• Journal of Families and Better Life
• /
• v.22 no.6 s.72
• /
• pp.177-189
• /
• 2004

The purpose of this study is to study the perceptions and attitudes of various married couples(non-violent couples, violent couples, indicted couples) on the Domestic Violence Acts, and collect opinions on the legal treatment of indicted couples, especially on Protection Orders and criminal punishment. The questionnaires included 542 couples residing in Pusan and 50 indicted couples in various major cities of Korea. The major results were as follows: First, couples in general understood well the Domestic Violence Acts, and their history of domestic violence did not affect their knowledge on the Acts. Second, the attitudes of the husbands on Domestic Violence Acts were affected by whether or not they had inflicted violence on their wives. Husbands who have a history domestic violence, but were not arrested and indicted had negative attitudes on the in- tervention of the police. They also did not want to call the police for assistance. However, they showed positive attitudes towards programs aimed at preventing domestic violence. Third, the attitudes of wives on Domestic Violence Acts were not associated with experienced domestic violence. Fourth, indicted couples felt that Protection Orders were necessary and they were willing to follow the Protection Orders set forth by public prosecutors. Victimized wives wanted another form of sentencing rather than a fine, and they wanted to have their opinions heard when their spouse was arrested and when sentencing took place.