Vietnamese Women and Domestic Violence: A Qualitative Examination

This grounded theory qualitative study investigated the major influencing factors in the United States that empowered six Vietnamese women who had been in abusive relationships to take actions, to make changes in their intimate relationships, unlike many of their abused counterparts in their homeland. Interviews of two focus group sessions, field-notes, and documentary evidence were used to obtain the results for this research study. Five major dominant influencing factors in the U.S. have helped these women to stand up to their abusers: 1) financial condition, 2) dominant U.S. culture's intolerance of domestic violence, 3) education, 4) support from other individuals, both genders, and 5) women role models in the community and from the media. These major determinant conditions of the theoretical model were identified and are illustrated by narrative data in this study. Key words: Vietnamese Abused Women, Partner Abuse, Empowerment, and Domestic Violence Introduction Over the past three decades an estimated 1,100,000 Vietnamese have migrated to the United States from Vietnam. And it has been estimated that at least half of this population are women (U.S. Census, 2000). For the majority of these women, America is their first exposure to the concept of women being "first" that is, in traditional Asian cultures, the husband assumes the role of leadership and authority, and is the provider and protector of the family. The wife is usually dominated by the authority of her husband, her father, her in-laws, and sometimes her son (Hsu, 1971). Also in traditional Asian cultures, domestic violence is "kept" in the house because people do not interfere in others' family affairs. Men are perceived to have the rights to "educate" their families in whatever ways they see fit. To a great extent, these philosophies of traditional Asian families are challenged by the beliefs and values of equality held by the American host culture regarding women and their roles in the family. Goodman and Fallon (1995) define domestic abuse as physical, emotional, or sexual abuse taking place within the context of the family household. It may be between adults, between adults and children, or between children. For the purposes of this present study, domestic abuse between a husband and wife is examined. This present research concentrates on exploring the major factors in the American culture that have changed some Vietnamese married women's views of intimate relationships with their husbands. These women had been exposed to Western ways, perceiving equality in intimate relationships, and no longer wanted an unequal relationship with their husbands, unlike when they were in Vietnam. The research question for this qualitative study was, "What are the major influencing factors in the United States that have empowered six Vietnamese women who had been in abusive relationships to take actions, to make changes in the relationships with their husbands?" Through this present study, it was hoped that participants' struggles to be freed from domestic violence would be revealed. Furthermore, the author's interests for the study also included finding major environmental as well as cultural influencing factors that had helped some Vietnamese women to become intolerant of family violence, unlike in the past when they were in their homeland. With tremendous hope and optimism, this study could help to de-mystify the phenomenon of domestic violence in the Vietnamese community, with respect to Vietnamese women's empowerment process in their intimate relationships, in order to build a knowledge base in this under-researched area. The study took place at a counseling center in a southern state. The researcher of the study is a Vietnamese male in his early 30s, who was the research participants' counselor months prior. There was good rapport between the researcher and the research participants prior to the data collection process. …