COUV ACTES - Psychologie communautaire

Community Psychology: Common Values, Diverse PracticesLessons from Japan:Intimate Partner Violence and the Community: WHO VAW Studyin Japanby Mieko Yoshihama 1IntroductionDespite the importance of paying attention to multiple levels of the ecological systems (Bronfenbrenner, 1994),studies of intimate partner violence (IPV) tend to focus on individual-level factors. This paper explored theassociation between IPV and social support and social capital among a probability sample of women inYokohama, the city of Yokohama, the second largest city in Japan. Data were collected as part of the WorldHealth Organization’s (WHO) cross-national research effort, Multi-Country Study of Women’s Health andDomestic Violence.MethodsSamplingUsing an official resident registry, we drew a stratified cluster sample of 2,400 women between the ages of 18 to49 in the city of Yokohama. 1371 women completed a face-to-face interview (57.1% of the original sample and69.7% of eligible women who could be reached). Of these, 1287 had had at least one intimate relationship with amale partner. The mean age of the respondents was 35 years. At the time of the interview, the majority had hadsome post-secondary education, were married and/or cohabiting, had one or more children, and were working.Based on available population-based statistics, the distributions of the respondents’ characteristics werecomparable to those of female residents aged 18–49 in Yokohama with respect to age, educational level, andmarital status.MeasuresSocial Support and Social Capital. As indicators of social network and connection, we assessed social supportand social capital. Three dimensions of social support were assessed: availability, frequency of contact, anddegree of satisfaction with the available social support. The availability of social support is a 3-level variable:having family/relative living nearby and having someone to depend on in times of need (2); having family/relativeliving nearby or having someone to depend on in times of need (1); and having neither (0). The frequency ofcontact is also a 3-level variable: having contact with family/relatives at least once a week (3); at least once amonth (2); and less frequently than once a month (1). The satisfaction with the available social support was an1University of Michigan School of Social Workmiekoy@umich.edu223