義與面子在華人家庭暴力裡的運作及其對治療之啟示

Understanding of Family Violence through the Chinese Concepts of Face and Yi

近年，家庭暴力在華人社會中引起廣泛關注，有關研究亦逐漸增加，而一般研究的角度大多借用了西方研究家庭暴力的理論，主要以女性主義中對父權、男性主導及權力控制的分析為重點；隨之而發展的治療方法，例如男性治療小組、女性充權小組等，均以改變兩性權力關係、挑戰男性施虐者的暴力行為、及促進兩性平等為目標。不論各種理論及治療模式有何不同，其重點主要是從女性的角度出發去理解男性暴力行為，由此而發展的治療小組，其成效參差，就算是西方盛行的強制性治療小組，亦不斷指出參加者中途退出小組的情況。而當西方研究家庭暴力的理論被應用在華人社會時，更發現與文化不相符的情況，未能對華人男性施虐者作更適切的了解。本文作者根據男性施虐者的論述，從文化角度及男性角度去理解婚姻暴力。本文分析「義」與「面子」在男性角色定型、夫婦關係中的意義，並以此發展一套用以理解婚姻暴力的模型。作者訪問了二十六位華人男性施虐者，他們都以「義」作為個人道德、男性形象及人際交往的指標，包括「道義」、「孝義」、「兄弟之義」、「父子之義」及「夫婦情義」。當他們面對社會變遷與婚姻衝突的挑戰，難以實現「義」的道德訴求時，仍堅持地強迫自己達到要求，並強求配偶作出犧牲、配合及體諒，由此而產生巨大的壓力和衝突。當他們對自己及配偶的期望愈大，壓力及不理性的想法則更強，以致減弱個人對處理衝突和壓力的能力，加上情緒控制的能力不足，對配偶使用暴力的可能性隨之而增加。本文作者發展一套以「義」為基礎，從而理解男性施虐者的心理及行為，並以此作為治療小組的介入模式，成效顯著。

Despite the rising rate of spousal abuse in Chinese societies like Hong Kong, there is a dearth of local studies on the topic. Previous studies have not adequately addressed the cultural specificity of risk factors, tending to generalize factors across cultures. The few culturally specific studies focused on only a few factors such as patriarchal social structure, male domination, and power and control. Resulting treatment programs for male batterers have been mainly educational, emphasizing gender equality. However, male batterers do not respond well to an educational or confrontational approach. The drop-out rate is high, and the effectiveness of these types of treatment programs has not been confirmed. The purpose of this study is to identify Chinese cultural factors that are embedded in Chinese men’s violence against their intimate partners, and understand how men construct their violence experiences. Twenty-six Chinese male batterers participated in this study. Based on the findings, an indigenous model of masculinity and men's violence against their female partners was developed. The Chinese cultural concepts of yi and face are associated with men's violence against their female partners. More rigid definitions of masculinity in yi and face, and greater challenges to a man's masculinity, result in greater impairment of self differentiation, lower capacity for conflict resolution, and higher likelihood of spousal violence. Implications for the development of indigenous treatment programs and policy making are discussed.