ABSTRACT
Today’s Italy is a dynamic and quickly changing society, and the Italian zest for life, la dolce vita, is envied by more reserved cultures. The country is also the Italy of the old ways (la via vecchia), reflecting an enduring value system organized to protect the family. Suspicion of the unknown and preference for control means that consultation with agencies outside of the family is discouraged; consequently, domestic violence tends to be shrouded in secrecy. The perception that Italian government is corrupt, neglectful, and untrustworthy promotes a bribery and kickback culture, la bustarella (“the envelope”), which is a central and accepted way of life. Our respondents often referred to “blackmail” to describe various domestic abuses, including financial, emotional, and psychological maltreatment
Family (la famiglia) is the center of Italian life. The principles of family loyalty and honor are omnipresent, fortified by a historically rooted mistrust of government and outsiders. The Italian family is rooted in enduring patriarchal and hierarchal traditions that continue to restrict the freedoms of women and children, compromising attempts to address problems of domestic violence. Such traditions maintain the relatively wide gap dividing the male population from women and children, shaping differences in the ways in which Italian men and women perceive domestic violence. Because exclusion from the family remains the most powerful retribution against disloyal members, individuals are reluctant to betray family secrets, and reporting rates of family violence remain low (Adami, 1996).
