Chico State University
Social Work 325 Spring 2017
Intimate Partner Violence (IPV): Researching and Understanding it
Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a very serious, preventable public health problem that has challenged me for a long time. I am passionate about this topic; however I will choose to remain neutral for the most part, for the sake of this paper. The term “intimate partner violence” (also known as domestic violence) describes physical violence, sexual violence, stalking and psychological aggression, including coercive acts by a current or former intimate partner.
An intimate partner can be anyone, at any given time in an intimate relationship that embodies these characteristics:
Emotional connectedness …show more content…
Based on my experiences and encounters with people who have been a victim of IPV or people who are the actual perpetrators, I feel this is a present and concerning epidemic that has transcended generations. Our forefathers created an ideology that all men are equal, just NOT women. Immigrants are affected even more by this epidemic. (viii.)
I also believe that even though women are primarily targeted for IPV, men are at an all-time high as well. Statistics show on average nearly 20 people per minute are physically abused by an intimate partner in the United States. During one year, this equates to more than 10 million women and men. (1)
When men and women are violent in heterosexual relationships, they usually engage in different patterns of behavior, for different reasons, and with different consequences. The relative proportion of men and women who use violence against a partner differs greatly, depending on whether one is looking at situational violence, abuse, or responsive violence. (Adapted from Dutton et al’s (2006) summary of Johnson’s …show more content…
According to the CDC lesbian and gay men appear to abuse their partners at approximately the same rate as heterosexual men and women, Their tactics often exploit the victim’s experience of heterosexism and homophobia, as well as inequalities other than gender, such as income or education. Even though scientific and legal recognition of same-sex relationships has increased, same-sex intimate partner violence (IPV) has not been included in the core conceptualization of the research and theorizing about IPV.
“Examining the violence that occurs in same-sex relationships allows us to reframe how we look at IPV and scrutinize the ideological frameworks, cultural narratives, and stereotypes that have been set forth as well investigate further the predictors of violence and the use of scales