Attitudes toward wife beatings in Ghana: the case of age at first marriage, educational level, and household wealth. Evidence from the men’s perspective.

Abstract

This study adopted the SEM framework to study Attitudes toward wife beatings from the perspective of Ghanaian men amid contextual factors such as age at first cohabitation, household wealth, and educational level. The thesis employed a cross-sectional design and utilized data from the 2014 GDHS. A stratified random sample of 3856 households from different regions of Ghana was chosen using a multistage cluster sampling method. An analysis of descriptive statistics was performed to ascertain the attributes of the data. A chi-square association test was conducted to examine the association between AWB and the study variables in a bivariate analysis. A hierarchical binary logistic regression analysis was conducted to evaluate the degree of association between the independent variables and AWB. In addition, three separate binary logistic regression analyses were conducted to determine if the independent variables have varying associations with AWB when examining single questions of AWB. The results from the analysis showed that age at first cohabitation was significantly associated with AWB, that is the older a man reported being when he first started living with a partner/wife the less likely he was to agree that beating wives could be justified (AOR=.912, CI=.868-972, p < .001). The results further revealed that men with higher educational levels are less likely to justify that wife beating is justified compared with men with no educational levels (AOR=.086, CI=.011-.663, p < .001). The thesis expands upon the discussion surrounding a comprehensive strategy for advancing gender promotion initiatives. This thesis examines the theoretical and practical implications of relevant and related research. It also guides future research.