ABSTRACT
Domestic violence has become a prominent issue in Asian American communities. Although national survey findings reveal that Asian American women are significantly less likely to report incidents of rape and physical assault than women of other racial and ethnic backgrounds (Tjaden & Thoennes, 1998), anecdotal evidence suggests that partner violence is a major concern among these women (Ho, 1990; Huisman, 1996; Song, 1996; Tang, 1994). Asian cultural themes and family values have been implicated as reasons why many of these women fail to disclose abuse to authorities and to seek help when abuse occurs (Abraham, 1995; Frye, 1995; Ho, 1990; Patel, 1992; West, 1998). Although interethnic differences in cultural themes and family values have received attention in the scholarly literature (B. C. Kim, 1996; Lee, 1996; Leung & Boehnlein, 1996; McKenzie-Pollock, 1996; Rhee, 1997; Song, 1996; West, 1998), there has been a paucity of research examining interethnic differences in attitudes toward domestic violence that presumably spring from these themes and values.
