may use vrorence In deaflng With their children, fathers may withdraw in the face of this same violence. Cummings and Davies (1994) citing numerous other

67 studies (Christensen & Shank, 1991; Floy & Markman, 1983; Levenson & Gottman, 1985; Notorious et al. 1989), found that, although it is controversial, the bulk of evidence suggests that males and females differ in the way they participate in marital conflict. When wives complain, husbands withdraw trying to avoid marital conflict. This could be the way fathers handle parent-children disagreements also.

With this in mind, my conclusion is that the gender difference in abuse, rather than being an indication of a psychological propensity to violence, may merely be a reflection of the fact that mothers spend much more time with their children than fathers, and, due to cultural norms, are expected to do the majority of the disciplining as well.

Why Are Mothers More Prone to Physical Abuse than Fathers?

Because males are considered more violent than females, and because, generally, they are physically more powerful, they are capable of inflicting damage that would produce fatal injuries, including death (Cazenave & Zahn,1990). Thus, the third hypothesis predicted that fathers would be reported by children as inflicting more violent punishment on them than mothers. This hypothesis however, was not supported by the findings. Mothers scored significantly higher on all types of physical abuse, including severe and very severe abuse where it was thought fathers certainly would be more abusive than mothers. While our findings are in agreement with those of Gil (1971), they are contrary to with

68 those of Sariola and Utela (1992) and Caliso and Milner (1992) who found that fathers scored higher in severe violence than mothers.

This study's findings are also contrary to the conventional wisdom as well as the findings of other researchers which indicate that Mexican society is characterized by male dominance. In a review of studies by women researchers (Carol 1988, Madson 1977, and Hayden 1966) Mirande (1988:97) stated that "the authoritarian Chicano family structure produces a very high level of violence, male dominance, strict discipline, and submission to the male." In an article by Tharps et al. (1968), Hispanic families are described as male dominated.

"Masculine dominance is central to the family .... One would expect to find strict authority values governing parents' relationship" (p. 405). Reviewing Anglo and Hispanic writers on Latino people, Cromwell and Ruiz (1979) found that the stereotype of Mexican male dominance is firmly believed. Quoting Oscar Lewis he says "the husband is viewed as an authoritarian, patriarchal figure who is head and master of the household" (Cronwell and Ruiz, 1979, p. 357). Stanton says that "three of the most obvious features retained by Mexican-American families are masculine superiority, male dominance, and emphasis on submission and obedience to the father" (in Cromwell and Ruiz, 1979, p. 357).

If male dominance in Mexican culture is considered an axiom, why do mothers appear to be the more abusive parent, and why do they inflict more severe abuse on their children than fathers do? As suggested earlier, this might be due to the cultural influences that impose the role of primary caretaker and

69 disciplinarian on the rnothen- r'Huwever,lt Mi9htalso be that mothers abuse their children as a way of displacing hostility toward their husbands. As Penaloza (1968) suggests, because of the authoritarian role of the husband, and the mother's inability to strike back, Mexican wives become "dissatisfied and bitter" and wind up beating their children (695). Bermudez (in Silva 1975), assumes that the "exaggeratedly submissive role of the wife to her husband creates an emotional crisis resulting in mistreatment of the children" (p. 45).

It is also possible that mothers inflict more severe physical abuse than fathers because they are more dissatisfied with their role as "housewives" In our study, a large number of mothers, 505 out of 803 (60.7%), were reported by their children as being full-time housewives.

A related explanation might be that Mexican wives experience less satisfaction with marriage than Mexican husbands. Skevington (1986), citing Gove and Tuddor (1973), reports that marriage is less satisfying for wives than for their husbands. He then suggests that dissatisfaction with the marital relationship will adversely effect the parent-child relationship. Another reason might be that the "exaggeratedly submissive role" is a myth.

The reasons cited can be summarized as a violence cycle, considering that violence begets violence. This cycle works in two ways. The first cycle begins as girls who are abused by their mothers during childhood continue the cycle of abuse with their own children when they become mothers. The second cycle occurs when Mexican males abuse their spouses, who being unable to

Ii'\!"") 1 ~9 \.' \) ... 0 ..

70 fight back against their husbands, discharge their repressed anger against their children. The fact that mother are more likely to be involved with their children, this beginning of an understanding as to why mothers are experienced by Mexican children as more abusive than fathers.

Why Do Unemployed Fathers Abuse their Children more than Employed Fathers?

The employment status of the parents is one of the most common variables in studies on child abuse. Since the Mexican population incorporates many of the most common causes of child abuse, such as poverty and unemployment (Andrews 1994), it was expected that within the Mexican family child abuse would be a serious problem.

