PHYSICIANS' AND NURSES' ATTITUDES TOWARD WOMAN ABUSE (BATTERED, VICTIM, BEATINGS).
Contributors: University of Wisconsin--Madison.
Published: 1984
Number of pages: 165
Subjects: Psychology, Social.
Description: This investigation was undertaken to explore and contrast beliefs held by physicians and nurses about the justification of woman abuse, the responsibility of the victim to prevent beatings, and the help that should be offered to abused women. The relationship of attitudes toward women and beliefs about the abuse of women were also examined. Spence and Helmreich's Attitudes Toward Women Scale (AWS) and Saunder's Inventory of Beliefs About Wife-Beating (IBWB) were used to measure the dependent variables. A third scale, Marlowe-Crowne, was included to detect and correct for a social desirability bias.

Eighty-six physicians and one hundred forty-five nurses responded to a mailed questionnaire. Demographic variables were analyzed, including gender, age, religion, specialty area of practice, experience with battered women, and professional training in the identification and treatment of abused women. Descriptive statistics, Welch-Aspin tests of significance and Pearson correlations, were the chief methods of data analysis.

The results of the study show that nurses hold more liberal sentiments than physicians; that is, nurses show a stronger tendency to believe that beatings are not justified and women are not responsible for preventing beatings. Gender was found to exert a significant influence on beliefs about woman-beating and attitudes toward women. Both female nurses and physicians hold more liberal attitudes about woman abuse and the rights and roles of women in society than male nurses and physicians. Physicians and nurses, however, did share similar beliefs about offering help to abused women. While both felt that battered women should be aided through legal and social support, the actual extent and nature of their help in clinical practice remains speculative and in need of further examination. Finally, within both the physician and the nurse group, attitudes toward women are positively correlated with beliefs about woman-beating.

These findings suggest directions for those who train or recruit nurses and physicians for practice in settings where abused women are treated.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 46-01, Section: B, page: 0348.

Thesis (PH.D.)--THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN - MADISON, 1984.

School code: 0262.