Exploiting the ‘good mother’ as a tactic of coercive control

Affilia ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 374-389 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Heward-Belle
Keyword(s):  
Domestic Violence ◽  
Power And Control ◽  
Raising Awareness ◽  
Domestically Violent ◽  
Good Mother ◽  
Private And Public ◽  
Women And Children ◽  
Violent Men ◽  
And Control ◽  
Depth Interviews

This article examines the ways that domestically violent men assault women as mothers and their mothering. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 17 Australian men who had perpetrated domestic violence, this article reports their accounts of using this tactic. This tactic was found to be particularly pernicious and grounded in hegemonic representations of the “good mother.” Domestically violent men deployed this tactic instrumentally to exert power and control over women and children. Raising awareness of private and public assaults on women as mothers and their mothering is a critical step toward countering oppressive constructions of women mothering through domestic violence.

Family Mediation in Child Custody Cases and the Concealment of Domestic Violence

Affilia ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 509-525 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariachiara Feresin ◽  
Natalina Folla ◽  
Simon Lapierre ◽  
Patrizia Romito
Keyword(s):  
Domestic Violence ◽  
Child Custody ◽  
Family Mediation ◽  
Legal Documents ◽  
Power And Control ◽  
Semistructured Interviews ◽  
Parental Couple ◽  
Women And Children ◽  
And Control

While mediation is commonly used in custody negotiation, there is no consensus regarding its applicability in domestic violence cases. The aim of this qualitative study in Italy was to explore the role of family mediation in the management of child custody in cases involving domestic violence. Semistructured interviews were conducted with lawyers ( N = 5), social workers ( N = 15), and abused women who had separated from their children’s fathers ( N = 13). Legal documents were also analyzed. The results showed that violence against women and children had often been concealed during mediation, as the professionals involved had failed to detect domestic violence or had labeled it as conflicts. Moreover, the “parental couple” had been dissociated from the “marital couple,” and the responsibility for the abuse had been attributed to both parents. As a result, women and children had been blamed and had experienced secondary victimization, while the perpetrators’ patterns of power and control had continued. The results also revealed that those professionals had not known about and had not applied the Istanbul Convention, which provides guidelines to ensure women’s and children’s safety. Recommendations highlight the need to account for the complexity of domestic violence cases, to hold perpetrators responsible for the abuse, and to support the victims.

scholarly journals Facilitators of probation-based domestic violence perpetrator programmes: ‘Who’s in the room?’

2021 ◽  
pp. 026455052110250
Author(s):  
Nicole Renehan
Keyword(s):  
Domestic Violence ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Professional Identities ◽  
Domestically Violent ◽  
Violent Men ◽  
To Receive ◽  
Depth Interviews ◽  
Insufficient Knowledge

The role that probation practitioners play in the desistance process has begun to receive much needed attention. Yet, the experiences of facilitators of probation-based, domestic violence perpetrator programmes have long been neglected. This article explores the experiences and wellbeing of eight facilitators from one cohort of the Building Better Relationships (BBR) programme in England. Drawing upon five-months’ observations and in-depth interviews, I demonstrate how working with domestically violent men with insufficient knowledge, experience, or support, exacerbated within the context of Transforming Rehabilitation reforms, impacted significantly on facilitator well-being, professional identities, and practice. Practice implications are discussed.

scholarly journals Domestic violence in countries of the former Yugoslavia: Review of the most important results of the surveys

Temida ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 17-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sanja Copic
Keyword(s):  
Domestic Violence ◽  
Violence Against Women ◽  
Partner Violence ◽  
Former Yugoslavia ◽  
Power And Control ◽  
Survey Results ◽  
Women And Children ◽  
And Control ◽  
Partner Violence Against Women ◽  
The Impact

This paper contains some of the most important results of the survey on domestic violence in Serbia and Macedonia, as well as of the survey on violence against women that was conducted in BH Federation that also contains data about partner violence against women. These surveys have confirmed results of some other researches that domestic violence is one of the most serious but at the same time most hidden forms of victimisation. It represents the manifestation of power and control over the victim, leading to a loss of trust and threatening the safety domain. Women and children are the most affected by this form of victimization, while in most of the cases men are perpetrators. Bearing that in mind, the aim of the paper is to, on the basis of the analysis of survey results, point out the prevalence structure and some characteristics of domestic violence in the pos-war societies of the former Yugoslavia, with a particular emphasis of the impact of economy crisis and war on this issue.

scholarly journals Experiences of ward rounds among in-patients on an acute mental health ward: a qualitative exploration

2015 ◽  
Vol 39 (5) ◽  
pp. 233-236 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reed Cappleman ◽  
Zandra Bamford ◽  
Clare Dixon ◽  
Hayley Thomas
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Thematic Analysis ◽  
Clinical Implications ◽  
First Order ◽  
Power And Control ◽  
Systemic Factors ◽  
Ward Rounds ◽  
Qualitative Exploration ◽  
And Control ◽  
Depth Interviews

Aims and methodTo address the gap in qualitative research examining patients' experiences of ward rounds. In-depth interviews were conducted with five in-patients on an acute mental health ward. Data were analysed using thematic analysis.ResultsData were organised into three first-order themes, positioned within an overarching theme relating to patients' perceptions of the use of power and control within ward rounds.Clinical implicationsSystemic factors may make it difficult to facilitate ward rounds in a manner which leaves patients feeling fully empowered or in control, but there are practical measures to address these issues, drawn from participants' accounts.

