Women’s use of non-lethal violence against men

Bates, Elizabeth ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8694-8078 and Poynton, Meagan (2021) Women’s use of non-lethal violence against men. In: Shackelford, Tom K., (ed.) The SAGE handbook of domestic violence. SAGE, London, UK, pp. 224-240.

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Abstract

Much of the early research explored domestic violence and abuse through a gendered lens; that is, focusing on violence against women with its root causes lying in patriarchy, gender inequality, and male privilege (e.g., Dobash & Dobash, 1979). This approach excluded male victims from the narrative, and had a focus on women’s victimisation, seeing any perpetration by women as likely stemming from self-defence (e.g., Saunders, 1988). The development of gender-neutral surveying methods (e.g., Conflict Tactics Scale [CTS]; Straus, 1979, followed by the CTS2; Straus, Hamby, Boney-McCoy & Sugarman, 1996) started a wave of research that highlighted the prevalence of both women’s violence and men’s victimisation. Since then, there has been a wealth of literature including meta-analyses (e.g., Archer, 2000) that has highlighted men’s and women’s propensity for violence within intimate relationships that shows almost equal rates. The aim of this chapter is to consider the extant literature that has explored men’s victimisation. It will start by exploring the emergence of male victimisation within the literature including reference to research that has explored historical accounts (e.g., George, 1994) and the term “battered husband syndrome” (Steinmetz, 1978). The chapter will then discuss what we know about men’s experience from the international literature including research exploring their experiences of physical violence, and psychological and emotional abuse. Domestic violence and abuse do not always end with the breakdown of the relationship and a further element of the discussion will include men’s experience of post-separation abuse that includes controlling behaviour seen through false allegations, harassment, and parental alienation. The chapter will conclude by making recommendations for future research, as well as discussing the implications for current interventions and practice.

Item Type:	Book Section
Publisher:	SAGE
ISBN:	9781526494863
Departments:	Institute of Health > Psychology and Psychological Therapies
Additional Information:	Chapter 14 within book.
Depositing User:	Elizabeth Bates
Date Deposited:	15 Nov 2019 14:52
Last Modified:	13 Jan 2024 11:46
URI:	https://insight.cumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/5255

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