Doctoral Dissertation Research: Cross-cultural Models of Domestic Violence, Care, and the Family in Urban Settings

家庭暴力是全球普遍存在的问题，会造成身体、情感和心理上的伤害。尽管我们从越来越多的研究中得知，家庭暴力也发生在同性伴侣和其他非传统的家庭安排中，但大多数情况下，这种暴力是由男性对他们的配偶、家庭伴侣或女朋友实施的。当家庭暴力第一次在美国出现时，重点是帮助和鼓励妇女离开受虐待的关系。然而，我们现在认识到，离开或留下并不是处理虐待的唯一两种选择。家庭动态和社会网络比这种二分法所显示的更为复杂和灵活。然而，医疗保健系统和其他社会支持系统仍然没有找到识别虐待和帮助不希望离开虐待关系的妇女的最佳方法。在美国，这个问题对少数族裔、移民和难民妇女来说尤其严重，她们的家庭观念可能与主流观念不符。因此，需要研究文化和社会因素，如大家庭的作用和对配偶关系的期望，如何塑造家庭暴力的经历，以便从理论上理解所涉及的微观过程，并使社会支持服务和医疗保健系统能够有效地作出反应。斯坦福大学博士生Amrapali Maitra将在Tanya Luhrmann博士的指导下，在印度加尔各答进行这样的研究。她之所以选择这里作为研究地点，是因为印度的家庭暴力率很高，而且在接受援助的人和寻求援助的人之间存在明显的文化和社会差异。2004-2005年，全国健康和家庭调查发现，印度约有40%的妇女经历过某种形式的家庭暴力。家庭暴力一再被证明跨越了种姓和阶级的界限，但人们的刻板印象是，这是穷人的问题。因此，研究人员将调查家庭暴力对城市穷人、中产阶级雇员和控制资源以帮助他们的社会服务提供者意味着什么。该项目将重点关注加尔各答的两个贫民窟社区以及周边地区的社会支持机构。调查人员将评估三个关键领域：加尔各答的男性和女性如何定义家庭暴力；这些定义与西方（包括美国）的定义有何不同；城市保健诊所和非政府组织对家庭暴力的医疗化如何影响对暴力的定义和看法；以及“受害者”和机构雇员之间的互动如何影响双方对家庭、性别和暴力的理解。她将在两个社区进行调查，以了解典型的家庭安排、配偶之间的互动和期望，以及大家庭的角色。她还将通过在妇女寻求家庭暴力服务的诊所和其他地点的参与性观察收集数据，以了解妇女如何在常规形式的暴力和需要机构帮助的情况之间划清界限。这项研究的结果将阐明在一个既极度贫困又具有巨大复原力的地方遭受家庭暴力的经历，更广泛地说，将阐明家庭、亲属关系和身体亲密的文化观念如何塑造不同的人对家庭暴力的看法，以及他们如何渴望解决这些冲突时刻并相互照顾。这些发现对于那些负责制定有效的政策和计划来处理家庭暴力的人，以及那些试图理解当今世界当代家庭不断变化但又多种多样的性质的社会科学家来说，都是有用的。

Domestic violence is a pervasive problem across the globe, producing physical, emotional, and psychological harm. The majority of the time this violence is perpetrated by men upon the women who are their spouses, domestic partners, or girlfriends, although we know from growing research that domestic violence also occurs within same-sex couples and other non-traditional family arrangements. When domestic violence first came to prominence in the United States, the focus was on helping and encouraging women to leave abusive relationships. However, we now recognize that leaving or staying are not the only two options for dealing with abuse. Family dynamics and social networks are more complex and flexible than this dichotomy suggests. Yet healthcare systems and other systems of social support persist in not finding the best ways to identify abuse and to assist women who do not wish to leave abusive relationships. In the United States, the problem is particularly acute for minority, immigrant, and refugee women whose ideas of family may not fit those of the mainstream. Therefore, research is needed on how cultural and social factors, such as the role of the extended family and expectations of spousal relationships, shape experiences of domestic violence so that the micro-processes involved can be understood theoretically and social support services and healthcare systems can respond effectively. Stanford University doctoral student Amrapali Maitra, under the supervision of Dr. Tanya Luhrmann, will undertake such research in the Indian city of Kolkata. She has chosen this as a research site because India has both high rates of domestic violence and clear cultural and social differentiations between those who are the receivers of assistance and those who seek to give assistance. In 2004-2005, the National Health and Family Survey found that about 40 percent of women across India experienced some form domestic violence. Domestic violence has been repeatedly shown to cut across lines of caste and class, but the stereotypical picture is that it is a problem of the poor. So the researcher will investigate what domestic violence means to the urban poor and to the middle class employees and social service providers who control the resources to assist them. The project will focus on two slum neighborhoods in Kolkata and the institutions of social support that exist in the surrounding areas. The investigator will assess three key areas: how men and women in Kolkata define domestic violence; how those definitions differ from how it is defined in the West, including the United States; how the medicalization of domestic violence in urban healthcare clinics and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) affects definitions and perceptions of violence; and how interactions between "victims" and institutional employees shape understandings of family, gender, and violence on both sides. She will conduct surveys in both neighborhoods to understand typical domestic arrangements, interactions and expectations between spouses, and the role of extended kin. She will also collect data through participant observation in clinics and other sites where women seek services for domestic violence, to understand where women draw the line between routine forms of violence and instances that require institutional help. Findings from this research will illuminate experiences of domestic violence in a place of both intense poverty and great resilience, and more broadly will illuminate how cultural ideas of family, kinship, and physical intimacy shape how different people think about domestic violence and how they aspire to resolve these moments of conflict and care for one another. These findings will be of use to those charged with creating effective policies and programs for dealing with domestic violence wherever it occurs, and to social scientists seeking to understand the changing but varied nature of the contemporary family in the world today.