Our findings support hypothesis 6 which states that the employment status of fathers will be related to the amount of child abuse. Our findings that the unemployed fathers abuse their children more is consistent with a number of previously reported findings (see, Gil, 1970; Andrews, 1992; Cazenave & Zhan, 1988; Straus & Gelles, 1992; Straus & Smith, 1992).

The question remains, however: "Why do unemployed fathers abuse their children more? I suggest two major reasons. The first reason is that unemployed fathers spend more time with their children. Since mothers are more likely to work outside of the home if the father is unemployed, fathers might be taking on the responsibilities of the primary caretaker and disciplinarian. Thus, just as we noted that the mothers abuse more when she is primarily a

71 housewife. Because the father is with the children more and, therefore, disciplines them more, he will have greater "hands on" contact with the children, and a correspondingly greater opportunity and inclination to physically abuse them. The proximity factor transcends gender considerations.

The second reason unemployed fathers abuse their offspring more may be that for males their job is their identity. Therefore, the loss of a job means a loss of identity and a primary source of self esteem. To be unemployed may lead to an attitude of defeat, isolation and incompetence. Skevington (1986) affirms that a job is important to maintaining man's psychological well being. Harthett & Bradley (1990), report that men find it difficult to cope with unemployment. Lashing out at one's children may reflect the frustration of not having a job.

This may be even more pronounced in a Mexican context where the culture dictates that the father should be the breadwinner. His ability to supply his family's material needs defines his worth, both to himself and society. In Mexican culture it is a disgrace if the husband cannot earn a living. In such a context, a frustrated, stressed and bitter father is at a high risk of becoming an abuser.

Why Do Employed Mothers Not Abuse More Than Unemployed Mothers?

It was predicted in hypothesis 7 that employed mothers would abuse their children more than unemployed mothers. It was reasoned that mothers who worked outside the home would experience increased stress generated by their

72 triple roles as worker, wife and mother. Hall, affirm that employed mothers report conflicts arising from the competition for time between home and job (in Zaslow & Pederson, 1981). Among Mexican dual-career couples, men generally do not participate in home duties and child care. This imposes a greater burden on the wife's shoulders. All of these factors were expected to create an overly stressed mother who is more prone to abuse her children.

However, our sample found no difference between employed and unemployed mothers with regard to child abuse. These findings are consistent with those of several other studies. Starr et al. (1978) did not find any differences between working and non-working mothers. Studies by Schellenbanch (1977) and Martin (1970), state that the employment status of the mothers is not related to abuse. Neither did Straus and Smith (1992) find any differences between working and non-working mothers in the First and Second National Family Violence Survey.

The absence of any increase in abuse by employed mothers may be due to the fact that the added stress of juggling a career, child-rearing responsibilities, and housework are offset by the benefits derived from the job. A job provides mothers with a way of escape from home pressures and an avenue for developing friendships. Thus, it reduces feelings of loneliness and relieves some of the pressures of continual child rearing. Also, having a job outside the home gives mothers less time to spend with their children; which, in turn,

73 reduces their opportunity and thus their risk time for abuse (Straus and Smith 1992).

Another reason might be that working mothers have a more egalitarian relationship with their husbands. As a result, they do not feel oppressed or bitter. The cycle of violence is thus broken because these mothers do not have a need to discharge their frustration and bitterness on their children.

It is also possible that working mothers are more optimistic due to the sense of competence the job gives them. Thus, they are less stressed and less frustrated.

It might be that all of these reasons contribute to the well-being of employed Mexican mothers, and thus offset any stress and frustration generated from dual work and household roles. The result is that employed mothers are neither more nor less abusive toward their children than unemployed mothers.

Why Do Less Educated Parents Abuse More?

Hypothesis 8 predicted that the educational/evel of the parents would be inversely related to the physical abuse of their children. Hypothesis 8 was supported by the findings, which revealed that the better educated the parents, the less they were physically abusive. This may be due to the fact that a great number of less educated parents expect behavior from a child that the child is developmentally incapable of doing. When the child does not meet the parent's expectation, the parent becomes angry. Research carried out by Steele & Pollack (968); Galdstone (1965) and Blumberg (1974), confirms that parents who

74 mistreat their children "are grossly ignorant of the sequence and timing of development" (Belsky 1980).

Accordingly, it would be expected that less educated parents would score higher on abuse than more educated parents because less educated parents have unrealistic expectations of their children. When children cannot satisfy their parents' expectations, the risk of abuse may increase.

Is There a Relationship Between Gender of the Parent and Gender of Child in Regard to Abuse?

Hypotheses 9 and 10 address the question of how the gender of the parent is related to the gender of the child in regards of abusive behavior. Hypothesis 9 predicted that mothers would abuse their daughters more than their sons.

Hypothesis 10 predicted that fathers would abuse their sons more than their daughters. Hypothesis 9 is supported as daughters more than sons reported their mothers as abusive.

