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OPEN ACCESS Conference Paper
Assessment of practices and
attitudes of undergraduate students
toward family violence in the
University of Baghdad
Aysen Kamal Mohammed Noori
1,
*, Ali Al-Ganmi
2
, Massara Abdullah Najm
2
ABSTRACT
Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess undergraduate student’s practices and attitudes
toward family violence in the University of Baghdad.
Methods: This was a descriptive study on non-probability (purposive) sample of 100 undergraduate
students from different colleges at the University of Baghdad from November 15, 2022 to May 20, 2023.
A validated questionnaire was prepared with 43 questions, which consisted of three parts: eight items
related to students’ demographic data, 13 items related to students’ attitudes, and 22 items related to
students’ practices.
Results: Positive attitudes toward family violence were used by the parents, and with respect to the
total relative sufficiency (86.18%), the attitude level was moderate. Undergraduate students reported
low levels of family violence practices from their parents with respect to the total mean scores (1.43)
and the relative sufficiency (47.5). There was a significant relationship between students’ practices and
their parents’ perception of family violence ( p,0.05).
Conclusion: This study concludes that students in the University of Baghdad had positive, moderate
attitudes toward parents’ violence. They also experienced a low level of practice toward family violence,
as well as parents’ level of education has an impact on students’ violence practices.
Recommendations: There is a need to raise community awareness about the consequences of family
violence and mistreatment of the family members through mass media, and to establish family
violence counseling centers for students.
Keywords: assessment, attitudes, undergraduate students, family violence, University of Baghdad
Cite this article as: Noori AKM, Al-Ganmi A, Najm MA. Assessment of practices and attitudes of
undergraduate students toward family violence in the University of Baghdad. Journal of
Emergency Medicine, Trauma & Acute Care. 2024(6):19 https://doi.org/10.5339/jemta-
c.2024.absc.19
https://doi.org/
10.5339/jemtac.2024.absc.19
Submitted: 15 April 2024
Accepted: 01 May 2024
Published: 16 October 2024
ª2024 Noori, Al-Ganmi, Najm,
licensee HBKU Press. This is an
open access article distributed
under the terms of the Creative
Commons Attribution license CC BY
4.0, which permits unrestricted use,
distribution and reproduction in any
medium, provided the original work
is properly cited.
1
Department of Community Health
Nursing, College of Nursing, University
of Baghdad, Iraq
2
Department of Adult Nursing, College
of Nursing, University of Baghdad, Iraq
*Email:
dr.aysin@conursing.uobaghdad.edu.iq
INTRODUCTION
Family violence or domestic violence is the mistreatment of one family member by another to gain
power and control.
1
Domestic violence is defined as “an individual creates control over the other
individual in private relationships and practices physical and emotional mistreatment to maintain that
control”.
2
Research suggests that between 80 and 90% of these children are aware of the violence.
3
According to another study, 27.2% of women faced violence from their spouse or ex-spouse at least
once, and the most common forms of violence experienced were psychological (39.4%), economic
(24.4%), physical (23.2%), and sexual (9.8%).
4
Children raised in violent homes are at high risk of
developing emotional, behavioral, and physical problems that last a lifetime.
5
Depression, anxiety,
violence toward peers, suicide attempt, drug and alcohol abuse, and running away from home are just
some of the problems that result from violence in the home.
6
Children can also be injured as a direct
result of abuse. Sometimes batterers intentionally harm children to intimidate and control the
partners.
7
Boys are twice as likely to become batterers and girls are more likely to find themselves in
abusive relationships.
8
Children in violent homes are fearful and powerless. Reports of infanticide,
mutilation, abandonment, and other forms of violence against children date back to ancient times.
9
It was shown that male students were more likely to hide domestic abuse and to feel negatively
about violence against women and other students.
2
Intimate relationship abuse was described
differently by college students, and their views varied depending on what variables influenced their
beliefs.
10
The parent–child relationship in families suffering from domestic violence could be related to
children’s complex feelings and attitudes such as ambivalence toward parents and parenting behavior,
as well as the child’s exposure to domestic violence.
11
Children exposed to adult violence at home may
show ambivalent feelings and attitudes toward love, hatred, compassion, and blame toward the
battered mother and battering father.
12
According to recent studies, there are cultural differences in
students’ beliefs regarding abuse in intimate relationships. For example, compared to students in other
countries and ethnic minority groups, American and ethnic majority students often displayed less
permissive attitudes toward intimate relationship violence.
13
Domestic violence in Iraq has increased
dramatically since the 2003 invasion. According to a study from Iraq, 81.2% of women had experienced
abuse (100% verbal/emotional and 39.18% physical), typically from their husbands (41.4%) or brothers
(20.4%). This was primarily attributed to a demanding and turbulent life (41.9%).
14
Therefore, this study
was carried out to assess the attitude of undergraduate students toward family violence in the
University of Baghdad.
