Abstract
Statement of Problem Domestic violence as an area of research is continually expanding, which, in the 1990s, grew in its theoretical basis (Bograd, 1999; Perilla, 1999; Pinn & Chunko, 1997). However, in the United States alone, there is still a need for rigorous quantitative and qualitative research on the subject of domestic violence and cultural impacts. To fully grasp the depth of the issue of domestic violence, the cultural lived experiences of all individuals must be considered (Bent-Goodley, 2005; Kishimoto & Mwangi, 2009). Minority populations of women within the United States are much more likely to experience domestic violence, but mainstream research continues to disregard experiences that fall outside of what has come to be considered the norm, which are the experiences of White women (McMullan et al., 2010; Nash et al., 2013; Oetzel & Duran, 2004; Stephan & Aprahamian, 2015). There is much research investigating how domestic violence impacts the lives of White women, but those experiences are often generalized to women of color (Bent-Goodley, 2005; Berkel et al., 2004; McMullan et al., 2010; Stephan & Aprahamian, 2015). The lives of women of color, and men, must be researched specifically, rather than merely addressed as an aside. Research has shown that many college students have been either the perpetrators or victims of domestic violence, with 20% of college students surveyed saying that they were in a sexually violent relationship (Berkel et al., 2004, p. 120). It is still of the upmost importance to continue to study the college student population and uncover the attitudes and beliefs of students regarding domestic violence, so that researchers and social service students might better understand how to mitigate domestic violence in student populations and erect supports that can be truly impactful on campus. Sources of Data This study was a quantitative survey research design. A flyer was given to undergraduate, freshmen students in various courses, asking them to participate in the research. The participants in the study were collected via convenience sampling, in the hopes that this methodology would attain a diverse sample of the targeted population. The participants were asked to identify their age, gender, ethnicity, major, how many semesters they have attended CSUS, and their current living situation. The participants also responded to items on a Likert-type scale, including topics such as cultural empowerment (Maffini & Wong, 2015), independent versus interdependent feelings (Cross, Bacon, & Morris, 2000; Lu & Gilmour, 2007), justifications for domestic violence (Fox, Gadd, & Sim, 2015), and domestic violence myths (Peters, 2003). The quantitative method was used because it was determined that this type of cross-sectional survey design would be the most efficient way to get an informed snapshot of the attitudes and beliefs of young students in college (Creswell, 2015). Conclusions Reached The hypothesis for the current study was twofold, first, it was hypothesized that gender would affect perceptions of and attitudes towards domestic violence; secondly, it was hypothesized that culture would affect perceptions of and attitudes towards domestic violence. The first hypothesis was supported while the second hypothesis for the study was unable to be supported by the results of this research study. While the hypothesis regarding ethnicity was not supported, the significance of the differences between men and women undergirds the idea that there is still widespread acceptance of domestic violence, even on the college campus (Berkel et al., 2004). Traditional gender role attitudes remain common, and previous research has tied those attitudes to greater acceptance of domestic violence, especially violence against women (Berkel et al., 2004; Carlson & Worden, 2005; Khan & Hussain, 2008; McMullan et al., 2010).