I’ve only found a small amount, and almost all of them exclusively focus on (straight) women. I need more DV against atheists studies in general, but especially ones on DV against atheist men and atheist LGBT.
Does anyone have any studies on DV against atheists, whether against all atheists, male atheists, LGBT atheists, or female atheists?
I can also expand to nonreligious in general if necessary.
Appears you are right Tin. Curious subject. Of course I expect we’d all agree atheism has very little to do with domestic violence but I’m kind of surprised there is no theist based research promoting the idea that DV rates highest in godless unsanctioned marriages or unions because atheists, particularly the males, are such beasts and quite possibly only because they are not true patriarchs of the nuclear family where they should be the focus of respect and authority.
While Fergusson et al. (1986) found that non-religious New Zealanders experienced higher rates of domestic violence than their religious counterparts, and Ellison and Anderson (2001) report that regular church-attenders have lower rates of domestic violence than non church-attenders, Brinkerhoff et al. (1992) found no such correlation in Canada, where non-affiliated women experienced lower rates of domestic violence than conservative Christian women.
Zuckerman, Phil. (2009). Atheism, Secularity, and Well-Being: How the Findings of Social Science Counter Negative Stereotypes and Assumptions. Sociology Compass, 3/6: 949–971, 10.1111/j.1751-9020.2009.00247.x
Domestic violence among women of reproductive age, Zimbabwe:
No religion: 56.7%
Christians: 42.0%
Muslim: 46.2%
Traditional: 23.1%
Others: 0.1% (Actually 20.0%, 1 out of 5 respondents in this category)
I have found basically no research on domestic violence against atheist men.
There’s more research on domestic violence against gay men and trans men, and that’s saying something (there’s also almost nothing on DV against gay/trans men, more on DV against gay/bi men, but not much either way - at least that research exists).
Atheist men are an invisibly group when it comes to DV research - literally.
So that’s why I’m asking if anyone has any research that they know of on the subject.
I also need it for a big research project on DV in general against everyone.
You displayed competence on research on the question of male versus female atheists. Why are you suddenly acting contrary to your previous performance?
Not necessarily. Certain demographics are at higher risk, and the few studies on DV and atheists have found that the nonreligious generally have a higher risk of DV victimization and/or perpetration, but not all do (of course).
I wouldn’t know about that, but then again lots of research on Men’s Rights Activists by feminists is generally for them to get the higher ground or twist for their own agenda, so it wouldn’t surprise me.
As I said, I’m sceptical about the motives for such research, and obviously theists and religious groups have shown outright chicanery in the past to derogate atheists, and atheism.
So even assuming the stats are true, I’d be amazed if theists look beyond the facile result, if it gives the ammunition against atheists or atheism.
I remain dubious. In Zimbabwe for instance how free are women in traditional religious marriages to speak up about such things? How likely are they to do so even if allowed? That’s just a hypothetical example off the top of my head, of how the results can involve bias without even trying. How large were the test groups, were they comparable for each demographic? How easy are marriages where both partners are atheists to find in Zimbabwe? How are atheists treated, might they be under more pressure for example as atheists in a strongly religious country.
The factor involved are complex, and it’s easy to draw conclusions that are facile, especially if researchers are motivated towards a particular result.
So again I’m dubious, as what possible motive might one have for this kind of research? Did they research domestic violence among people who didn’t believe in alchemy, astrology, or alien abductions? I’m guessing not, and for pretty obvious reasons. Was the research double blind. How were the questions worded, was it made clear the research was focusing on religiosity of domestic abuse to either or both tested and tested?
No, it’s fine, and you have some good reasons. I’m just trying to see the rates against both, and this is the best option available, as invisible as it is currently. I hope said research gets better, but that may have to wait for the future
I noticed one of the sources above contrasting the rates between different groups. While I don’t know the subject/field; I hope they mean reported rates or something to that effect.