Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://anrows.intersearch.com.au/anrowsjspui/handle/1/13737
Record ID: 08dd4e76-33e1-4dd1-b0e0-1851aa0b9b0e
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1097184x211038998
Type: Journal Article
Title: Changed men? Men talking about violence and change in domestic and family violence perpetrator intervention programs
Authors: Wendt, Sarah
Seymour, Kate
Natalier, Kristin
Topic: Perpetrator interventions
Categories: ANROWS Completed Register of Active Research projects
Year: 2021
Publisher: Sage journals
Abstract:  This article critically interrogates the ways in which men's talk about domestic and family violence (DFV) and change reproduce gender hierarchies which are themselves productive of violence. Drawing on interviews with men who have completed a perpetrator program, and building on the work of Hearn (1998), we show that these men’s conceptualizations of change both reflect and contribute to the discursive construction of masculinity, responsibility, and violence. By reflecting on men’s representations of change—and of themselves as “changed” men—we argue that DFV perpetrator interventions constitute a key site for the performance of dominant masculinities, reproducing the gendered discourses underpinning and enabling men’s violence.
Notes: 

The research has concluded and the output has been added to the ANROWS library. Please visit https://www.anrows.org.au/register-of-active-research/ for more information on the RAR.

BACKGROUND

"Safe at home" programs, within the context of a focus on perpetrator accountability, are a critical counter to the traditional focus on safeguarding women and children by moving them out of the family home. Through a partnership between Flinders University and a non-government organisation, this project will evaluate a pilot scheme based on safe-at-home principles, thereby contributing to both the development of, and evidence base concerning, perpetrator-focused responses to domestic and family violence.

AIM

The project aims to build conceptual and practice understandings as a critical basis for strengthening responses to domestic and family violence, encompassing the infrastructure, program and policy elements required to address the needs of both perpetrators and victims. Its particular focus is on exploring the place of perpetrator accommodation services in domestic and family violence responses.

METHODS

As a qualitative project, this research will produce a detailed picture of the perpetrator accommodation model incorporating an evaluation of the program within its sociopolitical context. Phase 1 will systematically document the policy drivers and local context for the perpetrator accommodation model as well as its particular program logic, guiding principles, practices and elements. Phase 2 will review existing research, providing the basis for a process evaluation and highlighting the intersections of theory, implementation and practice. Phase 3 will generate empirical data through semi-structured, in-depth interviews with male perpetrators (service users).

SIGNIFICANCE

Perpetrator accommodation programs are capturing policy attention for their potential to cut through the housing, safety and wellbeing challenges of women and children while aligning with the growing emphasis on perpetrator accountability. This important and timely research project will contribute to the limited evidence base concerning domestic and family violence responses that focus both on men as perpetrators of violence and on the safety of women and children. It will also enable a focus on the specific significance of accommodation in the domestic and family violence context.

FUNDING BODY

University Innovation Partnership grant & industry funding

FUNDING BUDGET

$50,000

PROJECT START DATE

February 2021

EXPECTED COMPLETION DATE

February 2022

 

URI: https://anrows.intersearch.com.au/anrowsjspui/handle/1/13737
Appears in Collections:Journal Articles

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