The hidden pain: drunkenness and domestic violence in Palau

Nero, Karen L.

article

The hidden pain: drunkenness and domestic violence in Palau

Pacific studies • 13 (3) • Published In 1990 • Pages: 63-92

By: Nero, Karen L..

Abstract
This article discusses the dynamics of gender relation among Belaun families. It argues that wife beating has been much more common in the 1980s than in the past. This increase is traced to expansion of alcohol drinking and use of corporal punishment which were both first introduced during the Japanese control of the island in 1914-1944. Based on data collected through interviews, the author article shows alcohol, which was not known in traditional Belauan society, provided a culturally acceptable 'time-out' period when previously punishable misconduct became somewhat acceptable. It became, for example, easier for the wife and family members to excuse a beating as merely the effects of drink and not truly a representation of the husbands attitude.

Alcoholic beverages

Sex and marital offenses

Status, role, and prestige

Community councils

Cultural identity and pride

Localized kin groups