Wife abuse in Palestinian society: a social phenomenon or a social problem?

• Author: Shalhoub-Kevorkian, Nadera
• Position: A survey

Wife abuse, though widely known, did not come to the serious attention of social science researchers until the latter part of the Twentieth Century. The social, psychological, and criminological literature in the West is replete with studies that have examined the nature and social response to this issue. Although it is generally accepted in the West that wife abuse is a societal problem, there have been no empirical or contextual studies within the Arab World to indicate the level of awareness or social perception of this topic, or its place within the social deviancy continuum, the Palestinian case being no exception. Recent efforts, however, have been made by Palestinian researchers to remedy this deficiency,(1) although the question of level of perception or definition of wife abuse within Palestinian society has remained unanswered.

This paucity in research is compounded further by problematic issues applicable to the study of family violence, especially wife abuse. The literature on Western societies has emphasized different problematic issues in discussing the social construction of wife abuse as a social problem in terms of definition, social policy, and reaction to wife battering.(2) Issues such as gender, power, and patriarchy in society, which have been raised in the literature, especially by Western feminist scholars, were not examined thoroughly in Afro-Asian societies despite their importance in shedding light on the relationships between violence and social control within a cultural-social-structural context.(3)

It is clear from the literature that social phenomena are transformed into social problems after a lengthy process which includes social awareness (especially of those who are in positions of power) of the need to create a change in the society's perception of the phenomenon. Such a process could affect the definition of an issue from a social phenomenon to a social problem. Changes in social awareness and definition of a phenomenon gradually produce policy outcomes and societal reaction to it.

There are two major sociological approaches to the study and definition of social problems. The dominant approach adopts an objectivist-empirical method of investigating social deviance that relies on rigorous methodological designs and sophisticated statistical analyses. This approach, however, was criticized severely by advocates of the constructionist approach who believed that defining social problems in terms of objective conditions within society has two major flaws: (1) it ignored the fact that identifying a social condition as a social problem required subjective judgment, and (2) labeling conditions that have little common ground as social problems cannot serve as a foundation for the formulation of broader theories of social problems.(4) In contrast, constructionists defined social problems in terms of the activities (e.g., conferences, research, protests) performed by members of society which "claim" that the issue is a social problem. Hence, constructionists focused on subjective judgment which objectivists generally ignored.

Although the debate raging between the two competing approaches is crucial to the study of social deviance, wife abuse being included, the purpose of this study is neither to examine nor compare the efficacy or validity of the two approaches. The choice of utilizing the constructionist approach as a tool of analysis in this study is based on two considerations. Given that the study of wife battering in the Arab World is a nascent phenomenon, adoption of the empirical-objectivist approach may restrict the scope of its study and hamper its ability to detect "embedded" and "mediating" variables salient to the analysis of the issue. The global nature of the constructionist approach, on the other hand, allows the researcher to "probe" the question under study in order to delineate its boundaries. Furthermore, given that Palestinian society is a traditional society in transition,(5) the study of wife battering within it could help us determine if the theoretical constructs pertaining to the construction of social problems also could be applicable to non-Western societies. The contextual analysis generated from such an approach to the study of Palestinian society becomes more meaningful, however, if one has some basic background on the status of Palestinian women in society.

STATUS OF PALESTINIAN WOMEN IN SOCIETY

Given that Palestinian society and culture are an integral part of the larger Islamic-Arab heritage, the status of Palestinian women in society must be studied and interpreted within that broader context. Muslim societies throughout Islamic history have played a central role in defining a woman's place in Muslim society. The debate presently taking place in the contemporary Arab World between Islamists and secularists, between advocates and proponents of veiling, and the ways in which the issue of the veil and women were encoded with political meanings and references have great bearing on any discourse related to violence committed against women.(6) Women are defined as different from men in their legal rights; they are considered lesser than men.(7)

The Islamic position regarding women is problematic in that it is reactive in nature. It entraps the issue of women with the struggle over culture. The notion of returning to or holding on to an "original" Islam and an "authentic" indigenous culture is a response to the discourse on colonialism and its attempt to undermine Islam and Arab culture and replace them with Western practices and beliefs.(8) The specificity of Islam, whether manifested in the form of local cultural practices justified in religious terms, or legislation derived from the Shari'a (Islamic Cannon), or an ideology of cultural authenticity with all its complexity, is an important component of studying wife abuse in Palestinian Arab society.

The literature on the status of Palestinian women contains few studies that have dealt with the role of women in the public sphere, their rights, and status in the family structure.(9) No definitive outcome could be interpolated from these studies regarding the social status of Palestinian women. Involvement of the Palestinian woman in the political struggle of the Palestinian national resistance movement, however, appears to have promoted her status at the public level. On the other hand, the traditional make up of Palestinian society conflicts with this newly acquired status, thus not allowing her to translate the gains she made at the public level to the private level.(10)

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

A review of the literature did not reveal any study which examined the issue of how wife abuse is perceived in Palestinian society. Hence, the aim of this study is to understand the way wife abuse is conceived and perceived in Palestinian society according to the perceptions of social control agents (i.e., persons perceived as prominent, influential, or powerful). Specifically, it will attempt to answer the following questions:

1. Are Palestinian social control agents aware of the existence and nature of wife abuse in Palestinian society?

2. What is the perception of Palestinian social control agents to the reaction of women who are battered?

3. What is the reaction of Palestinian social control agents when they are faced with a wife battering case?

4. Is wife abuse in Palestinian society a social phenomenon or a social problem?

   METHODOLOGY

   A list of formal and informal Palestinian social control agents (prominent social representatives) living in the central region of the West Bank (Bethlehem, Jerusalem, and Ramallah Districts) was made. Sixty one social control agents were selected randomly (lottery) to represent the various professions that have a bearing on the perception and definition of wife abuse in Palestinian society. Table 1 shows the distribution of the selected sample according to profession and gender. Although the procedure used to select the sample shown in the Table did not adhere to rigorous sampling conventions, its broad coverage of professions and persons who are instrumental in defining the status of wife abuse in Palestinian society is more than adequate.

   Table 1 Distribution of Social Control Agents According to Profession and Gender PROFESSION MALES FEMALES TOTAL Medical 5 8 13 Law 2 1 3 Education 3 6 9 Mental Health 4 5 9 Clergy 4 0 4 Social Conciliators(*) 7 0 7 Representatives of Women's Organizations 0 11 11 Journalism 3 2 5 TOTAL 28 33 61 * Social Conciliators are prominent, traditional men who are sought socially to resolve disputes. In Arabic, rijal islah.

   Semi-structured interviews were conducted by the female researcher with the social control agents to assess their perception to the following issues: (1) awareness of wife abuse in Palestinian society, (2) perception toward wife abuse, (3) beliefs held regarding methods of dealing with wife abuse, and (4) extent of satisfaction-dissatisfaction toward the general public's reaction and attitude...