Studies on abused children have yielded contradictory results with regard to which gender is most frequently the target of abuse. Some authors have found that boys were abused by parents more frequently than girls. Other studies have found that girls are targeted more frequently than boys. Cummins and Davies (1994), alluding to different studies -such as those of Block, Block & Gjerde, (1986); Cohn, (1991); Emery, (1982); Nolen-Hoeksema, (1987)-suggest that boys may be the target of parental abuse because boys' problems draw more attention than girls' problems due to the fact that boys

75 engage in more belligerence and overt misconduct than girls. And, as Maccoby and Jacklin (1973) affirm, boys are more often involved in escalating and/or controlling interactions with their parents.

The finding that mothers abuse daughters more than sons is consistent with studies conducted by Garbarino and Gilligan in 1980, and Olsen and Holmes in 1986. In these studies, the findings "suggest a heightened rate of physical abuse among adolescents, particularly adolescents girls" (Wauchope and Straus, 1993: 134). However, this is at odds with other studies (Maccobyand Jacklin, 1974; Straus, 1971; Straus, Gelles & Steinmetz. 1980) which "conclude that parents use physical punishment more often on boys than girls" (Wauchope and Straus, 1993). Maccoby & Jacklin (1974), citing a number of studies, affirm that boys received more physical punishment than girls. Their findings are consistent with studies by Minton et al, (1971), Newsons (1968), and Baumrind (1979) where mothers were found to be more restrictive and more abusive with sons than with daughters. Blocks (1972) reports that mothers find it more difficult to punish their daughters than their sons.

Why do Mexican daughters receive more physical abuse from their mothers than do Mexican sons? There are several explanation which could shed light on this question. One explanation is the belief of Mexican families that the daughter must be protected from any possible form of misconduct which would tarnish her reputation. Mothers may therefore feel more responsible for their daughters' actions and monitor them more closely than those of their sons,

76 who are allowed to come and go as they please. Thus, through increased contact with their mothers and the mothers' close monitoring of their actions, the daughters are disciplined far more often than are the sons. This results in the daughter being much more prone to being abused by their mothers who accept the role of maintaining an impeccable reputation for their daughters.

The over-controlling Mexican mother may be part of a continuing a vicious cycle. As Noller and Callan (1991) state, "adolescents tend to react negatively to parents who try to control them too much." Although, Noller and Callan do not specify the gender of the parent, it may be that our sample of girls are objecting to their mothers' excessive control and, thus, drawing more abuse.

Another possible reason why mothers abuse sons less than daughters is that a mother may find it difficult to handle disagreements with her sons and as a result tend to pass this responsibility on to her husband. This, in turn, would explain why fathers tend to mistreat their sons more than do mothers. Boys are typically more aggressive than girls, and are generally more physically powerful, a fact which might intimidate the mother and inhibit from using physical force with her sons. Maccoby & Jacklin (1974: 323) report that "parents permit or encourage aggression in boys more than in girls, and that is one of the reasons boys are more aggressive." They also find that "mothers of boys reported themselves as being more permissive than mothers of girls when a child was aggressive toward its parents, although the two sexes received approximately equal amounts of punishment for such behavior." All this suggest that mothers may be

77 more tolerant of undesirable behavior from sons than from daughters.

Maccoby and Rothbart (1966), quoted in Maccoby and Jacklin (1974: 325), state that "mothers were more willing to accept angry behavior toward themselves from sons than from daughters."

Another explanation might be that developmentally the age of 14-16 is rocky between mothers and daughters. This could be why mothers are more abusive because this is the age of this sample. Especially in light of mother over-controlling could even be a distortion in daughters reporting mother's abuse.

Another reason why Mexican fathers do not abuse daughters as much as mothers may be that fathers think that girls are physically weaker. Or, it may be because it is culturally prohibited to severely abuse daughters. This assumption agrees with the conclusion of Maccoby and Jacklin (1974:326), who found that fathers reacted more permissively toward aggressive behavior from their daughters than from their sons. "Fathers appeared to be more tolerant of aggression from daughters and mothers from sons." (347) Lambert et al, (1971), affirms "that fathers would accept insolence" from daughters more readily than from sons." I would suggest that if research finds Anglo fathers to be more tolerant of daughters than sons, a Mexican cultural context would find Mexican fathers to be even more tolerant of daughters than sons.

Mothers and fathers use almost the same amount of reasoning and verbal aggression toward their sons as toward their daughters. However, for all

78 types of physical abuse, fathers are slightly more abusive than mothers toward their sons. Comparing mothers' and fathers' abuse of daughters, mothers score higher than fathers on all types of physical abuse. This leads us to conclude that in Mexican families, abuse is gender oriented, fathers abuse their sons more (although, statistically, it is not significant), and mothers abuse their daughters more (which is statistically significant with the exception of severe abuse).

