Family Violence in Vietnam
Kirsten Endres <kirsten.endres@gmx.net>
date Feb 16, 2007 1:55 PM
subject [Vsg] family slaughter in vietnam
Dear all,
for reasons not at all concerned with my academic interests, I'm wondering if anyone of you could comment on the occurence of family slaughter in Vietnam (in particular wife-murder and murder of in-laws). How are such cases treated in the media and in public opinion, in particular if a) the wife was supposedly unfaithful and if b) the the wife was apparently more loyal to her in-laws (wife's sister/brother) than to her husband? And how are such cases treated in court? E.g. is a murder motivated by a wife's and her family's betrayal considered morally less blameworthy, and hence less severely punished than homicide committed out of other motives?
Thanks in advance for any useful comments or relevant sources you could provide.
Kirsten
Trang Thu Nguyen <trgthu@yahoo.com>
date Feb 16, 2007 2:27 PM
subject Re: [Vsg] family slaughter in vietnam
Trude, albeit this sounds sientifically anthropololical, I truly wonder how can this question be anwered by people alien to the given community. Even Vnese themselves cannot claim they understand. It's, at the end of the day, what lies in the deepest recesses of a human heart (or lack of?).
And that subject title: "Family Slaughter in VN". I thought it was the lastest Hollywood horror movie.
Maybe I take all this gallivanting too much to heart (being too Vnese), so should unsubscribe from VSG and let you fwd the ones you deem interesting and relevant.
Trude Bennett <tabennet@email.unc.edu>
date Feb 16, 2007 2:44 PM
subject Re: [Vsg] family slaughter in vietnam
It is really hard to take -- what kind of terminology is "family
slaughter"? Unbelievable -- sounds like a butcher shop. Just let me know
if you want me to sort through the VSG and forward things to you,
instead of subjecting yourself to this onslaught(er). Trude
Kirsten Endres <kirsten.endres@gmx.net>
date Feb 16, 2007 3:13 PM
subject Re: [Vsg] family slaughter in vietnam
I am truly sorry if my question and/or terminology has hurt anybody's
feelings on this list, but the murder case I've been asked to comment on as
an anthropologist (in Germany) can hardly be described in other terms than
slaughter. Maybe a native speaker of English would have chosen a more
inappropriate term.
"Hoang t. Dieu-Hien" <dieuhien@u.washington.edu>
date Feb 16, 2007 3:19 PM
subject Re: [Vsg] family slaughter in vietnam
Dear Kirsten,
Your choice of terminology makes this phenomenon sound like a common occurence, if not common practice, among Vietnamese.
I suggest you look into studies on the mental health statuses of transplanted, marginalized, and/or disenfranchised communities around the globe (refugees, immigrants, Native Americans, blacks Americans, etc.) for answers rather than looking for a cultural sanction of such tragic act. When such occurences happen among the mainstream communities, the school shooting 10 years ago in Scottland, the various school shootings, mall shootings, etc. that occurred too frequently in the US, often people look for explanations in the mental statuses of the offending individuals, not the entire population to which these individuals belong. When the popular cultures are considered, it is in the context of their side effects (the availability of guns and/or exposure to violence in the media, etc.) causing such individuals to snap, not the sanction or even condonation by an entire race of people, of such acts.
I guess that you have heard of, or know of someone who has/have experienced such tragedy and are emotionally shaken about it. I, too, am each time I hear of such things happen to any group of people. However, we must check our own emotions and think carefully about our choice of words. They do betray our innermost feelings.
Peace,
Hien
Lauren Meeker <ldm28@columbia.edu>
date Feb 16, 2007 4:28 PM
subject Re: [Vsg] family slaughter in vietnam
Dear Kirsten,
When I was doing fieldwork in Vietnam, I helped a friend by editing a
report on violence and attitudes about violence against women in rural
Vietnam. It is not specifically about slaughter/murder but still might
be of some use to you regarding people's attitudes. It is available
online and I have pasted the link below. I can put you in touch with my
friend Vu Song Ha if you like- she may have more pointed suggestions.
http://www.rockmekong.org/pubs/Unpublished%20Materials/
ConsulationInvestment/Link%20between%20Gender%20&%20Sexual%
20and%20Reproductive%20Health%20in%20Vi%85.pdf
Regards,
Pam McElwee <pamela.mcelwee@asu.edu>
date Feb 16, 2007 4:35 PM
subject Re: [Vsg] family slaughter in vietnam
Kirsten-
I am by no means an expert on this subject, but I just happened to have been reading an article this morning on immigration and human rights that mentioned this very issue. There was apparently a case of a Mr. Quang Ngoc Bui in the US state of Alabama who was convicted of murdering his 3 children in 1986; his defense was one of "culture" (his wife was about to leave him and so he tried to kill himself and the children, only succeeding at the latter), although it was NOT accepted by any of the US courts he has appealed to, apparently. One of the trials granted his lawyer and a 'cultural researcher' permission to travel to Vietnam to research claims about VNese cultural responses to infidelity, family strife, etc. You may find helpful information about this particular court cases which has been called " Bui vs. State" and "Bui vs. Alabama". There appear to be a lot of documents relating to the case on the web that you can Google for more info. One twist on the case is that he is apparently still a VNese national and so his case has been taken up by groups opposed to the application of the US death penalty law to non-US citizens.
There is also an academic article or two that mentions this particular one and other 'cultural defense' cases:
Chiu, D.C. (1994) "The cultural defense: Beyond exclusion, assimilation and guilty liberalism", California Law Review 82 (4) p 1053-1125
Phillips, A (2003) "When culture means gender: Issues of cultural defense in the English Courts" The Modern Law Review 66 (4) p 510-531.
Hope this is helpful.
Pam McElwee