METHODS
Study design
A descriptive, cross-sectional design study was carried out among undergraduate students from
different colleges at the University of Baghdad using an assessment approach, which was conducted in
the period from November 15, 2022 to May 20, 2023. A purposive “non-probability” sample of 100
undergraduate students was used. Data were collected through using personal interviews with the
study samples.
Ethical considerations
Approval was obtained from the participating colleges at the University of Baghdad, Iraq. Full consent
was obtained before their participation in the study. The protection of the privacy of the participants
was ensured.
Study instrument
A structured paper-based self-report questionnaire was used to collect data and was administered by
the researchers/interviewers using interview technique. All questionnaires were completed through
personal interviews. The questionnaire was designed, developed, and constructed by researchers after
reviewing relevant literature. The questionnaire consisted of three parts: sociodemographic
characteristics of the participants (age, sex, marital status, number of children in the family, and
monthly income). Students’ attitudes toward family violence were assessed using 13 items. Family
violence practices were assessed using 22 items. Students’ attitudes were rated on three-point Likert
scales: I agree, Not Sure, and I don’t agree, rated as 3, 2, and 1, respectively. Students’ practices were
rated on three-point Likert scales: Always, Sometimes, and Never, rated as 3, 2, and 1, respectively. The
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Noori et al, Assessment of practices and attitudes of undergraduate students toward family violence 2024:19
cut-off value was 2 and the lower limit for students’ attitudes and practices was 66.66. Relative
sufficiency (RS) was calculated using the following formula: (Cut-off point £100)/(Number of scale
levels) ¼66.66 (low: less than 66.66, pass: 66.66–77.77, moderate: 77.78– 88.88, high: 88.89– 100).
These values were calculated using following formula: (100 – 66.66)/3 ¼11.11. The content validity of
the constructed questionnaire was determined using a panel of experts who investigated the content of
the questionnaire for clarity and adequacy to achieve the objectives of the present study. A preliminary
questionnaire was designed and presented to 12 experts to determine its validity.
Statistical analysis
Data were analyzed using the SPSS version 26. Descriptive statistical measures (frequency, percentage,
and mean) and inferential statistics (chi-square) were applied.
RESULTS
Table 1 shows that 60% of the students were male, approximately one-third of them (32%) were
between 19 and 20 years old, 83% of them were single, 28% were first-year students, the majority of
the sample (78%) came from urban areas, and 50% of the families had four to six children. Regarding
the sequence of the students, 38% were four and above. Furthermore, 50% of the students reported
that the monthly income was enough to some extent and 78% of them had their own home, while 60%
of them lived in an extended family. Finally, regarding the social status of their parents, 91% of them
reported that their parents lived together at the time of study.
Table 2 shows students’ overall attitudes toward family violence, highlighting that students had
positive attitudes toward family violence exhibited by their parents, and with respect to the total
relative sufficiency (RS) (86.18%) it corresponded to a moderate attitude level.
Table 1. Distribution of the study sample according to sociodemographic characteristics.
Total sample (n=100)
No. Sociodemographic characteristics F %
1. Sex
Male 60 60.0
Female 40 40.0
2. Age (years)
19–20 32 32.0
21–22 22 22.0
23–24 24 24.0
25 and above 22 22.0
3. Marital status
Single 83 83.0
Married 15 15.0
Other 2 2.0
4. Level of education
First-class college 28 28.0
Second-class college 24 24.0
Third-class college 22 22.0
Fourth-class college 26 26.0
5. Residential area
Urban 78 78.0
Rural 22 22.0
6. Number of children in the family
1–3 30 30.0
4–6 50 50.0
7 and above 20 20.0
7. Sequence of students in the family
First 19 19.0
Second 28 28.0
Third 15 15.0
Fourth and above 38 38.0
8. Social status of parents
Living together 91 91.0
Divorced 7 7.0
Widowed 2 2.0
F: frequency, %: percentage.
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Noori et al, Assessment of practices and attitudes of undergraduate students toward family violence 2024:19
Table 3 shows the assessment of students’ practices toward family violence and highlights that all
items in this table have low levels of family violence practices exhibited by their parents, with a total
mean score of 1.43 and an RS of 47.5.
DISCUSSION
The result shows that the attitude of the total students toward family violence was positive and at a
moderate level (86.18%). This result agrees with the study by Green and Yamawaki,
15
which assessed
university students’ attitudes toward blame in domestic violence, such as blaming stalking victims. It
found that there were significant gender predictors of participants’ attitudes toward stalking. Significant
differences were also found between students with and without a history of violence in their family of
origin. Students with previous experience of violence were more likely than their counterparts to
attribute the blame for domestic violence to societal factors. This result is consistent with a study
assessing domestic violence among individuals of lower socio-economic status, which found that the
study sample expressed positive attitudes toward engaging with women who experienced abuse as a
form of gender-based violence.
16
People mistakenly believe that harassment and abuse are less
harmful to women in poverty than to women in affluence.
17
To find a logical explanation for this positive
attitude of students, it can be stated that the attitude of the students is against domestic violence
because it destroys the family and contributes to the creation of social dilemmas.
18
This positive
attitude of the students toward family violence may be because they occupy a prestigious position as
university students at a higher level of education.
