Les différentes recherches portant sur les homicides conjugaux, et plus spécialement des uxoricides, plus documentés parce que plus fréquents, apportent de nombreuses informations pertinentes concernant le contexte entourant l'homicide, la relation entre les conjoints et son évolution et même, parfois, sur l’enfance de l’homme qui a posé un tel geste sur sa conjointe ou ex-conjointe. Toutefois, des incohérences ont été relevées dans les écrits sur le sujet faisant qu’il est difficile d’identifier la dynamique qui conduit des hommes à tuer leur conjointe. Le déroulement de la vie des hommes ayant enlevé la vie de leur conjointe, c’est-à-dire les événements qu’ils ont vécus tout au cours de leur vie et qui ont pris un sens particulier pour eux, nous est apparue une avenue qui, à notre connaissance, n’aurait pas été étudiée. Il a dès lors été convenu que l’objectif principal de ce mémoire de maîtrise en criminologie consisterait à explorer s’il est possible d’identifier, dans la vie d’un échantillon d’hommes qui ont tué leur conjointe, un enchaînement d’événements qui pourrait contribuer à la compréhension de la dynamique conduisant à l’homicide conjugal. Plus précisément, il s’agissait d’identifier les perceptions qu’ont ces hommes des différents événements qu’ils considèrent comme ayant été marquants dans leur vie et les réactions qu’ont successivement produites ces perceptions. Le devis de cette étude est qualitatif. Dix hommes incarcérés forment l’échantillon. Tous ont été reconnus coupables du meurtre de leur conjointe ou ex-conjointe. Suite aux entrevues semi-structurées de type rétrospectif et thématique, une reconstitution des lignes de vie inspirée de la théorie de Agnew (2006) ainsi qu’une analyse thématique des récits recueillis ont été effectuées. Bien que les événements de la vie de chacun des hommes leur soient particuliers, il ressort néanmoins une structure commune aux lignes de vie. Cette structure est marquée d’un événement ou de conditions de vie marquants se rapportant à l’enfance, d’un événement porteur d’une remise en question survenue plus tard et d’un événement déclencheur conduisant au meurtre. L’événement porteur d’une remise en question paraît occuper une place centrale dans la vie des hommes participant à notre étude. Cet événement porteur d’une remise en question vient modifier les comportements et attitudes de l’homme manifestés subséquemment. Ainsi, à la lumière des résultats de cette recherche, il apparaît que l’ensemble du développement de la vie des hommes uxoricides, et plus spécialement les événements qu’ils identifient comme étant marquants, leur enchaînement et, surtout, leur façon de percevoir ces événements et d’y réagir doivent être pris en compte dans l’étude de la trajectoire qui a finalement abouti au passage à l’acte homicidaire. Autre fait à considérer, plusieurs des hommes interviewés ont mentionné qu’ils sentaient qu’un événement de la sorte se préparait dans leur vie. Ceci suggère une certaine prévisibilité de l’acte qui pourrait être perceptible dans le récit que font les hommes de leur vie et de leur perception d’eux en relation avec les éléments qu’ils identifient comme ayant été marquants pour eux au cours de celle-ci. Il reste toutefois beaucoup à faire dans cette découverte d’un outil de prévention de l’uxoricide. / The different research concerning domestic homicides contribute numerous information relative to the context surrounding the actual homicide, the relationship between the spouses and the evolution, and occasionally on the childhood of the man who committed such an act towards his spouse or ex-spouse. However, certain incoherence’s have been raised among the research making it difficult to identify the pattern which leads husbands to kill their wives. The development of the lives of the men, who have killed their spouses, more precisely the significant events in their lives, is an avenue, to our knowledge, that has not been studied. The main objective of this Masters memoir in the field of criminology aims to explore, from a sample of men who have killed their wives, the possibility of identifying the chain of events that could contribute to the understanding of the pattern which leads to domestic homicide. More precisely, it aims at identifying the perceptions that men have of different events that they consider significant and the reactions which were caused by the said perceptions. The methodology used in this study is qualitative. The sample consists of ten incarcerated men. They all have been found guilty of murdering their wives or ex-wives. Following the semi-structured interviews, which were retrospective and thematic, a reconstruction of their lives, inspired by Agnew’s (2006) theory, was conducted Finally, thematic analysis of the events were also conducted. Although the significant events for each subject have their own specific characteristics, a common structure among the life lines is apparent. This structure is marked by an event or living conditions which had an impact on the subjects during childhood, hence an event which led the subjects to question themselves later on and an event which triggered the behavior leading to the murder. The event leading to the subjects questioning themselves seems to be central in the lives of the men who participated in our study. This questioning modify’s the behaviors and the attitudes manifested by the men. In light of these findings, it appears that the entire development of the lives of the uxoricides men, and more precisely the events they identify as significant and their chain reaction and, especially their self-perception during these events and the way they react must be taken into account when looking at the trajectory leading up to the homicide. Another factor to consider, is that many of the men interviewed mentioned that they felt that a dramatic event was about to take place in their lives. This suggests a certain predictability of the act that could be perceptible from their self-perception. There remains however much to do, in terms of transforming this discovery into a prevention tool applicable to uxoricide.

