Practitioner’s experiences of working with men who engaged in Intimate Partner Violence: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis

Prof Doc Thesis


Rusu-Tibreanu, S. 2022. Practitioner’s experiences of working with men who engaged in Intimate Partner Violence: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Prof Doc Thesis University of East London School of Psychology https://doi.org/10.15123/uel.8wqq7
AuthorsRusu-Tibreanu, S.
TypeProf Doc Thesis
Abstract

Historically, Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) has been a subject to a variety of research, mainly based on the gendered perspective of investigating women who have
been victims of male perpetration. However, within the last few decades, research evidence has been suggesting that IPV can be perpetrated by both men and women. To date, these research findings have led to disagreements between feminist activists, psychologists, and other professionals in relation to definition, study, and treatment of IPV. Albeit the present controversy, there is a growing number of men presenting with difficulties around IPV in private, public, and statutory services.

The aim of the current study, thus, is to give voice to practitioners working with male clients of IPV, to learn more about their subjective experiences. Interviews were conducted with 6 participants, 2 men and 4 women. The transcripts were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. A total of three themes were developed; a rich account of how the gendered model of IPV led to the invalidation of male abuse was foregrounded and how this might have affected how men presented their difficulties related to IPV in therapy. Furthermore, challenges arising from personal associations of IPV were discussed, including distortions of male clients’ narratives of IPV and preconceived ideas of gender. Finally, all of the participants encouraged integrative treatment models depending on each individual case of IPV, including approaches related to person-centred psychotherapy, attachment theory, and cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT).

The findings highlight the need for practitioners to pay attention to the presentation of IPV in therapy, which is linked to the threat of the stereotypical masculine self-concept in society. Also, the study supports the need for practitioners to be aware of distortions/ assumptions of IPV narratives due to personal associations with IPV. Finally, practitioners recommend integrative approaches in which the therapeutic relationship is considered as central.

KeywordsIntimate partner violence; male clients; counselling psychology; therapeutic relationship; treatment; intervention
Year2022
PublisherUniversity of East London
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.15123/uel.8wqq7
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Publication dates
Online06 Mar 2025
Publication process dates
Completed26 Oct 2022
Deposited06 Mar 2025
Copyright holder© 2022 The Author. Original content in this thesis is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0). Any third-party copyright material present remains the property of its respective owner(s) and is licensed under its existing terms
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