Intimate Partner Violence and Abuse: A Qualitative Exploration of UK Military Personnel and Civilian Partner Experiences

Abstract

Purpose The prevalence of Intimate Partner Violence and Abuse (IPVA) perpetration and victimisation has been found to be higher in serving and ex-serving military samples compared to civilians. Despite this, there is a lack of qualitative research exploring the IPVA experiences of couples in which one or both partners are serving or have served in the military. This qualitative study aimed to explore IPVA experiences within the UK military community from the perspective of serving and ex-serving military personnel and civilian partners of UK military personnel. Method One-to-one telephone interviews were conducted with 40 serving and ex-serving military personnel (29 male, 11 female) and 25 female civilian partners. Data was analysed using thematic analysis. Results Four superordinate themes were derived: (1) patterns and directions of IPVA, (2) types of IPVA, (3) perceived drivers of IPVA and (4) perceived impact of IPVA. The findings point to frequent bidirectional abuse in part driven by poor communication and emotion regulation, whilst also highlighting the experiences of severe IPVA victimisation of civilian partners by military personnel motivated by power and control. Perceived drivers of both IPVA perpetration and victimisation include military factors borne of military culture or training, alcohol and mental health difficulties. Conclusion These results highlight the role of cultural norms, as well as the role of emotion dysregulation, poor communication skills and mental health difficulties in explaining and perpetuating abuse within ecological theoretical frameworks of violence among couples within which one or both partners are serving or ex-serving military personnel.

Health Challenges Encountered by Spouses of the Selected Defense and Security Wing Personnel Experiencing Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) in Lusaka, Zambia: An Interpretive Phenomenological Study

“…This infliction of pain on the spouses made many female participants to have fear in their own homes and reduced their decision-making autonomy on many aspects that affected their wellbeing and that of their family. The finding resonates with partner experiences of IPV perpetrated by military personnel found in other studies (Lane et al, 2022;Lopez, 2022;Kwan et al, 2020). The study also revealed that participants admitted experiencing abusive sexual activities (sexual violence) from their military spouses that aroused feelings of rage and betrayal which others found hard to overcome.…”

“…On the contrary, Becker et al, (2021) echoed that IPV arose out of structural and patriarchal systems partners have been subjected to. Equally, Lane et al, (2022) study established that military personnel perpetuated IPV mainly to assert power and control over their partners. However, the study exposed that regardless of the cause of violence, it still attracted relatively the same nature of violence.…”