Young people’s attitudes to domestic violence and the role of schools in primary prevention : the Indian context

This thesis examines young people's attitudes to domestic violence in Mumbai, India and explores the under-researched potential of school-based interventions in changing attitudes that justify domestic violence in particular and violence against women in general. While young people's attitudes to violence in intimate relationships and the role of schools in imparting prevention education are currently receiving more attention in countries like Canada, and the UK, school- based preventative work still remains largely unexplored ill India. The empirical research is a mixed methods model using a combination of survey- based and qualitative interview-based methods. A survey was conducted in 14 secondary schools in Mumbai with 2229 school-going young people between the ages of 12 and 15 years (Classes VIII and IX). The quantitative analyses develop multivariate models of individual/household socio-demographic determinants of young peoples' definitions of domestic violence, attitudes to victim blame and attitudes to girls/women provoking violence. Furthermore, these analyses examine the influences of school-related factors, in particular single-sex and coeducational schools, in shaping young people's attitudes to domestic violence. To gain an insight into teachers' awareness/knowledge of domestic violence, and their opinions on the potential preventative role of schools and education both in increasing young people'S awareness of domestic violence and in influencing young people's negative attitudes to domestic violence, the qualitative analyses drew upon data generated by semi-structured iriterviews with 28 school teachers and Principals (head teachers) from the 14 sampled schools. The implications of these findings are discussed in relation to the role of schools in challenging attitudes that condone domestic violence on the one hand and reinforcing gender-stereotypes and reflecting the gender inequalities of wider society on the other. The findings of this study also seek to inform the development of school- based primary prevention programmes in India by identifying factors significantly associated with attitudes that justify domestic violence.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo