tting help, and that women may have the expectation that their churches will not care about their situation or be of help. Thus, while the incidence may not be greater, positive outcomes for the women involved may be more difficult to achieve. In other words, there is more controversy here, this time about the role of religion in domestic violence. The intent in this study is to explore the ways in which religion affects, or does not affect, domestic violence.
The literature is ambiguous about the role of religion in domestic violence. Clearly the religions cited are paternal, with male authority predominating both in the church and the home. However, this does not mean that these are automatically abusive environments. In some instances, as Stotland's (2000) case study, men used religion to reinforce their control and justify their abuse. In other instances, as in Clark's (1997) discussion of Canadian evangelical commun
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