APPALACHIAN WOMEN

Abstract

The findings from case study research conducted in a small, rural central Appalachian community during the winter of 1987-1988 suggest that standard definitions of wife abuse obscure the elements of social control inherent in violent activities, while obviating the relationship between violence and other forms of social control. Three categories of control are developed. The first, normative control, refers to socially accepted ways in which women's lives are constrained by norms and ideology. The second, persuasive control, refers to nonviolent means of social control, including repeated verbal requests, withholding transportation, forced parenthood, and the use of stereotypes and ideologies to isolate women. The third, violence, refers to the threat and use of physical assault and the use of weapons to instill fear. The context-specific approach is used to demonstrate that social control is dependent on a culture and social structure which condone men's domination of women and that without cultural acceptance of and structural support for men's authority over women, violence would be less effective as a means of social control.