NCJ Number
177004
Date Published
1998
Length
268 pages
Annotation
Drawing on original research, this book analyzes the various ways in which men describe, deny, justify, and excuse their violence toward women they know, principally their wives, partners, and girlfriends.
Abstract
The book stems from a 3-year research project that focused on men who have been violent to women they know, usually wives, partners, and girlfriends, but also included mothers, neighbors, and other friends and acquaintances. The study was based in West Yorkshire (England) and featured interviews with 75 men; of these, 60 were included in the main study. The interviews involved detailed accounts from the men of what they had done; their understanding of why they had done it; the responses of family, friends, and the state and other agencies; their attitude toward and relationships with women; what they had done about their violence; and their hopes and plans for the future. Following an introductory chapter, the next two chapters set the scene by first reviewing approaches to the definition and explanation of men's violence toward women, and second by outlining some of the major issues in studying and researching men's violent behavior. Chapter 4 examines a significant academic and political issue, namely, the problematic connections between violence and talking about violence. The next four chapters show the various ways in which men talk about their violence toward women in terms of the contexts of their violence; descriptions of their violence; forms of accounting for their violence; and the sexual and other subtexts of their talk. Two chapters concern what happens after the violence through the responses of agencies and the possible attempts by men to move away from violence. The final chapter reviews key issues for theory, policy, politics, and practice that have been identified throughout the book. 6 tables, 5 figures, appended summary of the men in the interview sample, notes, a 351-item bibliography, and a subject index