Intimate Partner Violence

1. Intimate Partner Violence Prepared by Dr. Jennifer Lawson For SOC 5870, Dr. M. C. Sengstock

2. Defining Intimate Partner Violence • Any marital and partner abuse. • Male to Female Intimate Partner Violence (MFIPV) • Female to Male Intimate Partner Violence (FMPIV) • Same Sex Intimate Partner Violence (SSIPV) • Verbal abuse (threats) • Physical abuse (minor to severe) • Sexual abuse (marital rape, sodomy) • Psychological abuse (stalking, fear) • Financial exploitation

3. Estimates of IPV • Prevalence is often underestimated. • Perpetrators of abuse rarely admit their actions. • Victims sometimes never report. • Annually, there are approximately 600,000 to 6 million victims of IPV (Wallace & Seymour, 1999; Huang & Gunn, 2001).

4. Types of IPV • Sexual assault • Very common, in particular partner rape. • Partner raped has been shown to have more damaging effects on the victim than stranger rape. • Abusive partners often sodomize mates. • Refuse to practice safe sex • Destroy contraception • 87% of men surveyed felt it was acceptable to have sex with a partner/wife even if she didn’t want to.

5. Psychological Abuse • Most common form. • More damaging than physical abuse because the effects are long term. • Leads to depression and anxiety. • Control is a central feature of psychological abuse. It is found in MFIPV often. • Control involves three elements: • Coercive control – a tool used to get one’s way • Feeling of powerlessness – perpetrators often feel powerless • Personal need for control – perpetrators desire control over something.

6. Society and Abuse • Society has a mixed response to MFIPV. • Some view it with disgust. • Others feel it is acceptable. • Perpetrators learn early that they can blame abuse on others, or on stress, substance abuse and jealousy, and face little or no punishment.

7. Outcomes of IPV • Homicide • Suicide • Familicide

8. Outcomes of IPV • Homicide • Most feared outcome, but least likely to occur. • 19% occur by women • 81% occur by men • Overall, crime stats indicate that most homicides overall result from intimates and not strangers. • Suicide • Performed mostly by male perpetrators if they are isolated from their victim.

9. What Is Familicide? • Familicide Is: • Murder-suicide • Perpetrator fears family will be separated. • Perpetrators are most often males and victims are mostly women and children.

10. Violent Couples • Is violence unidimensional? • MFIPV only • Johnson argued that violence is bidimensional • 4 types of couples exist: • Situational couple violence • Mutual violence • Violent resistant couples • Intimate terrorism

11. Violent Couples (ctd) • Situational couple violence • Low level violence that is perpetrated by both members of the couple. • One member of the relationship is violent. • Neither partner is violent and controlling.

12. Violent Couples (ctd) • Mutual Violent Control • Both members are violent. • Violent Resistance • Occurs in self defense. • One member is violent but not controlling. • Intimate Terrorism • One member is violent and controlling.

13. Variations In IPIV • Mixed reviews exist regarding violent couples research. • Marshall argues that more men are violent in comparison to women. • Men do the majority of abusing. • FMIPV and MFPIV do not occur equally.

14. Characteristics of Perpetrators-1 • Nonviolent and violent men display different characteristics. • Perpetrators tend to display the following: • Anxious • Anger: precursor and motive for abuse • Moody • Impulsive • Self centered • Poor self image • Fearful but aggressive

15. Characteristics of Perpetrators-2 • Perpetrators also tend to downplay, minimize or deny the abuse. • Male perpetrators are often depressed. • Perpetrators suffer from low self esteem. • They are often victims of past abuse. • They also experience shame, guilt, and never form healthy attachments as children with caregivers. • Increased jealousy • Increased dependency

16. Characteristics of Perpetrators - 3 • Perpetrators report lower self rated marital satisfaction. • Many abusers exhibit automacity/lack awareness. • Abuse out of habit. • Unaware of the reasons they abuse. • Often disassociate self from abuse.

17. How to Become a Batterer? • Socialization • Communication deficits • Substance abuse • Stress • Emotional volatility • Genetics • Personality disorders

18. Becoming a Batterer (ctd) • IPV is a learned behavior. • Perpetrators often come from homes in which they witness violence or were victims of violence. • They learned it was acceptable to be violent and that is appropriate to hurt loved ones. • Men are socialized to expect power over wives.

