Citation

Bacskai E, Tallar A, Gerevich J. Am. J. Public Health 2005; 95(7): 1092-1093.

Affiliation

Addiction Research Institute, Pf 216, Budapest 1276, Hungary. gerevichj@axelero.hu.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2005, American Public Health Association)

DOI

10.2105/AJPH.2005.065243

PMID

15961749

PMCID

PMC1449317

Abstract

According to Xu et al., intimate partner violence in which women are the victims is common in China (http://www.ajph.org/cgi/ijlink?linkType=ABST&journalCode=ajph&resid=95/1/78); the authors found an incidence of violence in China similar to levels observed in the United States. Xu and colleagues evaluated this phenomenon within the cultural context of China. In their opinion, many Chinese women still regard male dominance as normal, and there appears to be a significant relationship between the probability of violence and the traditional cultural attitude.

While there can be no doubt about the cultural context, it is not at all certain that the continued existence of the traditional model of male-female relations is the only factor behind these findings. Xu et al. found a clear connection between drinking and violence, in line with other research findings. We suggest that alcohol's functions as a means of regulating tension and a form of self-medication, and changes in these functions, are at least as important among the causes of family violence as drinking itself. These functions of alcohol could be particularly significant in a society such as China, which is undergoing extremely deep and complex social changes and where the combination of old traditions, leftover communist influences, and market relations is unique. Further research is needed to throw light on the specific social changes to which the connections between drinking and violence in China can be attributed.