Alcohol and Abuse Our findings suggest a link between the parental use of alcohol and child abuse. There is no previously reported literature directly related to this finding. The bulk of the available literature does link alcohol to violence in general (Gelles and Straus, 1988, Kaufman and Straus, 1992). However, in his study, Olona (1994), found high rates of alcohol use among the Hispanic population, but he did not find support for the relationship between alcohol and inter-family violence. Thus this finding of a link between a parent's alcohol and drug use and child abuse is an important one.

79

CHAPTER VI

CONCLUSION: RETROSPECT AND PROSPECT

The pioneers in the study of child abuse attempted to explain the problem from the point of view of individual characteristics. They saw individual psychopathology as the primary underlying cause of child abuse. Later researchers focused on socio-economic variables in attempting to understand the etiology of child abuse.

More recently, the ecological approach has placed a strong emphasis on the influence of the environment. Present researchers believe that child abuse is rooted in the interaction of individuals, families and their environment. In the majority of these approaches, mothers have been the focus of study. Little attention has been paid to fathers in order to discover if there are gender differences in regard to child abuse.

To comprehend and measure child maltreatment, most research has focused on retrospective cases. Many of these investigators have addressed their surveys to parents, especially mothers. As the title of this dissertation suggests, the purpose of this study has been to understand the problem of physical child abuse from the point of view of gender role theory in a Mexican context. The main purpose was to discover how gender of the abusive parent and gender of the child are related to abuse in Mexican families. In order to reach trus goal, the target of the study was children's perceptions rather than parents

80 behavior. We wanted to know the point of view of the victims of abuse. A third goal was to understand which variables are related to fathers' or mothers' abuse of their children.

To achieve this purpose, related literature on child abuse was analyzed under the perspective of gender differences in child rearing. The focus of the study, was based on the well-known work of Eleanor Maccoby and Carol Jacklin regarding the psychology of sex differences. According to Peterson (1980), these scholars have done the "most thorough and careful review of sex difference literature" (p. 31). In their review of the literature, Maccoby and Jacklin affirm that boys and girls are treated in very similar ways in some aspects of the socialization process. However, there are differences in the way parents treat boys and girls. They affirm that "Parents seem to treat a child in accordance with their knowledge of his individual temperament, interests, and abilities, rather than in terms of sex-role stereotypes. We suspect that others, who do not know the child well as an individual, are more likely to react to him according to their stereotyped views of what a child of a given sex is likely to be like" (pp. 341).

With this in mind, we set out to discover possible gender differences in the matter of physical abuse of children. The core question of the present study was: Are there gender differences in child abuse by Mexican parents? If such differences do exist, which is the more abusive parent? What variables are

81 related to abuse by the father or the mother? Which gender of child is more 1tequently abused.

This study showed that the issue of child abuse is a current problem among Mexican families. Consistent with other studies, this one found that mothers are more often the perpetrator of physical child abuse. Female adolescents are largely the target of maternal abuse. Fathers appeared to be abusers under circumstances where unemployment and alcoholism are present.

As a conclusion to our study, some theoretical, methodological and practical implications will be suggested.

Theoretical and Methodological Implications The results of this study are exploratory, addressed here for the purpose of considering how fathers and mothers treat their sons and daughters with regard to abuse and which factors are related to child abuse in a Mexican milieu.

Our literature review confirms that we lack an adequate body of literature for understanding the complex problem of physical child abuse in the context of the Mexican culture. Most of the literature reviewed is from North American authors. Most of the studies have been done in the United States on Mexican-American families.

Literature on child abuse in a Mexican context is scarce. We need to develop a body of literature to understand the etiology of violence from the point of view of Mexican authors and with Mexican families. At the very least we need to see whether is any parallel between the two cultures that will enable us to draw inferences with regard to domestic violence.

82 More research needs to be done to either confirm, disprove, or clarify these results.

The study has shown that the gender of the parent and gender of the child needs to always be taken into account in studying child abuse.

Future researches needs to include a methodology that takes into account the greater opportunity of one parent (usually the mother) to abuse merely because that parent is responsible for most of the parenting. There is also a need to study the ratio of abuse per units of time with a child by mother and father.

More research is needed in order to see if the gender differences found in this study change when parents interact with children of different ages. Do mothers use severe and very severe abuse toward children when they are infants, or only when they are adolescents? Who is the abusive parent in small families?

It is necessary to develop a methodology which takes into account employed fathers and mothers and abuse. It is important to know what happens in families with dual career parents in the matter of child abuse. At the same time it is important to know what happens to a family when both parents have the same level of education. In these families, who is the abusive parent? In families in which there are only sons or daughters, which parent is more likely to abuse them? In single-parent families, which gender child is abused more?

