MALE PEER SUPPORT OF WIFE ABUSE - AN EXPLORATORY-STUDY

Feminist theorizing about familial patriarchy as a source of violence against wives suggests that abusive husbands’ male peers provide ideological support for such violence. This study was an exploratory examination of the peer support thesis using quantitative and qualitative data from a survey of Toronto women. The results indicate that the male friends of abusive husbands were more likely to approve of violence against wives than were the male friends of nonabusive husbands and that such approval tends to reflect an ideology supportive of patriarchy in the familial sphere. © 1991, SAGE PUBLICATIONS. All rights reserved.