Sociological Analysis of Wives’ Violence: A Case Study in Egypt

The importance of the present study stems from the problematic nature of the marital rela- tionships and the societal dimensions that stimulate some wives to murder their husbands with intention in Egypt. Hence, the question of this study runs so: What are the motives and societal dimensions that stimulate the wives to kill their husbands in Egypt? In order to find answers to this main question, the study makes use of the diagnostic and analytical approach with its two aspects: the qualitative and quantitative. That is to realize the aims of the study and to identify the dimensions of wives’ violence in Egyptian society in addition to determining the factors that produce violence in the Egyptian family. The study also adopts the comprehensive investigation and scanning of the statistical crime reports of the public security administration associated with the ministry of internal affairs in Egypt in the period from 1985 to 2008. This helps in counting the rates of this crime, defining its types, classifying it in terms of general or familial, and comparing it with the crime of “murder with intention.” The field study was carried out in Al-Qnater Al-Khairia prison for women, taking into consideration this prison as the main prison for female criminals. The study also employs so-called “depth interviews” in order to apply the questionnaire as the main tool capable of identifying the daily life aspects of the subject under study and their familial histories. The study was carried out between July 2009 and December 2009 in Al-Qnater Al-Khairia prison for women. The writing of the report occurred between January 2010 and July 2010. The study emphasizes that the reason behind the increase in the crime ratios lies in an inequality in the distribution of economic resources. This cause is the main factor in committing both the crimes motivated by money gain and violence. The results of the social surveys reveal that the murdering wife affiliates to the lower social class by a ratio of 83.33% of the total crimes (or 30 cases). 10% of those murderers belong to the upper lower class and 6.67% belong to the middle class. The latter are only two cases. The study reports that 53.33% of the female murderers do not have jobs and 46.67% of them are service workers.