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Violent Men: Ordinary and Deviant

NCJ Number
236730
Journal
Journal of Interpersonal Violence Volume: 23 Issue: 2 Dated: February 2008 Pages: 225-244
Author(s)
Kerstin E. Edin; Ann Lalos; Ulf Hogberg; Lars Dahlgren
Date Published
February 2008
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This article explores discources of intimate partner violence and causal attribution in professionals working with violent men.
Abstract
This article deals with discourses of intimate partner violence and is based on interviews with professionals who meet violent men. The professionals emphasized the importance of men taking unreserved responsibility for their violent behavior. Intimate partner violence was viewed not only as "power and control" but as the result of complex situations and interplays. The discourses presented an ambivalent explanation of violent men as both ordinary and deviant. They were understood as having a strained background, but to be rather ordinary, often functioning well at work and in society. Yet, they have nonstandard views of women, act deviant in their communication and interplay with others, and cannot cope with certain situations in intimate relationships. Based on the interviews, men inclined to partner violence may be generalized as those who: attack immediately, explode unexpectedly, or ultimately become aggressive. The discussion challenges unreflected discourses as means for change when counteracting violence. (Published Abstract)