Psychological abuse in Chinese women: a qualitative study

Abstract

Common in relationships where there is also physical violence, psychological abuse has always been very difficult to define. Culture further complicates things, as what might seem psychologically abusive in one culture may not seem so in another. This article describes the results of a qualitative study in China comparing the stories of psychological abuse between women who are in physically abusive relationships and women who are not being abused. The results of this study further strengthen the notion that context is important to understand the effects of psychological abuse within abusive relationships.