Power and Control: Domestic Violence in America

2012 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 80-81
Author(s):  
Karen A. Callaghan
Keyword(s):  
Domestic Violence ◽  
Power And Control ◽  
And Control

Deconstructing the “Power and Control Motive”: Moving Beyond a Unidimensional View of Power in Domestic Violence Theory

Partner Abuse ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 230-242 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shelly M. Wagers
Keyword(s):  
Domestic Violence ◽  
Incidence Rates ◽  
Social Recognition ◽  
Persistent Problem ◽  
Power And Control ◽  
Power Motive ◽  
Court Mandated ◽  
Policies And Programs ◽  
And Control ◽  
Sense Of Power

Despite the increased social recognition, law and policy changes within the criminal justice system, and the widespread use of court mandated batterer intervention programs (BIPs) domestic violence continues to be a persistent problem. The lack of significant decline in incidence rates along with a growing body of empirical evidence that indicates BIPs are, at best, only moderately effective raises serious concern. Effective policies and programs should be based on empirically tested theory. The assertion “the batterer’s motive is power and control” has become fundamental to many of the currently used BIPs and accepted mainstream theoretical explanations regarding domestic violence. However, the domestic violence literature has not yet advanced any specific conceptualizations of power, it has not produced a theoretical model of power that articulates why or how power specifically acts as a motive for a batterer, nor has it empirically tested this fundamental assertion. The main goal of this article is to take a step toward addressing this gap and advance our current understanding of an individual’s sense of power and control as a motive for using violence against an intimate partner. Specifically, it will review the pertinent literature regarding power and domestic violence, propose a new theoretical construct calledinternal power, and discuss internal power’s application to understanding a batterer’s “power motive.”

PROTECTION OF VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: A PRACTICAL DIMENSION

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iryna Litvinova ◽  
◽  
Olesia Dubovych ◽  
Liubov Sheptytska ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Domestic Violence ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Public Authorities ◽  
Systematic Analysis ◽  
State Register ◽  
Power And Control ◽  
Social Difficulties ◽  
And Control ◽  
Social Support Systems

The article is devoted to the study of practical aspects of protection of victims of domestic violence in Ukraine. Domestic violence is understood as a pattern of behavior between people in any relationship that is used to gain or retain power and control over the person with whom they are in a personal relationship. Victims of domestic violence can be members of a couple, as well as a child or other relative or any other family member. The COVID-19 pandemic has been shown to have a significant impact on the spread of the threat of domestic violence. Isolation can identify or exacerbate vulnerabilities due to the lack of established social support systems, reduced economic well-being of families, and psychological and social difficulties. In general, pandemic restrictions have made life difficult for victims of domestic violence. A systematic analysis of guarantees for the protection of victims of domestic violence made it possible to identify the following positive reforms: strengthening regulation; intensification of public authorities' functioning in the field of combating and preventing domestic violence; strengthening of methodological, explanatory and informational activities, which has a dual focus: the legal awareness of victims is intensified and the professionalism of specialized bodies is increased; coordination of system coordination of public and state sphere in the researched sphere. However, the analysis of statistical reports, court decisions, monitoring of public organizations, scientific works of experts indicate that there are a number of problems in the field of protection of victims of domestic violence, so the authors propose a set of measures to help solve the problem. These include: ratification of the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (Istanbul Convention); measures to increase the level of legal awareness and legal culture; the need to improve the skills of police officers in the preparation of administrative materials; changes in established case law on the elimination of ineffective penalties; implementation of positive practice of foreign countries on the implementation of re-education programs for offenders by court decision; maintaining the Unified State Register of Cases of Domestic Violence.

“I Was Naive in Thinking, ‘I Divorced This Man, He Is Out of My Life’”: A Qualitative Exploration of Post-Separation Power and Control Tactics Experienced by Women

2015 ◽  
Vol 32 (14) ◽  
pp. 2166-2189 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle L. Toews ◽  
Autumn M. Bermea
Keyword(s):  
Emotional Abuse ◽  
Physical Violence ◽  
Partner Abuse ◽  
Separation Power ◽  
Economic Abuse ◽  
Power And Control ◽  
Women’S Perceptions ◽  
Qualitative Exploration ◽  
And Control ◽  
Depth Interviews

The purpose of this study was to explore women’s perceptions of the power and control tactics used by their former husbands post-separation. A total of 22 in-depth interviews with divorced mothers who reported male-initiated partner abuse (psychological and/or physical) during and/or after their marriages were analyzed. The most common themes to emerge from the narratives were, in order of prevalence, as follows: Using the Children; Using Threats, Harassment, and Intimidation; Emotional Abuse; Economic Abuse; “Stuff to Try to Hurt Me”; Disrupting Her Relationships With the Children; Using the System; and Physical Violence. We also found that the violent and coercive behaviors men used during the marriage continued to influence the women’s perceptions of the power and control their former husbands had over them post-separation. As a result, many of the women described how they gave up everything just to get out of their abusive marriages.

Applying the Good Lives Model to Male Perpetrators of Domestic Violence

2009 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 113-129 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robyn L. Langlands ◽  
Tony Ward ◽  
Elizabeth Gilchrist
Keyword(s):  
Domestic Violence ◽  
Social Problem ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Good Lives Model ◽  
Male Perpetrators ◽  
Financial Costs ◽  
Domestically Violent ◽  
Strength Based ◽  
Violent Men ◽  
Good Lives

AbstractDomestic violence is a pervasive social problem that has devastating emotional, physical, psychological, and financial costs for individuals, families, and communities. Despite the widespread use of current intervention programmes, recent reviews have demonstrated that these have only a small impact on the reduction of recidivism. In this article, we briefly summarise the features identified in the literature that distinguish domestically violent men from those who do not engage in such behaviours. We then explore the most common interventions used to treat domestic violence offenders and discuss the limitations of these interventions, before outlining the assumptions of the Good Lives Model (GLM), a strength-based approach to the treatment of offenders. We discuss the advantages of using the GLM compared to existing approaches and finally, we consider future directions for the use of the GLM in domestic violence interventions.

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