Physical Violence Reported by Han and Korean Chinese School Children(I): Ethnic Difference in the Prevalence

Kim, Daeho; Kim, Kwang Iel; Lee, Haewon; Park, Yong Chon; Li, Dongen

Abstract

OBJECTIVES
This study sought to determine ethnic difference in physical violence and to see if ethnicity is an independent predictor of violence by surveying eight Korean or Han ethnic elementary schools in Yanji city, China. A total of 2,316 school children from fourth through sixth grade participated the study.
METHODS
Participants completed a questionnaire on sociodemographic background and experiences of physical violence during the previous year using the Conflict Tactics Scale. The history of physical violence was categorized as within the family, by peers, or by teachers.
RESULTS
Han children reported significantly higher rates of physical abuse compared with Koreans (76.2% vs. 54.9%, chi2=116.12, df=1, p=<.001). Binary logistic regression analysis identified five risk factors for physical violence:(1) ethnic Han (odds ratio [OR]=3.01, 95% confidence interval [CI]=2.47-3.66), (2) boys (OR=2.76, 95% CI=2.28-3.36), (3) poor economic status (OR=1.69, 95% CI=1.17-2.42), (4) single or absent parents (OR=1.42, 95% CI=1.09-1.86), (5) interaction of fourth-graders with promotive or neutral opinions of corporal punishment (OR=2.41, 95% CI=1.86-3.13). Ethnicity remained an independent risk factor after other sociodemographic variables were controlled.
CONCLUSION
These findings showed cross-cultural risk factors of child physical abuse, including ethnicity which previously identified as a factor in literature. This study particularly reports lower prevalence of physical violence in ethnic minority, Korean-Chinese, compared with the Han ethnic group. This result explained a special environment of Korean self-government district and the successful adaptation of the ethnic minority to the mainstream culture.