Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements

I am indebted to many people for making this research possible.First and foremost,my thanks go to the 232 respondents and 53 interviewees who took time out of their busy lives to fill in the questionnaires and shared the stories of their lives with me and particularly described their experiences and attitudes towards domestic violence.My thanks also go to the organisations and work units such as Women's Federation at different levels,centres for protecting women and children,universities,etc.,and to people who were my classmates,friends and relatives whose supports were crucial to the success of collecting my data and to completion of this thesis.Without their active support,this research could not have been undertaken.

Additionally,I would like to thank a number of people within Violence against Women Research Group,the School for Policy Studies and Manor Hall,including Jane Dennis,Gill Hague,Kate Lindsay,Ellen Malos,Christina Pantazis,Shirley Paul,Nikki Press,Rosemary Schonfeld and Emma Williamson.This is because they were all concerned about,encouraged and supported me during the period of my research.

My thanks must go to Professor Marianne Hester and Dr.Geetanjali Gangoli who were the supervisors for my PhD project and who provided guidance and encouragement.Particularly,with the supervision from Professor Hester,I entered into what was an entirety new field and I hope to contribute more to the exploration of domestic violence in my future career.Without her supervision,this research could not have been undertaken.

Finally,my thanks must also go to my family,including my parents and parents-in-law,my husband and son as well as my brothers and sister-in-law who also experienced the process of my research.Owing to their understanding and supporting,I have been able to fi nish my study alone in the UK.Especially,many thanks for the academic support from my husband who discussed many of the ideas with me and assisted me in my studies.