The mental health of male victims and their children affected by legal and administrative partner aggression

Abstract

The authors recently developed a psychometrically valid measure of legal and administrative (LA) intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization (Hines, Douglas, & Berger, 2014). The current article explores the impact of actual and threatened LA aggression on the mental health of male physical IPV victims and their children. In the current study, a sample of 611 men who sought help after experiencing physical IPV from their female partners completed a survey assessing the types and extent of IPV that occurred in their relationship, including LA aggression, their own mental health outcomes, and the mental health of their oldest child. A series of OLS regressions indicated that after controlling for covariates, actual LA aggression was associated with more symptoms of PTSD and depression in male victims, and that both threatened and actual LA aggression were associated with higher levels of affective and oppositional defiant symptoms in the men's school age children. The current findings suggest that it is important to screen couples for the presence of LA aggression and male partners and their children should be referred for mental health treatment if LA aggression is occurring in the relationship. Aggr. Behav. 42:346-361, 2016. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

“I Have Guys Call Me and Say ‘I Can’t Be the Victim of Domestic Abuse’”: Exploring the Experiences of Telephone Support Providers for Male Victims of Domestic Violence and Abuse

“…Participants described how this abuse was causing these men significant mental and physical health problems, and some had also had their parental relationship manipulated. These findings support previous literature that discusses the range of DV that men experience within abusive relationships from both an international (e.g., Hines & Douglas, 2010) and UK-based perspective (e.g., Barnes & Donovan, 2018;Bates, 2019c;Wallace et al, 2019a); as well as the other studies that highlight the significant impact this has on them in terms of their health and well-being (e.g., see Bacchus et al, 2017;Coker et al, 2000;Coker et al, 2002;Hines & Douglas, 2016). However, despite the range and seriousness of abuse, they described how many male callers struggled to recognise and accept their victimisation; they felt shame and feared not being believed.…”

“…Importantly, for men who were also fathers, many reported that the relationship with their child(ren) was affected, for example through experiences of alienation, parental relationship disruption, and the legal aggression described above (Bates, 2019b). Moreover, this use of systems, particularly family courts, had a substantial impact on the mental health of male victims (Berger, Douglas, & Hines, 2016).…”

Exploring how Men with Children Experience Bi-directional Intimate Partner Aggression (IPA) and Help-seeking

“…Parental alienation is a relatively under-researched form of indirect psychological aggression, whereby one parent attempts to alienate and destroy the relationship between the child and the other parent through use of hurtful and damaging behaviours (Harman, Kruk & Hines, 2018). For men in particular, the fear of being unable to see their children and the potential loss or destruction of their relationship stops men from seeking help, compelling them to stay in violent relationships thus maintaining their experience of abuse (Bates, 2019;Berger, Douglas & Hines, 2016;Cook, 2009;Hine, Bates & Wallace, 2020;Hines, Brown & Dunning, 2007;Hines, Douglas & Berger, 2015).…”

“I Am Still Afraid of Her”: Men's Experiences of Post-Separation Abuse

“…POST SEPARATION ABUSE 8 8 This is important when considering the involvement of legal and administrative systems within post-separation contact, and specifically how these can be manipulated. Men are more likely to be a victim of this type of legal and administrative aggression due to gendered stereotypes that exist in these systems; indeed, men report experiencing it more than perpetrating (Hines, Douglas & Berger, 2016) and it has also been found to be impactful on men's and children's health (Berger, Douglas & Hines, 2015). Specifically when considering parental alienation, some research argues that mothers experience parental alienation to a greater degree (e.g., Balmer, Matthewson & Haines 2018), others argue that it is a behavior more engaged in by mothers against fathers because they are often in a stronger position through having custody (e.g., Lowenstein, 2013).…”