English-Speaking Canada: Blaming Women for Violence Against Wives
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PERCEPTIONS - OF WIFE-BEATING " , IN POST-WORLD WAR II ENGLISH-SPEAKING CANADA: BLAMING WOMEN FOR VIOLENCE AGAINST WIVES By DIANE BARBARA PURVEY Bachelor of Arts, University of British Columbia, 1982 Masters of Arts, University of Victoria, 1990 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES (Department of Educational Studies) We accept this thesis as conforming to the required standard THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA December 2000 © Diane Purvey, 2000 12/19/00 11:55 FAX 604 822 4244 UBC EDST In presenting this thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of British Columbia, I agree that the Library shall make it freely available for reference and study. I further agree that permission for extensive copying of this thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by the head of my department or by his or her representatives. It is understood that copying or publication of this thesis for. financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. Department of The University of British Columbia Vancouver, Canada Date DE-6 (2/88) ABSTRACT This dissertation is an analysis of perceptions of family violence in English- speaking Canada focusing on the fifteen years after the Second World. As Canadians collectively adapted to the postwar world, authorities urged them to create strong, united families as the foundation upon which the nation depended. An idealized vision of home and family domesticated and subordinated women, and served to entrench and consolidate the dominance of white, middle-class, heterosexual, and patriarchal values. The normalization of these domestic ideals shaped responses to family violence. Three sources were studied and evaluated for their presentations of family violence: popular and academic/professional English- language magazines and journals, social work dissertations from the University of British Columbia, and Vancouver newspaper scripts of violence from 1947. What emerged was a remarkable consensus: although domestic violence receives little direct mention, it pervades the sources in subtle ways. Women were blamed for men's violence. Experts and commentators pathologized women who failed to fulfill their "normal" spousal and maternal responsibilities and urged them to sublimate their needs to those of their husband, their family and, indeed, the Canadian nation. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT ii TABLE OF CONTENTS iii LIST OF TABLES iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS v CHAPTER ONE: Introduction 1 Methodology , 3 Literature Review 5 Cold War Context 32 Introduction of Chapters 53 CHAPTER TWO: "Safeguarding the Family": Presentations of Family Violence in English Language Canadian Magazines, 1945 to 1960 58 CHAPTER THREE: "You Have to Have an Instinct For It": Theory and Practice of Social Work and Attitudes Towards Family Violence in Vancouver, 1945 To 1960 113 CHAPTER FOUR: "Woolridge Driven to Kill Wife": Press Reports and Depictions of Violence in Postwar Vancouver To 1960 174 CHAPTER FIVE: Conclusion 221 BIBLIOGRAPHY 235 APPENDIX ONE 249 APPENDIX TWO 251 iii LIST OF TABLES Page Table 1.1: Total Fertility Rate, Canada, 1931-1961 48 Table 1.2: Marriage Rate and Average Age at Marriage for Brides and Bridegrooms, Canada, 1931-1961 49 Table 1.3: Net Family Formation*, Canada, 1931-1961 49 Table 2.1: Yearly Incidence of Selected Popular Magazine Articles Referring to Domestic Violence, 1945-1960 60 Table 2.2: Yearly Incidence of Selected Academic/Professional Magazine Articles Referring to Domestic Violence, 1945-1960 61 Table 2.3: Circulation in Canada (in thousands) 66 Table 2.4: Origins of the Population, Canada, 1941-1961 69 Table 2.5: Mother Tongues of the Population, Canada, 1941-1961 70 Table 2.6: Divorce Rate, Canada, 1931-1961 94 Table 3.1: Select Theses on Violence From English Canadian Universities 120 Table 3.2: University of British Columbia Master of Social Work Theses on Marital Violence 139 Table 4.1: Homicide Rates for British Columbia, 1945-1960 185 iV ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The research and writing of this thesis was such a long and fragmented process, that I was able to complete it only with the support of my family, friends, and colleagues. I owe a special thanks to Nikki Strong-Boag for her constant belief in the value of this project. I benefited enormously from her prompt and incisive comments on the many drafts of this thesis, and from her vast range of historical knowledge. I have also been influenced and helped by both Jean Barman and Deirdre Kelly, and I am indebted to them for their wise counsel. FREDA (Feminist Research, Education, Development and Action, Simon Fraser University) came through with funding to support the research of this thesis on two occasions. I am most appreciative. I thank the University College of the Cariboo for providing me with a welcoming home over the past two years. Thanks especially to John Fudge and Sandra Bruneau. Jackie Atkins and Charlotte Conken have been very supportive through this process. I