Income Status and Domestic Violence Against Men: Testing Resource Theory in Jaipur City

Abstract

Resource theory predicts that domestic violence is linked to the relative, rather than absolute, balance of resources between partners, with violence functioning as a compensatory assertion of control where a partner's expected power position is disrupted. This paper tests that prediction against men's experience of domestic violence, using data from a purposive sample of 174 self-identified male victims of domestic violence among 300 couples surveyed in Jaipur city. Personal income, relative earning position, and direct experience of economic violence are examined descriptively, and a composite Abuse Severity Index is compared across categories of relative earning position using one-way ANOVA. Findings show a statistically significant, monotonic association between relative earning position and abuse severity: severity is lowest among men who are their household's sole earner and highest among men whose spouse is the sole or primary earner, independent of absolute income level. These findings offer direct empirical support for resource theory in the specific and under-studied context of violence against husbands, and carry implications for how economic empowerment interventions are designed and evaluated. [NOTE: This abstract summarises hypothetical/illustrative findings; see disclaimer above.]