Emerging Adulthood: Do Religious Beliefs Influence Young Women’s Attitudes Toward Divorce and Victimization?

• In Event: Understanding Intimate Partner Violence: Victim Background, Response, and Service Use

Abstract

I examine young Protestant women’s beliefs on the Bible, gender roles, and on intimate partner violence (IPV) as a legitimate reason for divorce. There is a contradiction in the literature of whether or not conservative Protestant beliefs can lead to spousal abuse. A voluntary sample (n=20) of self-identified White-American Protestant female students are interviewed about their religious beliefs on the Bible, gender roles, and intimate partner violence at a Southwestern University. Participants are between the ages of 18-22, otherwise known as being in “emerging adulthood.” The findings suggest that younger generations of conservative Protestants accept divorce as a legitimate reason in cases of spousal abuse or intimate partner violence, perhaps because they view the Bible less rigidly and have differing worldviews than their parents and grandparents. I argue the identity formation process in emerging adulthood allows participants to reevaluate their religious socialization to formulate a more adaptive worldview of Biblical inerrancy in connection to their views on intimate partner violence and divorce. It is important to understand how Protestant females in emerging adulthood view IPV and divorce, because it could be a predictor of their own future victimization by an intimate partner, as well as influence policy.

Author

• Melissa Ochoa, Texas A&M University