Severity of Intimate Partner Abuse Indicators as Perceived by Women in Mexico and the United States

SUMMARY

Objective: Women in Cuernavaca, Mexico and Los Angeles, California were surveyed to examine differences in their perceptions of the severity of domestic violence indicators.

Methods: One hundred twenty women in each country rated the severity of 26 domestic violence indicators which were part of an abuse screen used for an ongoing study of the prevalence of abuse. Rasch analysis was conducted to determine the linear relationship in the perceptions of the severity of each event between the two countries.

Results: The Rasch calibrated logit values show that women in the US rated 24 of the 26 events as more severe than women in Mexico. However, items were ranked in similar order and a clear linear pattern was established. In both countries, being shot with a gun was the most severe event and a partner becoming jealous was the least severe.

Conclusion: The country of origin did not dictate which events were most severe but did influence how severe these events were perceived.

KEYWORDS:

• Domestic violence
• psychology
• ethnology