am extremely grateful to Stormie Stewart and Kim Thachuk for their treasured friendship; and to Brent at the Colourbox, who always made me feel gorgeous. Ben Belshaw, Simone Belshaw, and Andrew Belshaw came into my life midway through this project and I thank them for their generosity. My parents, Barbara and Ralph Purvey, who have provided me with support far beyond the call of duty, are no doubt delighted that I have finally made it through school. John Belshaw's critical thinking created an atmosphere of excitement, challenge and intellectual energy. This thesis would not have been completed without him. His steadiness continues to provide me with a level of support I never knew possible. I am lucky and grateful for his companionship, sharp wit, and fine culinary skills. The greatest endurance for this project was demanded of my three children. This thesis is dedicated, with love, to Natalie Ord, Ian Ord and Gabriel Ord. 1 CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION This dissertation investigates dominant understandings of family violence in English-speaking Canada in the Cold War era. An analysis of presentations of family violence reveals its relatively common incidence. Between 1945 and 1960 the etiology of family violence was attributed to individual complexes for which the wife/mother was commonly blamed. In search of security, white middle-class Canadians embraced a model vision of home and family in which marriage was a partnership, combining men's waged labour in the public sphere and women's unwaged labour in the home to create an ideal environment for the nuclear family. These ostensibly equal but different roles constrained and subordinated both men and women, but in very different ways. Marriage ultimately privileged men and subordinated women to the good of the family. Advice to women regarding their responsibility in maintaining modern, companionate families converged with experts' insistence on female self-denial. As family togetherness was the domain of wives, they were rebuked for creating the conditions in which their husbands would be "driven" to displays of physical aggression. In this way, domestic ideals shaped and distorted interpretations of family violence. In detailing and critiquing perceptions of family violence from 1945 to 1960, a related goal of this thesis is to further clarify postwar concepts of womanhood and manhood which were constructed through the prism of postwar values and articulated by professional commentators. 2 Family, or domestic, violence is a relatively recent term referring to different types of abusive behavior between kin. Domestic violence consists of sexual coercion or threats, the use of intentional physical force with the aim of causing injury, or neglect.1 This definition includes various types of family violence, from infanticide and murder to rape, spousal abuse, sibling violence, abuse of the elderly, incest, sexual molestation of children and child neglect (that is, failure to provide food, clothing, medical care or adequate supervision of children). Unless otherwise indicated, in this dissertation the definition of domestic violence is limited to wife beating. As will be seen in this study,-the most acknowledged form of domestic violence in the 1945 to 1960 period was physical abuse against wives within the parameters of legal, therefore heterosexual marriage. This introduction serves multiple purposes. First, a description of the methodological approach is provided. Second, it critically examines literature relevant to the history of domestic violence, drawing on both the American and Canadian historiography. Third, it provides a context for the 1945 to 1960 period. - Recent literature on postwar Canada is summarized and briefly reviewed. Postwar social and demographic changes which served to usher in regulatory presentations of the family are also examined. The introduction closes with an overview of the structure, aims and goals of the thesis. 1 Elizabeth Pleck, Domestic Tyranny: The Making of Social Policy against Family Violence from Colonial Times to the Present (New York: Oxford University Press, 1987), p. 4. 3 Methodology This thesis aims to uncover the meaning of domestic violence in the postwar period, specifically between 1945 and 1960. Decisions around locating and choosing appropriate sources proved to be my biggest challenge in the conceptualization and research stages of this thesis. There were many dead ends. In briefly highlighting these unsuccessful avenues of research, my purpose is to alert the reader to the difficulties and pitfalls of researching the hidden problem of domestic violence, and also to develop a context for understanding why I ultimately chose the sources I did. I began my research examining the records of the Department of Veteran's Affairs (DVA). My rationale for considering these sources was my understanding that the DVA undertook to assist those veterans and their families who were experiencing difficulty in the postwar adjustment period. I thought that the juxtaposition between the soldiers' experience of the violence of war and the postwar concern over domestic harmony (the lack of violence) was fascinating.