Attitudes of Arab women toward different patterns of coping with wife abuse

This article documents a study conducted among 291 Arab women from Israel using a self-administered questionnaire that examined their attitudes toward varying patterns of coping with wife abuse. The findings revealed that the more the participants were characterized by negative and traditional perceptions of women, stereotyped attitudes toward gender roles, high levels of religiosity, and strong orientations toward familism, the greater their tendency to expect battered wives to change their behavior toward their husbands, assume responsibility for their husbands' violent behavior, and resist seeking help from formal agencies or breaking up the family unit. This article discusses the relevance of the sociocultural and sociopolitical context of Arab society to women's attitudes toward various patterns of coping with wife abuse. It also discusses the implications of these results for future studies and for culturally sensitive intervention in cases of wife abuse.