You’re in That Realm of Unpredictability: Mateship, Loyalty, and Men Challenging Men Who Use Domestic Violence Against Women

This study reports on discourse analysis of transcripts from focus group discussions held with 28 “ordinary” men about domestic violence. Two broad “mateship” themes emerged: (a) a strong “mateship” discourse that produced public/private boundaries around discussions about intimate heterosexual rela...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Violence against women 2014-08, Vol.20 (8), p.1012-1036
Main Authors: Towns, Alison J., Terry, Gareth
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Boundaries
Discourse Analysis
Domestic violence
Domestic Violence - prevention & control
Ethics
Family Violence
Focus Groups
Friends - psychology
Gender Identity
Heterosexuality
Humans
Loyalty
Male
Males
Masculinity
Men
Morals
New Zealand
Partner Abuse
Personnel Loyalty
Prevention
Threat
Women
Citations: Items that this one cites
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:This study reports on discourse analysis of transcripts from focus group discussions held with 28 “ordinary” men about domestic violence. Two broad “mateship” themes emerged: (a) a strong “mateship” discourse that produced public/private boundaries around discussions about intimate heterosexual relationships. Policed by the threat of violence, these boundaries prevented some men from challenging men about their violence. (b) “Loyalty to mates” discourses constituted attention to men’s violence against women as threatening the moral integrity of all men. Finally, some men positioned themselves against men’s domestic violence, distinguishing their masculinity from men who abuse women. Implications for prevention campaigns are discussed.
ISSN:1077-8012
1552-8448
DOI:10.1177/1077801214546232