HOMOSEXUALITY VOILENCE

Same Sex Intimate Partner Violence



Same Sex Intimate Partner Violence

Introduction

Intimate partner violence is a perplexing health problem, especially for women and children. It is defined by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as violence committed by a spouse, ex-spouse, or current or former boyfriend or girlfriend. The high occurrence and emotional consequences have encouraged the creation of batterers' intervention programs (BIPs), throughout Canada and the United States as a way to stop the violence. The emergence of these BIPs occurred in the late 1970's and corresponded with the increase of services for victims of domestic abuse. Many of these programs teaches abusive men to take responsibility for their abuse, teaches them how to interrupt and avoid abuse, and helps them to change sexist attitude and beliefs that underlie their rationale for abuse. Much research has indicated that batterers hold rigid sex role stereotypes, or traditional, stereotypical views of masculine and feminine role and male-female relationships. As well, mens' sense of failure from attempting to achieve the excessively high, traditional masculine image contributes to their anger towards and need for control over women.

Characteristics and Attitudes of Abusive Men

Throughout the many cases and instances of abuse that occur, there are various victims, characteristics and attitudes involved. Discussing abusive men involves the consideration of many factors and distinctiveness. First and foremost, abuse by men can be considered an escalating form of violence, characterized by different forms of terrorization with possessive and controlling features (Smith, 2007). To consider abusive men as simply violent or over aggressive is incorrect, since there are many undiscovered reasons to explain their behaviour. For the general public, abusive behaviours are known as slapping, kicking, hitting or any form of forced sexual contact (Smith, 2007). However, there are other forms of abuse that also need recognition. Verbal abuse, intimidation, shaming, isolation, monitoring behaviours and restricting health care or aid are also important types of abuse commonly used by males (Smith, 2007). Abusive men have alternate characteristics and attitudes depending on the factors involved in their specific situation. For example they often intimidate to gain control and abuse and monitor their partner to ensure they don't speak about the incident. Violent men also process information according to accessible systems of knowledge revealing their negative past experiences of human contact and relationships (Chamberland, Fortin, Turgeon, & Laporte, 2007). These can also be described as triggers which force formerly abused young adults or parents to mistreat their partner or children in the same way shape or form that they endured or witnessed as children. Taking this into consideration, to directly punish abusive men without studying their reasoning for their behaviour and recognition of their acts would be unjust.

The behaviour of abusive men is multi-dimensional, including familial or environmental factors. Features such as age, alcohol or substance abuse, unemployment, low income, low academic achievement, poverty or the use of violence to resolve a conflict and gain control are common illustrations (Smith, 2007). Control over women is a typical characteristic of abusive men ...