Public Responses to Intimate Partner Violence: Comparing Preferences of Chinese and American College Students

Abstract

Based on data collected from college students in Beijing and Hong Kong (China) and in Newark and Detroit (United States), this study assesses and explains citizen preferences of 2 major formalized responses to intimate partner violence (IPV)—law enforcement and social services intervention—in a cross-cultural context. Results show that Chinese respondents have lower support for law enforcement responses. Regional variation is only observed within China with students from Hong Kong supporting both law enforcement and social services responses more than their Beijing counterparts. Results also show that social attitudinal variables—including male dominance ideology, perceptions of IPV causation, support for the criminalization of IPV, and tolerance of IPV—influence public preferences of responses to IPV more than do demographic and experiential variables.