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Ana Tur-Prats

University College London, United Kingdom and Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain

Author: Ana Tur-Prats

Abstract: Compared to previous literature, which has only paid attention to short-term determinants of domestic violence, this paper looks at the historical origins of violence against women. It analyzes the relationship between historical family types (stem vs. nuclear) and intimate-partner violence (IPV). In stem families two generations cohabitate as one son stays at the parental house with his wife and kids, whereas in nuclear families all children leave to start their independent households. I model the behavior of a traditional peasant family and show how co-residence with the mother-in-law (a feature of stem families) increased the wife’s contribution to farming work. This in turn could decrease the level of violence since in the model it reduces wife’s productivity. In the empirical analysis I use Spanish data as this country not only offers IPV measures of the highest quality but also stable and persistent family types. Results show that territories where stem family was socially predominant in the past have nowadays a lower IPV rate. I control for a large number of contemporaneous, historical and geographical variables. To address causality, I use the Christian “Reconquest” of the Iberian Peninsula (722-1492) as an instrument for the different family types.

Full Text:  “Family Types and Intimate-Partner Violence: A Historical Perspective”