Citation

Kalu WJ. J. Fam. Violence 1993; 8(4): 361-373.

Affiliation

Department of Education, University of Nigeria, Nsukka

Copyright

(Copyright © 1993, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/BF00978099

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The paper examines social work case records of two semi-rural communities within a 2- or 3-year period to identify the existence of the battered spouse phenomenon in a Nigerian community environment. Social work offices are the most unlikely places for individuals to discuss intimate details of life problems, especially family violence which generates shame and the tendency to cover up the problem. It is interesting to observe that because the Nigerian society utilizes physical aggression freely to settle issues in interpersonal relationships, there are both husbands and wives who are battered seriously enough to seek outside intervention.