We also need a better understanding of differences between mothers and fathers in inflicting severe versus minor abuse. More original research needs to be designed to explore this complex problem. There is a need to develop

83 questionnaires that are addressed to the Mexican culture and that take into account the concept of gender. Where instruments are used that were developed for an Anglo population, an attempt should be made to least to validate them for a Mexican population. There is also a need for more journals like the Hispanic Journal of the Social Science where these findings can be reported. New research needs to be done in order to not only look into the causes, but also into the consequences of abused Mexican children.

Research needs to be done with different samples in order to identify at risk groups of parents. This research could be conducted on an experimental and control group basis as a means of comparing group differences. How do battering parents compare with non-batterers? If they differ, what are the differences? If they do not differ, could this mean that in the Mexican context the use of severe abuse is seen as proper in rearing children?

Original research needs to be designed to comprehend every aspect of the complex problem of domestic violence. This study is only a first step, a very modest beginning. Child abuse is a common problem in all cultures. Different aspects need to be studied to have a wide, and at the same time, a deep vision of this serious problem.

This study is subject to the limitations common to all methods for obtaining data in a familial context, especially on this sensitive and painful topic. Some limitations arise from the questionnaire itself. Open-ended or fixed responses are valid for different purposes. Since child abuse is a complex problem, there

8 4 are questions as to which aspects should be measured? How many items should be included in an abuse scale? The Conflict Tactic Scale, as Straus (1992: 151) has pointed out, "is not the exception."

Another limitation of this study was that the collected data origin from children self-report. We use them as course of information to study the parents. It is well known that people perceive similar events differently, (Spatz, 1988). It is worth pointing out that most adolescents are in permanent disagreement with their parents' point of view, thus their answers might be biased. Thus it needed to be checked this with parental, police and clinical reports, etc.)

Other limitations of this study center on the validity and reliability of the CTS in a Mexican Context. Although the CTS has been validated for application to Hispanic populations in the United States, its validity still needs to be demonstrated directly with a Mexican population. Despite its limitations, however, this study represents an important first step.

Practical Implications Child abuse has been a reality from before the formation of the nation of Mexico.

Although it is not a new issue, it has been accepted as a twentieth century phenomenon in most countries. Mexican society needs to recognize that child abuse is not only a family matter, but is also a social problem. Not with standing the lack of national statistics, we may infer that many children in Mexico have been maltreated by distressed parents. The reported findings reveal that physical child abuse is a current reality in the surveyed adolescents.

85 Unfortunately, Mexican society allows mothers to punish their children in ways that are generally considered abusive in industrial societies. There are no reliable national statistics concerning the extent of child abuse and there is no reliable research identifying the etiology of child abuse in a Mexican milieu. There is a government institution called DIF-PREMAN that has been set up to deal with this problem, but to date it lacks continuity and sufficient funding for research and development of preventive programs. Continuity is difficult because every six years the DIFF-PREMAN gets new leaders, staff, polices, and programs. The absence of professional literature and research on child abuse can be taken a evidence of a lack of attention paid to this problem in Mexico.

It is seen also in the fact that educational institutions in Mexico do not include the topic of family violence in their curriculum. Where the problem is most evident however, is in the weakness of Mexican law. There are very few laws which apply to the perpetrators of child abuse. Professionals need not and usually do not report cases of child abuse to legal authorities. Therefore, my assumption is that if Mexican parents abuse their children it is because society as a whole allows them to do so.

Parental behavior which is deemed child abuse in industrial countries is seen as appropriate ways of preventing misbehavior in Mexico. Violent behavior is seen as an appropriate parental forum for discharging emotional frustrations.

In Mexico childabuse is also seen as a family matter rather than as social problem which needs to be dealt with at the nationalleve!. Thus, social attitudes are

86 inadvertently a major contributing factor in keeping child abuse behind closed doors in a Mexican milieu.

The Role of Society Since domestic violence, and child abuse in particular, are complex problems, we need to develop networks of multidisciplinary teams which can contribute to the understandings of maltreatment at the society level. Clinicians, lawyers, physicians, social workers, politicians, religious leaders, etc. need to cooperate to produce an awareness of this issue. Our government agency needs to be more sensitive to this problem and cooperate with private institutions and researchers to understand how extensive this problem is.

The first step is to create a public organization to collect national statistics and publish research in order to foster a culture that no longer approves of child abuse. If our society is not aware of how widespread the problem is, most people will believe that the issue is a family rather than a social problem. As a society we lack reliable information on the issue. We lack an interdisciplinary network committed to prevent abuse. There are only a few solitary voices "crying in the wilderness."