Furthermore, this study found that parents’ practices toward family violence are at low levels. This
finding agrees with a survey from Papua New Guinea that assessed the relationship between woman’s
real-world exposure to interparental violence and intimate partner violence.
19
The current findings
revealed that women experienced higher levels of intimate partner violence and were exposed to
interparental violence [OR? ¼?1.45, 95% CI? ¼?1.13, 1.86] compared to women who were not exposed
Table 2. Assessment of students’ attitudes toward family violence.
N=100
Agree Uncertain Disagree MS RS Severity
No. Standard items F F F
1. I think domestic violence should not be
allowed to practice.
72 20 8 2.64 88.0 M
2. Domestic violence in the home is justified. 80 17 3 2.77 92.3 H
3. The practice of kicking and slapping has
negative consequences, so you must
stop this.
74 11 15 2.59 86.3 M
4. Family violence is important as a means of
disciplining.
61 19 20 2.41 80.3 M
5. The threat of a knife or gun is emotionally
harmless.
86 11 3 2.83 94.3 H
6. It should put the stick in the house. 60 5 35 2.25 75.0 P
7. Psychological punishment is less painful
than domestic violence.
52 26 22 2.30 76.6 P
8. Emotional deprivation is less painful than
family violence.
61 33 6 2.55 85.0 M
9. Violence is necessary in the house, but I
did not use it on my children.
50 15 35 2.15 71.6 P
10. Although I am aware of the danger of
hitting children, I do not know how to
avoid it with my children.
92 6 2 2.90 96.6 H
11. Father beats my children more often in my
family Father is more beaten for children
my children.
75 15 10 2.65 88.3 M
12. Girls are more likely to be beaten than
boys in my family.
78 18 4 2.74 91.3 H
13. I think that the type of violence must be
commensurate with the type of mistake.
86 11 3 2.83 94.3 H
Total 927 207 166 2.59 86.18 M
MS: mean score, RS: relative sufficiency, P: pass (66.66 –77.77), M: moderate (77.78– 88.88), H: high (88.89–100).
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Noori et al, Assessment of practices and attitudes of undergraduate students toward family violence 2024:19
to violence. To find an interpretation for this result, this low level of family violence could be related to
the influence of religion, which insisted on the importance of respecting wives after marriage.
CONCLUSION
The study concluded that students have positive attitudes toward family violence. This study highlighted
that few students who had experienced violence tended to attribute the blame for domestic violence to
societal factors. The students also experienced low levels of family violence from their parents.
RECOMMENDATIONS
The current study suggests increasing community awareness of the risks of family violence and mistreatment
of family members through mass media and coordination between the public and private sectors. The study
also highlights the importance of establishing counseling centers with a focus on family violence.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
Table 3. Assessment of students’ practices toward family violence.
N=100
Always Sometimes Never MS RS Severity
No. Standard items F F F
1. Once my parents called me a devoted title,
which was disgraceful.
8 24 68 1.40 46.7 L
2. Once my father came to me screaming,
rebuking, and grumpy.
7 27 66 1.41 47.0 L
3. My guardian has a habit of verbal abuse
without any reason.
9 12 79 1.30 43.3 L
4. My father does not understand me. 12 36 52 1.60 53.3 L
5. My father hurts my feelings verbally. 15 14 71 1.44 48.0 L
6. My father makes fun of me in front of
others when I do not agree with him.
8 26 66 1.42 47.3 L
7. I was severely battered by one of my family
members.
7 20 73 1.34 44.7 L
8. I saw one of my family members being
severely battered.
6 18 76 1.30 43.3 L
9. My father beat me with a stick when I got
low grades in school.
12 24 64 1.48 49.3 L
10. I had suffered a burn when I failed to do
what was required of me.
4 18 78 1.26 42.0 L
11. I was beaten so severely that I had to go to
the hospital.
6 16 78 1.28 42.7 L
12. I have been slapped on my face more
times than anywhere else.
10 28 62 1.48 49.3 L
13. I was severely beaten and others noticed
the effects on me.
8 22 70 1.38 46.0 L
14. I suffered from different types of severe
and harmful violence.
12 16 72 1.40 46.7 L
15. My ear was clamped when I refused to
obey my father’s order.
11 42 47 1.64 54.7 L
16. My father feels that I am not important. 12 15 73 1.39 46.3 L
17. My parents prevent from me the things
that I love.
11 26 63 1.48 49.3 L
18. One of my parents neglected me when I
disobeyed their orders.
13 25 62 1.51 50.3 L
19. My father prevents me from playing. 14 21 65 1.49 49.7 L
20. One of my parents would not allow me to
watch TV programs that I loved.
9 37 54 1.55 51.7 L
21. My parents forced me to follow their
favorite programs
11 29 60 1.51 50.3 L
22. I had previously been expelled from my
home by one of my family members.
6 19 75 1.31 43.7 L
Total 211 515 1474 1.43 47.5 L
MS: mean score, RS: relative sufficiency, L: low (less than 66.66).
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