Citation

Knickrehm KM, Teske RL. Women Polit. 2001; 21(3): 27-52.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2001, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1300/J014v21n03_02

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

In this article we compare the attitudes toward domestic violence of university students in Romania and in the United States, both states in which domestic violence is a problem but with very different governing ideologies and very different levels of public awareness. The United States is examined as an example of a liberal regime in which at least in theory, clear distinctions are drawn between the public and private spheres. Romania represents an example of a regime which is in transition from a totalitarian form of government in which everything was potentially politicized to a liberal democracy. In our study of both the Romanian and the American students, we found that their perceptions of the boundary between the public and the private spheres in regard to domestic violence are not as clear-cut as some theorists believe. Where domestic violence has become part of the public discourse, perceptions about whether police and the community should intervene to protect women have changed.