Battered Wives

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Abstract
Unstructured interviews with 32 women, recorded during their sojourn in a shelter for battered wives in Israel, constituted the basis for this study, the purpose of which is to explore the premarital relations between battered wives and their fiances from the phenomenological aspect. It was found that the patriarchal attitude displayed by the fiance, rather than violence during courtship, was the best predictor of future abuse. Because patriarchy was also characteristic of their fathers, it was concluded that these women simply move from one male-dominated home to another. The same background which is responsible for the women's readiness to accept male authority is also the cause of their tendency to marry when they are young and inexperienced. As a result, the suitor becomes supervisor and master.

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