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal

While previous research has explored women’s experiences of intimate partner violence (IPV), their help-seeking experiences and the barriers they encounter when seeking support, little research has explored the perspectives of women with disabilities regarding helpful IPV prevention, intervention and healing strategies. My qualitative research project sought to address two research questions: what have women with disabilities experienced when accessing support (from family, friends, and services) for IPV; and what do women with disabilities say would be helpful in the prevention or intervention of intimate partner violence. I undertook a secondary analysis of six interviews of women with disabilities who had been interviewed as part of a larger research study. My thematic analysis revealed many themes including experiences with sources of support—such as family, friends, counselling, and shelters—and strategies for prevention, including education and awareness; support system; affordable childcare and transportation; and self-care, spirituality, community, and social change. Barriers to support I identified include lack of education and awareness, lack of resources, lack of services, community size and dynamics, and potentially exclusive admission criteria. My intersectional analysis revealed the ways in which women’s social locations—such as their gender, cultural background, socio-economic situation, religion, disability and relationship status—influenced and shaped their help-seeking behaviours and their access to support systems. Several recommendations to address gaps in service provision are provided.

Despite the increased social recognition, law and policy changes within the criminal justice system, and the widespread use of court mandated batterer intervention programs (BIPs) domestic violence continues to be a persistent problem. The lack of significant decline in incidence rates along with a growing body of empirical evidence that indicates BIPs are, at best, only moderately effective raises serious concern. Effective policies and programs are based upon empirically tested theory. The assertion "the batterer's motive is power and control" has become fundamental to almost all of our currently used and accepted mainstream theoretical explanations regarding domestic violence. However, the domestic violence literature has not yet advanced any specific conceptualizations of power as a construct, it has not produced a theoretical model of power that articulates why or how power specifically acts as a motive for a batterer, and it has never empirically tested this fundamental assertion. The purpose of this research is to address this gap by focusing on the role of power in domestic violence theory and offer a more complete conceptualization and precise operationalization of power. The main goal of this study was to advance our current understanding of an individual's sense of power and control as a motive for using coercive control tactics, such as psychological and physical abuse tactics against an intimate partner. Therefore, the primary objective of this study was to develop and assess the measurability of the construct "internal power". Specifically, it defined, conceptualized, and operationalized internal power. Then a Pearson's product-moment correlation coefficient was examined and a principal components factor analysis was conducted to investigate the dimensionality and underlying factor structure of internal power. Findings indicated empirical support for the proposed measure of internal power, allowing its relationship to an individual's use of psychological and physical abuse tactics to be empirically assessed. Results of a t-test and examination of a Pearson's product-moment correlation coefficient indicated that internal power is inversely related to an individual's use of psychological and physical abuse tactics. Findings indicate that both the measure for internal power and its potential relationship to an individual's use of psychological and physical abuse tactics warrants further exploration and development.

Despite the large number of children and siblings who are exposed to domestic violence, relatively few studies have examined sibling influences on the psychosocial effects of exposure to domestic violence. The aim of this study was to explore the opinions of experienced child and family clinicians on whether, and how, the presence of siblings moderates children’s experiences of domestic violence and any subsequent effects on their development and wellbeing. This study employed an Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis to analyse interviews with five clinicians. Analysis of the interviews revealed six superordinate themes; one sibling taking on a protective and parental role; polarisation of sibling relationships; factors influencing sibling relationships; the impact on the sibling taking on a parenting or protective role; impact on the sibling being protected; and the importance of individual family context. Overall, the findings from the interviews with the clinicians suggest that in families where children are exposed to domestic violence one child tends to take on a parental role and also attempts to protect their siblings from the violence. These results also emphasise the importance of formulation in understanding the influence of sibling relationships on the psychosocial effects of domestic violence, as there are many different factors which need to be considered. Some implications for clinical practice are discussed and potential future research directions are outlined.

The aim of this qualitative study was to explore which inner conceptions about the abused older women the professional social workers had and how they experienced the enconter of an abused old woman in an intimate partner relation. The theoretical background is social construction by Berger and Luckmann. This theory was uset to analyze the transcribed interviews. This study is based on nine interviews with five professionals in social services, three volunteers from the voluntary sector and one social worker who worked in a community based support group for abused older women. The result of this study shows that older women were often abused, by a relative they were dependent on, in their home. The participants describe emotions of insecurity and frustration in their efforts to help the older women. They also described difficulties in creating confidence with the women. The conclusion is that the abused older women don´t always get the support of interventions from the social service agencies.

