EXAMINING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND RELIGIOUS WORLDVIEWS

KADINA YÖNELİK ŞİDDET İLE DİNİ DÜNYA GÖRÜŞLERİ ARASINDAKİ İLİŞKİNİN İNCELENMESİ

Abstract

Introduction Women are the most important members of the family. Therefore, violence against women in the family affects not only the women but also the whole society. An individual socializes in a family and learns behaviors in the family. According to Social Role Theory, children observe the roles of men and women in the family and learn the appropriate roles for men and women in the society (Eagly, 1987)1. Violence against women is a public health problem and is recognized as a human rights violation worldwide (Krantz & Garcia-Moreno, 2005)2. Violence against women is a serious human rights violation which has physical, psychological, emotional and social consequences. This is also both a reason and a result of gender inequality. It is based historically on unequal power relations between men and women. Violence against women is generally supported by social and cultural values, structures and applications (Office of the United Nations, 2014)3. In our country violence against women is one of the hottest topics in the agenda. We can be exposed to news related to violence via television, internet or radio in our everyday lifes. Violence against women includes a number of abuses throughout women's lives (Krantz & Garcia-Moreno, 2005)4. This kind of violence is a socio-cultural problem which makes women dependent, decreases self-esteem and distorts both physical and mental health (T.C. Prime Ministry General Directorate of the Status of Women, 2009)5. According to literature, there are various forms of violence against women. These can be listed as follows; (a) physical violence, (b) psychological violence, (c) sexual violence and (d) economic violence (Karal & Aydemir, 2012)6. This study focused on physical violence. Physical violence is defined as (a) slapping or throwing to harm, (b) pushing and pulling hair, (c) hitting with a punch or something to harm, (d) dragging, beating, kicking or throwing, (e) threatening with a knife or a gun (Fanslow, Gulliver, Dixon & Ayallo, 2015)7. Religion as a belief includes ideas, values, attitudes and perspectives. In practice religion constitutes individual and social expressions of religious worldviews as piety, ritual, ceremony and religious practice (Call, 2012)8. The importance and prevalence of religious worldviews in developing and developed countries requires to investigate how religion has an impact on individuals, communities and societies to create a sense about the world (Deneulin & Rakodi, 2011)9. In this study, the relationship between physical violence against women in marriage and religious worldviews is examined. Methods Participants A total of 207 vocational college students of a state university from Middle Anatolian region voluntarily participated to the study. 32,9% of the participants are men and 67,1% are women. Most of the participants' average family income level is low (50,75%), The percentage of middle income level is 35,68% and high income level is 13,57%. Data Collection Tools Data of the study was collected with the help of 'Attitudes towards Physical Violence against Women in Marriage Scale' and 'Religious Worldviews Scale'. Data Analysis Quantitative analyses methods (means, percentages, correlations, t-test and ANOVA) were used in analyzing the data. Findings Findings showed that participants' attitudes towards violence scores (for legitimizing the violence?=1,97; for perceived benefit of the violence ? =1,54; for results of the violence ?=2,26) are under the mean score and religious worldview scores (?=3,98) are above the mean score. The answers of the participants for the question 'Have you ever been exposed to violence?' is as follows; 15,20% of the participants answer this question as yes and 84,80% answer as no. Physical violence against women in marriage score of men are significantly higher than women (for legitimizing the violence t=-11,111, p

Özet

Kadına yönelik şiddet ülkemizde gündemden düşmeyen sıcak konulardan biridir. Yaşamımızda her gün kadına yönelik şiddet ile ilgili haberlere televizyon, internet veya radyo gibi farklı yollardan maruz kalabiliyoruz. Bu çalışmada evlilikte kadına yönelik fiziksel şiddet ile dini dünya görüşleri arasındaki ilişkiler incelenmiştir. Çalışmaya Orta Anadolu'da bir devlet üniversitesinde eğitim- öğrenim görmekte olan toplam 207 öğrenci gönüllü olarak katılmıştır. Çalışmanın verileri 'Evlilikte Kadına Yönelik Fiziksel Şiddete İlişkin Tutumlar Ölçeği' ve 'Dini Dünya Görüşleri Ölçeği' yardımıyla toplanmıştır. Verilerin analizinde nicel araştırma teknikleri (ortalamalar, yüzdeler, korelasyonlar, t-testi ve ANOVA) kullanılmıştır. Bulgular, katılımcıların şiddete yönelik tutum puanlarının ortalamanın altında; dini dünya görüşleri puanlarının ise ortalamanın üstünde olduğunu göstermiştir. Erkeklerin evlilikte kadına yönelik fiziksel şiddete yönelik tutum puanları kadınlardan anlamlı olarak daha yüksek çıkmıştır. Bunlara ek olarak, kadına yönelik fiziksel şiddete ilişkin tutumlar ile dini dünya görüşleri arasında olumsuz yönde istatistiksel olarak anlamlı bir ilişki (r=-,163, p