19. Becoming a Batterer (ctd) • Communication Deficits • Perpetrators of IPV are unable to state viewpoints or make appropriate requests. • They do not recognize signs of love and always feel they need more love. • Poor problem solvers and cannot handle stress, deal with rejection or handle conflict.

20. Becoming a Batterer (ctd) • Substance Use/Abuse • No causal link between alcohol, drug use and IPV. • Many men drink alcohol and use drugs that do not abuse their significant others. • Gelles (2005) alcohol is not a primary cause of violence (but may be used as an excuse). • Alcohol is a moderating factor. • Something else must be present such as hostile nature or perpetrator was abused.

21. Becoming a Batterer (ctd) • Stress, Emotions, PTSD • Stress has been suggested to lead to MFIPV. • What is stress? Definitions vary. • Consensus reached that certain events lead to sucy activities: • Negative life events (childhood abuse) • Unemployment • Violence towards nonfamily members • PTSD • Intellectual inferiority • Physical inadequacy • Performance failure

22. Becoming a Batterer (ctd) • Biology & Genetics • It is now suggested that biological determinants such as hormones may influence violent behavior. • Serotonin shows a decrease in violent behaviors. • Testosterone has a bad reputation for leading to MFIPV. • Differences in brain may account for differences in violence. • Women have larger emotional centers which allow them to control emotions better than men.

23. Becoming a Batterer (ctd) • Personality Disorders • Groups of disorders that involve pervasive patterns of perceiving relation to and thinking about the environment and self that interfere with long term functioning. • 88% of batterers have a personality disorder. • MI (Mental Illness) exacerbates interpersonal conflicts because these individuals have very distinctive, maladaptive behaviors and thought patterns. • No correlation between MI and IPV.

24. Why are some men violent? • Not all perpetrators of violence witnessed violence as a child. • Not all perpetrators experienced trauma. • Not all have a mental illness. • Not all are jealous. • Not all have communication issues. • Men that did not witness violence may be naturally violent. • They have a history of violence in the past that involves strangers, families, property and etc. • Now they focus only on partners.

25. Why are some men violent? • Men that are violent towards their mates are very similar to men that are violent towards others. • Both have violence in the their past. • Had disturbed childhoods with abuse • Drug use • Unemployment

26. Typologies of MFIPV Perpetrators • Individuals involved in IPV differ. • Each perpetrator requires individualized treatment. • Holtzman-Munroe, Stuart Typology (1994) • MFIPV perpetrators fit into three groups: • Family violence-low violence, little pathology, little violence outside family • Borderline dysphoric-unwell, unhappy, normaltiy/abnormality mix • Generally violent/antisocial/violent – little sense of responsibility, morality and concern for others

27. Typologies of MFIPV Perpetrators • Sexually violent men only? • Men in severely violent relationships engage in sexual coercion. • Men in antisocial relationships threaten sex.

28. Female to Male IPV • Women abuse men. • More research is needed to understand FMIPV. • Originally, thought that FMIPV was self defense/reaction to fear. • Self defense cannot account for all FMIPV.

29. Motives for FMIPV • Anger • Threats to status as a good mother, good partners • Jealousy • Retaliation towards unfaithful mates • Controlling behaviors

30. Other information about FMIPV • Women that were abused as children often perpetuate IPV as adults. • Stress from negative life events lead to FMIPV. • Women that experience feelings of powerlessness, suicidal thoughts, depression, anxious attachment with men that are avoidance engage in FMIPV. • Women that engage in FMIPH kill partners most often. • Battered women syndrome

31. FMIPV-The Victims • Men suffer from battered husband syndrome. • Society focuses on women being abused – such that men are not considered victims (per Gelles). • 24% of men admitted to ER in a research study were victims of IPV. • Men were injured by a violent mate not one engaging in self defense.

32. Do Men Stay and Deal with Abuse? • Men that are abused are less likely to leave if they are breadwinners or if they feel the abuse is minor. • They will not leave if the children are minor. • Fear that leaving will affect their financial stability. • Child support • Spousal support • Embarrassing to report abuse.

33. Do Men Stay and Deal with Abuse? • Lack of support • Who will help abused men? • Fear they will lose children. • Want to protect children • Love wives. • Fear they will injure or kill wife if they fight back.

34. Consequences of FMIPV for Victims • Men that are victims of IPV have poorer health in comparison to their peers that are not abused: • Heart attacks • Cholesterol • Heart disease