Status Relationships in Marriage: Risk Factors in Spouse Abuse

This paper presents a theoretical perspective that integrates elements of social structural and social psychological explanations of spouse abuse. In particular, the relationships between the educational and occupational attainments of individuals and marital partners are examined as risk factors in abusive behavior. Status inconsistency of either partner and status incompatibility between partners are hypothesized to be associated with an increased risk of abusive behavior within the couple. A modification of the Conflict Tactics Scale is used to measure the incidence and 1-year period prevalence of three levels of spouse abuse: psychological abuse, physical aggression, and life-threatening violence. The data are drawn from a random survey of Kentucky women who were 18 years of age or older and were married or had been living with a male partner during the study period. The results show that, in general, both status inconsistency and status incompatibility are associated with an increased risk of psychological abuse, an even greater increased risk of physical aggression, and a still greater increased risk of life-threatening violence. Certain types of status inconsistency (i.e., under-achievement in occupation by the husband) and certain types of status incompatibility (i.e., when the woman is high in occupation relative to her husband) involve very high risks of spouse abuse, particularly life-threatening violence. Other types of inconsistency (i.e., over achievement in occupation by the husband) seem to protect couples from abusive behavior. These findings are discussed in detail and promising areas of future analyses are noted.