The Factor Structure of the Revised Conflict Tactics Scale in South Asian Immigrant Women

Purpose: The study examined the extent of domestic violence (DV) among a community sample of South Asian immigrant women in the United States. Survey data were collected anonymously in written (paper and online) format from communities in 32 U.S. states. The revised Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS-2) was used to measure experiences of DV. The scale has been widely used with participants from diverse cultural backgrounds and also with incarcerated women, arrested batterers, and university students. The CTS-2 is a self-administered questionnaire. This study used only the physical assault, psychological aggression, sexual coercion, and injury scale items. The factor structure of the CTS-2 scale has not been previously examined for South Asian immigrant women. Research question: This study therefore aimed to examine the factor structure of the revised Conflict Tactics Scale in a hard-to-reach population of South Asian immigrant women experiencing DV. Results: From the sample, of 215 women, 89 indicated experiencing some form of DV. Only 17 of the 32 items had enough nonzero responses to make them analyzable, indicating these women are not extremely abused. Three factors were extracted using maximum likelihood and applied a varimax rotation. The three factor solution fit the data moderately well (RMSEA = .085). It was only partially confirmed that these women perceived DV as the typically denoted acts of DV (physical, sexual, etc.). Interestingly, the results indicate that the victims perceived DV from the intentions of the abuser and not merely based on the abusive act. The three factors are interpreted as intention to intimidate, intention to harm and intention for sex. Intention to intimidate describes type of abuse where the victim perceives the perpetrator want to intimidate her. Intimidation comes in many forms, such as psychological, threats and physical. A victim that is being intimidated can be insulted/swore upon or spit upon, threatened to be struck, pushed, grabbed or slapped. The other two factors, intention to harm and intention for sex, are more closely aligned to the typical physical and sexual abuse. Although, there are aspects of psychological abuse in both the intention to harm and intention for sex factors. For example, threaten to hit is considered psychological by the scale but loads on the intention to harm factor. Similarly, accused of being a lousy lover loads on intention for sex, even though the scale indicates it as psychological abuse. An act of DV is not perceived by the victim as a single event, but as a means to an end for the perpetrator. For example being slapped, is not merely physical abuse but can be used within the context of the abuser wanting sex, to harm or to intimidate the victim. Implications: The results indicate South Asian immigrant women perceive DV differently than the typically categorized types of violence. Further exploration needs to be done on the victim’s perspective on DV. With better understanding of the perspective of victim, improved policies and plans can be implemented with the goal of reducing DV or intimate partner violence among this group.