Politicians needs to enforce the existing laws to prevent abuse. But rather than condemn the batterers, they need to organize agencies to help them to deal with these painful situations. The Mexican Department of Justice needs to review the laws, and promote legislation on the matter of children's rights, parents rights, and social rights in order to see the complex problem from a systemic

87 perspective. As Bolton (1983) suggests, society needs to reconsider and change some of its fundamental values and attitudes.

Our social structures need to change some of their polices in order facilitate greater involvement of fathers with child care. Most fathers do not participate in child rearing, not because they do not love their children, but because they spend most of their time at the work place rather than at home.

Due to the different effects of unemployment on mothers and fathers, we need programs to help unemployed fathers learn the art of parenting in non violent ways.

Fathers need to be supported when they are faced with frustrating experiences due to financial problems and the loss of jobs, for this is when they feel most powerless.

Fathers need to learn how to better cope with the loss of a job in order to avoid directing hostility toward theirs sons and daughters.

We also need programs for mothers who are overwhelmed by the demands of child caring order to help them manage their feelings of frustration and isolation.

Mothers need programs to learn how to develop effective parenting techniques, and they need to be trained in specific child management skills.

Trikett and Susman (1988) suggest that helping parents change their childrearing practices, use more reasoning and avoid punitive strategies can also help children be more independent and allow mothers to develop a suitable child-mother relationship. Belsky (1978) holds that parenting classes can allow parents to develop better parenting skills give them a better understanding of

88 child development and help them to cope with inherent demands of parental responsibilities.

In a study of intervention programs for abusive parents, Monaghan, et aI., (1986) found that when mothers received emotional support and instruction they increased their parenting skills and developed greater commitment toward their children. The classes also increased mothers' personal strengths, and, as result, enable them to better face social or family stress.

Mothers also need to develop a network of social support, especially those who are not engaged in the labor force. Since many mothers feel isolated, and overwhelmed by irritated babies, a social support system can help them overcome loneliness and enable them to cope better.

The Role of the Family At the familial level, parents need to be committed to their children. Some parents become parents unintentionally. Others are concerned only about material things. Parents need to know that children do "not live by bread alone." Furthermore, children have rights that should be respected. They need to learn how to rear children and handle difficulties. Committed parents will be able to help their children become happy and responsible adults.

Fathers need to help mothers in child care. Supportive fathers help mothers cope with child-rearing difficulties in a proper way. By helping their wives in the discipline of their children, husbands can help them to use more reasoning techniques and avoid severe and very severe abuse toward their daughters.

89 The couple needs to strength their relationship so that wives, can help an unemployed husband cope with a sense of powerless and low self-esteem. Thus fathers will not engage in abusive behavior toward their children as a form of discharging frustration, anger and hostility.

Families need to be supported by social and private agencies to decrease the social causes of stress such as poverty, unemployment, alcohol and drug abuse, controlling or eliminating values, attitudes or programs to promote violence.

The Role of the Church in Ministering to Abusing Families Violent families, without God's help and without the appropriate help of professionals, will find themselves incapable of having a "normal" life. Their lives will become a pilgrimage of sighs and a valley of continuous pain.

Religious institutions can be helpful in this matter. Wounded and hurting people are usually eager for helping hands. The church should be the best place for these people to find assistance. Before pastors can help, however, they need to reflect on their own attitudes and beliefs regarding physical child abuse. How do they define child abuse? What do they think about the victims? How do they feel about batterers? How does the church board feel about domestic violence?

It is important that these questions be answered in order to determine whether the pastor and the church are ready to assist in a way that is Christian and truly helpful. In writing about the American church, Marie Fortune (1986)

90 states that the church is unprepared to help. However, "the sanctuary is an appropriate refuge for members and non-members who need assistance" (p. 17).

Pastors are people whom God can use as channels of grace and mercy to help bring healing for the deep wounds resulting from domestic violence.

According to Nardquis (1989, p. 8), in order to become channels of healing, pastors need to learn some important things. First they must, "believe that violence does occur and occurs in the lives of those who come to us." Pastors "must become informed and aware of its nature." They also "must learn the legal requirements for reporting abuse." Furthermore they need a "good exegetical and theological framework of violence". And finally, "they need to know the agencies to whom they must report."

In order to help hurting people, pastors need help with the following: 1. Pastoral attitude. As was stated above, pastors need to review their attitude towards family violence, toward abuse in any form. They also need to review their attitude toward gender differences. Stereotyped attitudes may tolerate machismo and may promote father absence from the home.

2. Sensitization process. If the pastors want to achieve success in their attempts to help these families, they need to undertake a process of sensitization among their fellow members and pastoral staff.

3. Identification. The church should know which families are suffering domastic violence. This Is the first step to help them. Levanthal (1989) States that best way to prevent abuse is to provide preventive services to families that

91 have a high risk of abuse. Our findings reveal that mothers with adolescents females and unemployed father are at-risk groups.

