What´s Interpersonal Violence?

Interpersonal violence refers to violence that occurs between two people who know each other, usually within a family setting. The World Health Organisation defines Interpersonal violence as any behaviour within an intimate relationship that causes physical, psychological and/or physical harm. It can be perpetrated by a partner, ex-partner or an acquaintance.

Prior to the 1970s, little attention was paid to interpersonal violence and there was a common believe that it was best left behind closed doors (Fagan, 1989). This lack of attention led to a growth in research concerning interpersonal violence. Individuals working with female victims of interpersonal violence realised that in order to prevent further interpersonal violence there was a need to reform perpetrators (Rosenfeld, 1992). The increased attention on rehabilitation led to a number of models that attempted to explain why interpersonal violence.

The Duluth model, developed in 1981, became the first multi-disciplinary, community wide program designed to fully explain domestic violence. Its primary aim is to reduce interpersonal violence against women and it is now the most widely used model worldwide. The Model uses the “Power and Control Wheel” to help men understand there abusive behaviour and to convince men to use nonviolent behaviour outlined in the “Equality” wheel. It holds abusive men fully accountable for their violence and provides safety for victims of violence. However, many men who have perpetrated feel no sense of power and control in their lives (Dutton & Starzomski, 1994). The Duluth model deems interpersonal violence as a wilful exertion of male dominance over women to conform to the norms of society. In this view, the model does not assume that dom...

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...ls, like the Duluth model help to better understand male-perpetrated interpersonal violence, they fail to consider female perpetrators, and cases concerning same-sex relationships.

If familicide is ever going to be dealt with then society has to deal with hegemonic masculinity. However, for this to be dealt with there has to be collective effort and change in how everyone in society views gender roles. Only then will interpersonal violence be reduced.

It seems that hegemonic masculinity does a great deal in explaining male-perpetrated familicide, but it fails to explain female perpetrators. There is a great lack of gender symmetrical explanations of interpersonal violence. However, as the 21st century continues, and there is a continued strive for gender equality, there is good chance that there will be an increasing amount of gender based research on violence.