The purpose of the following essay has been to identify four men’s momentums of their volunteer access to treatment for their disruptive gender-based violence. The questions that have been asked in the entrance of this field have been divided into the following questions: (i) is it possible to identify the processes of change that leads to turning points into the interviewed men's treatment of violence, (ii) how do the interviewed men, themselves, reflect on their turning points into treatment, and (iii) are there other, implicit, interpretations and analyzes of men's access into treatment that I can discern in their stories? As a point of departure of the analysis one theoretical perspective has been used to explain and analyze men’s access to treatment, the sociological life course perspective, focusing on the concept of turning points. The method to approach this field has been qualitative interviews with a life story oriented approach which means that, focus has been to let the four interviewed men describe their lives from early childhood to their adulthood and from their histories identify contingent processes to their access of treatment. The study resulted in a division of two parts, one part consisting the processes that have been identified by the men’s stories of present tense of violent outbursts. The second part consists of men’s own stories and interpretations of the processes that contributed to their access to treatment where I imposed that, the men were in treatment when the interviews were conducted. In the first part, I discovered that the insight of a problematic behavior has occurred when another group of actors have become involved in a specific dispute arising or that the women in the relationship left them. A common expression of events seemed to be fear in different arenas; the fear of losing their partner or the fear of being alone, fear of that other people's views upon them would change, or that they would not be socially accepted. In the second part, it is consistently that the men problematizes blame and shame that they have suffered but this with the discursive understanding of the attributes of a man who batter, as they themselves, are internalized by the process of treatment that they undergo. The result of both parts was that the men seemed to need processes of opportunities for a win to avoid losses in their access to treatment. It took a win for the men, or at least that they have avoided any losses to come to the realization that there are opportunities and possibilities for them. The processes for men’s access to treatment that have been found have been a balance between risk and loss and the chance of possible gains and either the risk or chance can be ruled out.

Syftet med denna kvalitativa studie är att studera vilka sociala förhållanden som kan ha haft betydelse för kvinnornas val av att stanna kvar eller lämna en våldsam relation samt vilka identiteter tillskriver kvinnorna sig själva under berättandet. Tio intervjuer med kvinnor genomfördes och analyserades utifrån ett hermeneutiskt perspektiv. Centralt i vår studie är intervjupersonernas livsberättelser. I resultatet används ett narrativt och hermeneutisk per-spektiv för att presentera berättelserna och förståelsen som formas mellan berättaren och den som lyssnar. Resultatet visar att de förhållanden som har haft betydelse för att få kvinnorna att stanna kvar är: hot, rädsla och normalisering. Det innebär för dessa kvinnor en normalisering som tänjer på gränserna för vad som är normalt/avvikande. Andra betydande omständigheter var kvinnans band och känslor gentemot sin man, barn, avsaknad av verklighetsförankring, hopp samt ekonomisk trygghet. Studiens resultat visar även att de dominerande faktorerna som får kvinnan att lämna relationen kan dels bero på kvinnans känsla av skuld gentemot sitt barn, ny omdefinition av sin verklighetsförankring, förlorat hopp och att kvinnans känslor försvunnit för mannen. / The purpose of this qualitative study is to examine which social relations may have had sig-nificance for the choice for the women to stay or leave in a violent relationship, and which identities the interviewed subscribed themselves during the telling of their stories. Ten inter-views were made and analyzed from a hermeneutical perspective. The central in our study was the interviewees’ life stories. In the result a narrative and hermeneutical perspective was used to represent the stories and the understandings formed between the teller and the listener. The data showed that the relationships which resulted in a choice for the women to stay was; threats, fear, and normalization. The normalization is a form of adaptation for the women to accept the dysfunctional relationship. Other important factors were the women’s ties and emo-tional feelings towards the husband / man, children / child, lack of reality, hope and economic stability. The study also showed that the dominating factors for the women to leave the rela-tionship were; her fear of guilt towards her child / children, a new definition of reality, lost hope of change for the relationship and lose of feelings for the partner.

No description available.

While previous research has explored women’s experiences of intimate partner violence (IPV), their help-seeking experiences and the barriers they encounter when seeking support, little research has explored the perspectives of women with disabilities regarding helpful IPV prevention, intervention and healing strategies. My qualitative research project sought to address two research questions: what have women with disabilities experienced when accessing support (from family, friends, and services) for IPV; and what do women with disabilities say would be helpful in the prevention or intervention of intimate partner violence. I undertook a secondary analysis of six interviews of women with disabilities who had been interviewed as part of a larger research study. My thematic analysis revealed many themes including experiences with sources of support—such as family, friends, counselling, and shelters—and strategies for prevention, including education and awareness; support system; affordable childcare and transportation; and self-care, spirituality, community, and social change. Barriers to support I identified include lack of education and awareness, lack of resources, lack of services, community size and dynamics, and potentially exclusive admission criteria. My intersectional analysis revealed the ways in which women’s social locations—such as their gender, cultural background, socio-economic situation, religion, disability and relationship status—influenced and shaped their help-seeking behaviours and their access to support systems. Several recommendations to address gaps in service provision are provided.