ty over them (McCaghy, et al. 199). McCaghy, et al. (209-11) cite the tradition of putting wives "in charge" of the home (confining them, really) and men in charge of earning money in the outside. That makes them socially unequal right away. If wives are not equal to husbands, it is logical that domestic violence can be considered a normal and legitimate way to work out stresses and other problems. Poverty is connected to the stresses of lower socioeconomic groups and becomes a way of predicting domestic violence--or anyway of not being surprised when it happens. However, as McCaghy, et al. point out (199), most poor families do not abuse their children. Research suggests that some source of stress besides poverty, or perhaps cultural features, may explain why domestic abuse occurs. Gender stereotypes are linked with domestic violence in significant ways: : the tradition of male authority; compulsive masculinity that is rewarded by society; economic inequality of women; women's burdens of child care; the stigma of single-parenthood for women; the social
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