How Do Memories of Having Been Parented Relate to the Parenting-Experience of Fathers in Treatment for Intimate Partner Violence? A Phenomenological Analysis

Abstract

Few studies have examined how men who use intimate partner violence (IPV) experience being a parent. This study describes how Norwegian men in treatment for IPV reflect upon the impact of their childhood experiences on their fathering. We interviewed 11 men in treatment for IPV regarding their fathering experience, and their memories of having been parented. We performed a descriptive phenomenological analysis of the data. We identified two superordinate themes that described the participants’ fathering experience: being a benign versus being a detrimental force in the child’s life and having the intention of not repeating and the actual repetition of harmful parenting. The participants described being conflicted regarding being potentially damaging for their child’s development. They generally described a lack of stable positive relationships, both early in life and in the present. Partner-violent men’s meaning making of their fathering seems to be influenced by their early-life experiences with their parents in several problematic ways. Fathers who use IPV may both accept and reject that they have been harmed by the parenting they received as children. Similarly, they may both acknowledge and discard that their use of violence harms their children. We suggest that therapy should explore these themes and their consequences for the father - child relationship.

Examining characteristics of descriptive phenomenological nursing studies: A scoping review

“…Australia) ( n = 3, 3%) and South America ( n = 1, 1%). Six of the studies were post‐intervention studies (Ingersgaard et al, 2021; Jensen et al, 2021; Jerntorp et al, 2021; Macapagal et al, 2021; Mathews & Anderson, 2021; Schumacher et al, 2021) and one was a part of a larger mix‐methods study (Mohaupt et al, 2021).…”

Partner-violent and non-violent fathers’ descriptions of co-parenting

“…This may relate to traditional fathers feeling excluded from the emotional bond between mother and child and attempting to undermine the importance of the mother-child relationship for the child through power-assertion (Freeman, 2008). Previously, we have suggested that men in IPV treatment implicitly adhere to traditional masculinity norms with which they grew up, even when they state that they favour gender equality (Mohaupt et al, 2021). The examples provided by the non-violent group support theory (Doucet, 2013) and research (Matta and Knudson-Martin, 2006) on how practiced gender equality correlates with paternal involvement and emotional responsiveness to the child, and couple satisfaction.…”

Untitled

“…Mohaupt og kolleger (2019) har forsket på menn som går i terapi for å ha utøvd vold mot partner, og funnet at mange selv har opplevd vold og andre relasjonelle traumer i oppveksten. Disse opplevelsene kan ha bidratt til at de i voksen alder har vansker med å forstå og tillegge barnas følelser mening (Mohaupt et al, 2021). Det var først da Jan jobbet med å bearbeide egne opplevelser i oppveksten, at han klarte å sette seg bedre inn i opplevelsene til barna sine.…”