An Exploration of the Needs of Men Experiencing Domestic Abuse: An Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis

Abstract

This study determines the needs of men experiencing domestic abuse from an intimate partner. In-depth interviews with 6 men who sought support are analyzed using interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA). Four master themes (interpreted as needs) are identified from analysis, “recognition” (of male victims and the impact), “safety,” “accepting domestic abuse,” and “rebuilding.” A need for recognition is identified as the dominant theme influencing the capacity for the 3 remaining needs to be met. Domestic abuse is generally understood to be a gendered, heteronormative experience. Abused men are not acknowledged as “typical” victims. The lack of recognition prevented participants from accepting and recognizing their victimization resulting in delayed help-seeking and prolonged abuse. A joint commitment is required from policy and practice to raise the profile of abused men, challenge wider society's prevailing norms, and embed equal status for all victims.

Men’s experiences of help‐seeking for female‐perpetrated intimate partner violence: A qualitative exploration

“…Participants' accounts evidenced a reluctance to disclose their experiences of abuse on account of dominant social constructions of victimisation as a female experience (Wallace et al, 2019a(Wallace et al, , 2019b.…”

“…As support services for male victims evolve (Huntley et al, 2020), with growing recognition of gender-specific experiences and barriers to accessing support (Bates & Douglas, 2020;Hogan et al, 2012;Wallace et al, 2019a), there remains a need to further develop a nuanced understanding of male victims' experiences with (Huntley et al, 2020;Morgan et al, 2014) and perceptions of support services in order to better assist male IPV victims (Barrett et al, 2020;Bates, 2020;Powney & Graham-Kevan, 2019;Tsui et al, 2010). Furthermore, Hine et al (2020) outline the need for research that investigates men's experiences of informal and indirect help-seeking from friends and family.…”

Exploring Male Students’ Lived Experiences of Intimate Partner Abuse from a Female Partner and Help-seeking

“…This meant that they rationalised or looked past the abuse. This commitment to the relationship has been identified by several other studies (Corbally, 2015;Hines & Douglas, 2010;Lien & Lorentzen, 2019;Wallace et al 2019) and is especially similar to the findings of Lien and Lorentzen (2019) who discussed how the men in their sample showed love and care for their partners and put their partner's needs ahead of their own meaning that they put up with the abuse. While previous studies have identified this theme as closely related to a commitment to marriage and concern for their children (Corbally, 2015;Hines & Douglas, 2010) these findings suggest this phenomenon can also play a role in those who are in cohabiting relationships without children.…”

“…However, contrary to the findings of Corbally (2015) and in line with those of Brooks et al (2017) the men in the present study were able to speak directly about the aggressive and coercive behaviours directed at them and they appreciated having these experiences validated and labelled as abuse. Similar to the subtheme of 'belief and recognition' identified by Wallace et al (2019) it was this opportunity to reflect and have their experiences labelled and validated that assisted the men in recognising the abuse and allowed them to go through the process of moving.…”

“…A preference for speaking with a female professional was also identified, however the role of male professionals was not discussed (Huntley et al). Adding to these findings around the factors that contributed to a positive help-seeking experience, Wallace, Wallace, Kenkre, Brayford, and Borja (2019) provided useful insight into the needs of men who experience IPA in their study which involved interviewing six Welsh men who they had recruited from specialist IPA services.…”