Suffering in Silence: Examining Society's Perceptions of Intimate Partner Violence

Little is known about male victims of intimate partner violence. The purpose of this project was to explore societal attitudes that these men might encounter. The current project utilized a cross-sectional survey design administered using an anonymous, web-based response system (Qualtrics). Given a set of narrative vignettes describing different examples of relationship violence, participants were asked to determine on a 5-point scale how “appropriate” the character’s behavior was in each of 11 interactions. Half of the vignettes (odd numbers) described a man’s (Michael) actions toward a woman (Denice) and half were framed the opposite (even numbers). Half of the survey participants completed this form of the survey and half completed a version which reversed the roles of Michael and Denice (evens and odds). Final results (n=16) indicated that male participants viewed three different behaviors as being less “serious” than did female participants. These three behaviors were: slapping their partner, grabbing the partner, and telling their partner that they shouldn’t be talking to anyone but them when out in a social setting. Results also indicated that in three instances, participants in the helping professions scored three behaviors as being “more serious” than did other participants. These behaviors included, slapping a partner, grabbing a partner, and one partner forcing the other partner to kiss them in a public setting. Understanding and studying societal biases that exist toward these men will help social workers address barriers which may prevent them from seeking help and develop interventions to meet their needs. It is also important to understand the attitudes concerning Michael as a victim versus Denice as a victim for the very same reason.The Ohio State University College of Social WorkNo embargoAcademic Major: Social Wor