Date of Conferral

2022

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Psychology

Advisor

Reba Glidewell

Abstract

Intimate partner violence (IPV) affects every race, culture, orientation, and sex. However, researchers focus largely on women as victims of IPV by men. Unfortunately, social and gender norms contribute to the focus on women as victims while adult heterosexual men remain underreported, underrepresented, and viewed predominantly as perpetrators. For example, 91% of men were arrested when IPV was reported, and officers responded to the call. This was referred to as gendered stigmatization. This transcendental qualitative phenomenological approach focused on the lived experiences of law enforcement officers who were called to the scene where IPV had occurred or was occurring, and adult heterosexual males were the victim. Data collection involved semi-structured interviews of nine law enforcement officers from various counties. The law enforcement officers were male, female, veteran and newer; they also had direct experience with adult heterosexual male victims of IPV. Three research questions guided the study and were based on their perspectives on gender in general related to IPV, how they perceive male victims of IPV, and their lived experiences with victims of IPV. Key findings demonstrated that although law enforcement officers acknowledged adult heterosexual males were victims of IPV, women were victims more often and their perspectives aligned with gender asymmetry. The officers acknowledged that the male victims minimized their experiences with their partner for fear of them or their partner being arrested and due to societal norms of masculinity. The results also confirmed that drug and alcohol intoxication and cheating or assumptions of cheating played a role. Findings may be used by law enforcement for positive social change for IPV guidance.

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