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10 J. Fam. Violence 1 (1995)

handle is hein.journals/jfamv10 and id is 1 raw text is: Journal of Family Violence, Vol. 10, No. 1, 1995

Spousal Violence Among Anglos, Blacks, and
Mexican Americans: The Role of Demographic
Variables, Psychosocial Predictors, and Alcohol
Consumption
James Alan Neff,1 Bruce Holamon,2 and Tracy Davis Schluterl
Racial/ethnic differences in the prevalence and correlates of self-reported
spousal violence in a community sample of Anglo, Black, and Mexican
American adults are examined. Females, the formerly married, and Black
females in particular (up to 60% of formerly married) were most likely to
report both being beaten by and beating a spouse. Multivariate analyses
controlling for demographic variables, financial stress, social desirability, sex
role traditionalism and drinking quantity (and spouse's drinking among the
currently married) did not eliminate the greater likelihood of reports of both
beating and being beaten among married Black females. There was little
consistent evidence to suggest greater violence propensity among Mexican
American than Anglo respondents. The findings raise questions about simplistic
socioeconomic status or financial stress explanations of observed racial/ethnic
differences in spousal violence. Further curvilinear effects of alcohol quantity
and spouse drinking upon reported violence question simple disinhibition
arguments and suggest the need for data regarding couple dynamics.
KEY WORDS: spousal violence; Anglos; Blacks; Mexican Americans.
INTRODUCTION
Since Straus' (1980) 1975 national survey of family violence, both pub-
lic and scientific interest in the subject have increased dramatically. How-
1Department of Psychiatry, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San
Antonio, Texas 78285.
2Department of Psychology, University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, Colorado 80631.
1

0885-7482/95/0300-0001$07.50/0 0 1995 Plenum Publishing Corporation

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