ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the social structural determinants of attitude-behavior consistency. The data show that for both men and women who believe that slapping one's spouse is normal, violence by their partner increases attitude-behavior consistency. The forms of family violence under study are both spousal and parental violence. Spousal violence is most frequent in those families in which the respondent's own violent attitude is accompanied by the violent behavior of the spouse. Violence is, therefore, used as a means to obtain a socially approved goal, namely the leadership role in the family, when society withholds legitimate means to obtain that goal. Patterns of interaction with spouse and kin are at least as important in the study of domestic violence as are respondents' attitudes. These patterns of interaction, in turn, are related to the extent to which the environment facilities or inhibits the performance of various roles in the family, such as that of parent, provider, or spouse.
