Citation

Akbağ M, Barakas R. Int. J. Hum. Sci. 2010; 7(2): 717-730.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2010, SPARC)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

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Abstract

Violence is a type of behavior that takes different forms and is also directed at different groups. This is one of the major societal problems. The main objective of the present study is to examine the relationship between the perception of violence and self-esteem levels in Turkish women. The Personal Information Form asked some questions concerning Turkish women’s perception of violence, the kinds of violence they are exposed to; the frequency of violence they are exposed to and their reactions to the violent behavior. This was administered to 212 Turkish women, using the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Scale. The findings revealed that most of the women (70%) perceive violence most intensely as physical violence. Another significant finding of this study revealed that when the self-esteem of women increases, the sensitivity to the kinds of violence also increases. The findings are also discussed in the light of similar research findings and finally some suggestions are made.

Key Words: Domestic violence, perception of violence, self-esteem, violence against women.