4. Being a friend of the abuser as well as the victim. When someone is friendly he/she can break down the wall of defensiveness. Anderson (1992) recommends that the church be viewed as a family of families and should thus intervene lovingly where abuse occurs. The church should empower both the abuser and the abused "to move toward healing, moral and spiritual development, and responsibility toward self and others."

Churches also need to help mothers who may feel guilt when they abuse their children, especially when they have inflicted severe abuse on their children.

Stressed mothers need loving and nurturing Christian support to help them face inherent difficulties in the demanding duties of child care. Polansky, et al. (1985) stated that mother's-day-out programs through local churches and schools have been helpful to abusive families.

Fellow Christians can help abusive mothers during a family crises. Buckles (1985) states that an effective help for violent families during a family crises is to invite the stressed parent or the abused child to live with a friend whom the parent can trust and rely upon.

5. Having compassion. Abusive parents generally feel rejected and criticized by relatives, fellow members, and friends. Abused children also feel unloved and unworthy. They should know that their Christian brothers and sisters love and accept them. Providing an atmosphere of acceptance for the abusing

92 parent is an important way to support violent parents. Overwhelmed mothers need compassion, not criticism. Some of them may be faced with rebellious adolescents, with poverty and with an absent or alcoholic or unemployed husband. Fathers who have lost their jobs need help to face the accompanying loss of economic and emotional benefits. Unemployed and abusive fathers also need the compassion of their fellow members.

6. Being comforting. Abusive families are suffering rejection, stigma, shame, and guilt. We need to comfort them as the apostle Paul stated, "God comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can confort those in any trouble with the confort we ourselves have received from God." (2 Corinthians 1 :3,4).

7. Social networks. These families may be isolated. We can help them to improve their social network, as Pauls says the older women train the younger to love their husband and children (Titus 2:3). Polansky (1985) states that church groups are an effective way to help violent families. Caliso and Milner (1992) point out that mothers who break the cycle of abuse have emotionally supportive relationships with friends. Maltreated adolescents, overwhelmed mothers and unemployed fathers need support from a Christian group.

These church groups may develop social and recreational activities in which these members of violent homes can participate. They can help stressed mothers during family crises by providing a place where they can go to relax. This group may help unemployed fathers either to find a job or give emotional support to help cope wrth joblessness.

93 8. Provide child care. One effective form of preventing child abuse is to provide child care. The church as an institution and members of the family of God can provide a mothers' day out, and day-care centers. Garbarino, according to Belsky (1978), proposed child care networks, crisis nurseries, and homemakers services as effective ways to reduce abuse. By alleviating stress, reducing socioeconomic pressures, and increasing support for mothers, we can prevent or reduce violence against children (Tulkin, 1972). Churches also should provide premarital counseling to couples to be prepared for parenting responsibilities.

9. Parent education. A great number of violent parents say that they were rushed into marriage and parenthood without proper preparation. Miller (1983), affirms that violent parents do not know how to manage or cope with their children.

Parents are not violent because they want to be, but because they do not understand the process of rearing children. Therefore the church can help them cope with parenting, which is a very demanding task. Kashani, et al. (1982) suggest that the goal of parenting classes should be to increase parent's awareness of their children's needs.

Parents need to acquire a new understanding of what it means to be human.

Parent need to know what the Scriptures say about being human, knowing that children at any age and of each gender are human. As a start I would suggest the following biblically principles of parental respect of their children:

94 a) Every child (sons and daughters) is someone special. "Children are a heritage from the Lord, children are a reward from him" (Psalm 127:3). b) Every person is someone special. "Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you" (Isaiah 43:4). The existence of each human being is an act of divine love. God made male and female in his own image. Thus parents should give sons and daughters equal treatment. c) Good parenting is a divine commandment. "Fathers do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in training and instruction of the Lord" (Ephesians 6:4). d) "Human parents stand in a relation to their children in a way analogous to the way in which God is related to his people" (Anderson and Guernsey, 1985). "As the father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him" (Psalm. 103: 13).

10. The church, as the church, needs to stand squarely against all forms of domestic violence. It needs to proclaim that scripture leaves no room for physical abuse of children. In the name of the church, Christians leaders need to take a strong public position against child abuse. The nature of the church obligate pastors to stand against abuse in the same way that it stand again injustice. Religious leaders need to do more than put their weigh behind a social causes. As Christians, they must be convinced on Scriptural grounds that a just God de-

95 Our findings reveal that child abuse is an unfortunate reality in Mexico.

Since this is a complex phenomenon, researchers, clinicians, and religious leaders have the responsibility of finding ways to prevent this problem. We need to help mothers cope with current problems of abuse. Unemployed fathers need to be trained so they can get a better-paying job. Adolescents need to learn how maintain a healthy relationship with their mother, and look for independence without provoking conflict with them. The entire family also needs help in coping with social stressors.

