Critical review 1 and 2

Kevin Cochran
Dr. Johnson
Sociology
12/6/07


Gerstein, L. “In India, Poverty and Lack of Education are Associated with Men’s
Physical and Sexual Abuse of their Wives.” International Family Planning Perspectives 26, no. 1 (March 2000): 44-45. http://links.jstor.org


Gersteing, L has written the article “In India, Poverty and Lack of Education are Associated with Men’s Physical and Sexual Abuse of their Wives” to show the different reasons for the very common problem of spousal abuse in India. This article has constructed studies in five different districts of Uttar Pradesh in India to test how education level, wealth, number of children, and even men’s reproductive health and experience affect the chances of spouse abuse. This is one of the least developed cities in all of India. These studies which were conducted then go on to show that these factors do have a large impact on men becoming abusers. The article conducted an interview with an extensive series of questions for 6,695 men that ranged from the age of 15 to 65. I feel this is a strong factual article and is very important to understanding spousal abuse and the factors that contribute to it.
These 6,695 men from various age groups were asked such questions such as if they have ever sexually abused their spouse, the frequency, the extent, and if the abuse repetitive. They were then asked if this had ever led to physical abuse as well. They were then asked if they have ever had signs of an STD and about their premarital sex experience. Finally the men were asked about their caste, age, number of children, poverty level, and rural or urban residence and other things of this matter. After the studies were completed the numbers showed that 30 percent of the men had reported physically abusing their wives. The degree of abuse and type of abuse fluctuated greatly though throughout the different districts. These men also had reported that they had physically abused their spouse on multiple occasions and within the last year these numbers varies between 63 and 91 percent across the districts. In conclusion to the studies they reported that the number of men who abuse their wives in Uttar Pradesh ranges from 18 to 45 percent of all the men. The studies then show through percentages that men, with low education, more than one child, and are poverty stricken were much more likely than other men to abuse their spouses. In a separate analysis the article shows that the relation between men’s reproductive health and spouse abuse are very strong. Men who have ever suffered from an STD, engaged in premarital or extramarital sex, and whose wives had had an unplanned pregnancy were also more likely than other men to be spousal abusers.
In this article there are both strengths and weaknesses, but over all I feel it was a persuasive and factual well written article. Some points in the article that could be made better were on where the studies took place. The article tells which of the five districts were tested, but when giving the percentages it does not specify which district had what numbers, it just gives ranges. It could then also go on to tell what these districts are like, such which ones suffer more from poverty or have lower levels of education. There was not much else wrong with the article though. It shows percentages and almost every possible situation for the type of study being done. At the end of the article there is even a chart to make the numbers more clear. The article shows the range of percentages for each type of abuse and correlates them to the factors which affect it. At the end of the study there is brief paragraph stating how poverty and education level are the main risk factors for spousal abuse, and then gives ways that India is trying to solve this problem by making education and jobs more readily available to the inhabitants of these areas and communities.
This article presents a lot of factual information and quality testing done. Not only were the interviews done full of a variety of questions that should be taken into account to study this topic, but they interviewed a very wide variety of men and in a large age range. The article good be stronger if it put its percentages to the specific district instead of just giving ranges. The information in this article in all though is informative and interesting. This shows how spousal abuse takes place in almost every society and is a problem in other places other than the United States.

Kevin Cochran
Dr. Johnson
Sociology
12/6/07


Gold, Deborah T; Gwyther, Lisa Q. “The Prevention of Elder Abuse: An Educational
Model.” Family Relations 38, no.1 (Jan 1989): 8-14. http://links.jstor.org


In this article written by Deborah T. Gold and Lisa Q. Gwyther named “The Prevention of Elder Abuse: An Educational Model,” we see an interesting look at spousal abuse. This article focuses on one community of people who are often overlooked and not related to the issue of spousal abuse, when in fact it is a big problem. This article goes through different reasons for why spousal abuse occurs among older couples and the elderly. The writers show that despite what most people think spousal abuse is a problem among these people and needs to be realized and more things need to be done to help those involved in it. This article is very interesting and is a good article to grab the attention from the public for this problem. Although it poses a good argument and a lot of information I do not feel this is a strong article and does not back up a lot of its claims.
Gold and Gwyther wrote this to the widespread and frequently seen form of spousal abuse between adult couples and elderly spouses. The common act of spousal abuse between elderly spouses is not widely known to the public and little is being done to help with the problem. The reason this problem has not been addressed is because people do not feel the elderly community is has as many problems or are as stressed as the younger couples and communities, therefore people believe or choose not to believe that spousal abuse does not occur in these communities. Gold and Gwyther show us that this is a common misconception and in fact older adults and the elderly experience just as much conflict and stress as others. Some of the factors which cause this are due to growing old, retirement, widowhood, and trying to adapt to chronic illness. The article points out that some if not all of these reasons are more reasonable to become stressed over than other things. This article takes a look at recent research which has shown that communication and resolving conflicts becomes less of an importance to the family of elders. People tend to visit their elderly family members and communicate less with them in the family such as being put in nursing homes and moving away when they grow up. This therefore makes it harder to resolve conflicts or notice the abuse going on. There is also almost no support groups or clinics in the elderly community to support and help those who are in need because of spousal abuse.
This article brings up a point that I feel needs to be addressed. The issue of spousal abuse is very common according to the article and there is little being done to help those who suffer. The information in this article seems to be very factual and it gives answers to the problems or ways to help reduce this problem. Although there are many good aspects of this literature, I feel it is not a very strong article. It is a good and interesting article, but not a strong one. The writing could use more hard empirical evidence, which it has almost none of. The writers should have done more research and maybe some studies or surveys and put percentages and statistics in the article along with the interesting assumptions they use now. The article says how the elderly are just as stressed as the rest of the world and gives reasons why, but there is no legitimate evidence used or shown to prove this. The main reason they say for the continuance for spousal abuse in the elderly community is lack of communication therefore creating inability to resolve conflicts, but there were know studies done or talked about in the article to show that this was in fact true and factual. The literature is a good read and brings up many good points, but it is missing one major thing an article of this type needs, which is hard evidence. People want to see numbers and statistics. That is what could get the point across stronger and more clearly.
“The Prevention of Elder Abuse: An Educational Model,” although an interesting and eye opening article, it is lacking some major aspects a strong article should have. The authors could add some factual information and references to studies that have been done on this subject to make this article better. If they could show readers some percentages and actual numbers it would be much more enticing and could cause a greater concern for the problem of elderly spousal abuse.