Abstract:

The study was conducted for the purpose of determining the attitudes of nursing and midwifery students toward domestic violence against women. Target population of the cross-sectional study consisted of all nursing and midwifery students receiving education in Kafkas University Faculty of Health Sciences in the 2016-2017 academic year (N=859). In the study, no sample was selected and valid results were obtained from 522 of the students (60.8%). The data were collected with a questionnaire form and the Attitude toward Violence Scale. In the analysis of the data; Mann Whitney U, Kruskal Wallis tests and Spearman’s rho Correlation analysis were used besides descriptive analyses. The scale score averages were found as follows; Economic Violence: 15.04±6.17, Emotional, Psychological, Sexual Violence: 12.90±4.88, Legalizing Myths: 5.88±2.65, Reason Explaining Myths: 7.03±2.53 and the Total Violence Score: 40.86±12.25. It was determined that there was a positive correlation between the total violence score average and age (r=0.088;p=0.046) and the scores were higher in male students than female students (U=13.603;p=0.000) and in nursing students than midwifery students (U=5.347;p=0.000) in a statistically significant way. It was seen that the students’ violence-related score averages were generally lower and their attitudes toward violence were fewer from traditionality and closer to the modern view.

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