In the Mexican context, we need a Christian network for assisting victims of abuse as well as for the batterers. Mothers of adolescents especially need support, since they are prone to be the more abusive parent in our study. Thus, they need support from the family as well as the social agencies. Unemployed fathers are also at risk, and need help from the family, as well as from fellow Christian clinicians and policy makers. In Mexican context adolescent girls are also at risk, too. They need guidance, support and help to develop a sense of worth, independence, responsibility.

Public policy needs to be developed to ameliorate the effects of abuse.

Preventive programs need to be developed in order to reduce violence in new families and especially in families with adolescents girls and in families with an unemployed father and an overwhelmed mother.

Every Mexican should be committed to preventing violence toward children, as well as to helping wounded families. They need to be prepared to help these

96 families learn how to enhance their relationships in order to have happier families.

Summary This empirical study affirms that physical child abuse is a current problem among surveyed adolescents in a Mexican, urban population. Maltreated children come from all types of families. Children can be maltreated by either the mother or the father. Although there is no "profile" of a typical child abuser, our findings suggest that: 2. Mothers abuse more than fathers. In particular, mothers are found to abuse their daughters more than their sons.

3. Unemployed fathers are at a higher risk of abusing than employed fathers.

4.The less educated the parents, the more abusive they tend to be. Therefore, this study reaffirms that there is no sole underlying cause of abuse among Mexican parents. Further studies need to be done in order to find the most common variables conducive to parental child abuse in a Mexican context.

This study, as with most research, raises as many questions as it answers.

Some of the questions which this study attempt to answer are: Why are the Mexican fathers--stereotyped as authoritarian and macho--reported as less abusive? Why is it that although mothers are portrayed as submissive and loving, they were reported as the most abusive in the Mexican sample? Are they taking

97 out their frustration, anger and hostility, resulting from marital dissatisfaction, on their children? Or are they following a cultural pattern of discipline for their children and thus do not consider it as abuse? Further studies are needed to expand upon the answers given in this study.

5.

IOq

APPENDIX INSTRUMENT

A

116

APPENDIX B LETTERS

117

FANULY RESEARCH LABORATORY University of New Hampshire 126 Horton Social Science Center Durham, NH 03824

Murray A. Straus, Co-Director Phone (603) 862-2594 FAX (603) 862-1122 16 May 1994

Mr. Antonio Estrada 14534 Biola Avenue La Mirada CA 90638

Dear Mr. Estrada: I am responding to your inquiry about using the Conflict Tactics Scales (CTS).

Permission. If you requested permission to use the CTS, this letter is my permission for you to use the Conflict Tactics Scales (CTS).

Test Manual. Much new information has become available since the original paper on the CTS which was published in 1979. I therefore prepared a test manual which includes a revised version of the 1979 paper and a number of other chapters, together with a 33 page bibliography of studies using the CTS. A table of contents is attached. The cost is $25 including postage and packaging.

When a report of your study is available, I would appreciate being sent a copy.

I will add it to the bibliography of research using the CTS.

6.

119 Translation of the authorization letter from Education Office regarding survey.

Mr. JORGE GONZALEZ MOLINAR

Dear Mrs. Molinar,

By this means I would like to ask you, that you kindly give Professor Antonio Estrada from Montemorelos University Family Relations Master's Degree Program all necessary support in regards to his research.

Mr. Estrada is actually dedicated to this research as a part of his doctoral dissertation. On his study, he deals with family problems, and how to work them out.

Hereby, I thank you beforehand.

Sincerely;

Angel Alberto Alameda

50

CHAPTER IV

FINDINGS ON GENDER DIFFERENCES IN CHILD ABUSE IN MEXICAN FAMILIES LIVING IN MEXICO

This chapter is divided into two major sections. The first section gives a general descriptive summary of the data. The second uses inferential statistics to highlight five important measured dimensions of child abuse. The first variable to be addressed is the gender of the parent as related to abuse. The next three variables concern the differences between fathers and mothers related to abuse in conjunction with the number of children at home, the employment status of the parents, and the educational level of the parents. Finally, the fifth variable we will consider focuses on the relationship between all dimensions of abuse, the gender of the parents, and the gender of the child.

General Description of the Sample Student Profile A total of 832 junior-high students were surveyed in Mexico. Of those, 13 didn't answer the question about gender, 410 (49.3%) were male and 409 (49.2%) were female. They ranged between 13 and 17 years of age with the rnajority (61.7% or 513) being 14 years old. Sixty seven percent (67%) had between one and three brothers and/or sisters, while (29%) had four or more.

The biological father of eighty two percent (82%) of them was living at home.