1. There have been increasing incidents of family violence in Hong Kong. Professor Catherine So-kum Tang and members of her research team at the Department of Psychology of The Chinese University of Hong Kong had conducted several surveys on the understanding and attitudes toward family violence among various frontline human service professionals from 1998 to 2002. Results of these surveys have significant implications in the prevention and intervention of family violence.

Results of the Large Scale Survey

2. A total of 2,580 (677 males, 1,882 females, 21 with unidentified gender) currently practicing Chinese human service professionals in Hong Kong were surveyed with paper-and-pencil questionnaire. They included 315 social workers, 362 police officers, 65 medical doctors, 1,409 nurses, 301 teachers, and 128 lawyers. Their average age was 32 years, with an average working experience of 9.5 years.
3. Tables 1a and 1b summarized professionals' attitudes toward gender equality. Among various types of professionals, police officers were the least likely to endorse gender equality, while social workers held the most equalitarian gender attitudes.
4. Tables 2a to 2b summarized professionals' understanding of wife abuse incidents. Among the professionals, police officers and lawyers were the least likely to perceive wife abuse incidents as having serious effects on victims and the society. With the exception of police officers, only 10-15% of the professionals perceived services to wife abuse victims as adequate.
5. Tables 3a to 3b summarized professionals' assignment of responsibility to wife abuse incidents. In general, professionals assigned greater responsibility to wife abusers than to abused wives, and both victims and abusers were held more responsible for physical than for psychological wife abuse incidents. In general, lawyers and social workers were the least likely to blame victims, while police officers were the least likely to hold abusers responsible for their abusive behaviors.
6. In general, professionals with more equalitarian gender attitudes were less likely to blame victims as well as more likely to hold abusers responsibility for their abusive behaviors. Professionals who perceived wife abuse as having serious negative consequences on victims were more likely to assign greater responsibility to abusers.

Comparison Between Social Workers and Police Officers

7. A separate sample of 71 social workers and 74 police officers were surveyed with paper-and-pencil questionnaire. Their average age was 34 years, with an average working experience of 13 years. Among them, 48% had previous experience of handling wife abuse incidents.
8. Table 4 summarized the endorsement rates of myths about wife abuse. The commonest myths endorsed by the two groups of professionals were abused women could simply leave their husbands if they were afraid of further beatings. In general, police officers endorsed more wife abuse myths than social workers.
9. Compared to social workers, police officers had more traditional gender-role attitudes. Police officers were also more lenient in defining husbands' behaviors toward their wives as abusive.

Table 1a.     Attitudes Toward Gender Equality – broken down by gender

*21 professionals did not identify their gender

Table 1b.    Attitudes Toward Gender Equality – broken down by type of profession

Table 2a      Perceptions of Wife Abuse Incidents – broken down by gender

*21 professionals did not identify their gender

Table 2b     Perceptions of Wife Abuse – broken down by type of profession

Table 3a.     Assignment of Responsibility to Wife Abuse – broken down by gender

*21 professionals did not identify their gender

Table 3b.    Assignment of Responsibility to Wife Abuse – broken down by profession

Table 4         Endorsement of Wife Abuse Myths

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