Male perspectives on intimate partner violence: A qualitative analysis from South Africa.


Journal

PloS one
ISSN: 1932-6203
Titre abrégé: PLoS One
Pays: United States
ID NLM: 101285081

Informations de publication

Date de publication:
2024
Historique:
received: 01 05 2022
accepted: 21 01 2024
medline: 16 4 2024
pubmed: 16 4 2024
entrez: 16 4 2024
Statut: epublish

Résumé

Intimate partner violence (IPV) affects one in four women globally and is more commonly enacted by men than women. Rates of IPV in South Africa exceed the global average. Exploring the background and context regarding why men use violence can help future efforts to prevent IPV. We explored adult men's perspectives of IPV, livelihoods, alcohol use, gender beliefs, and childhood exposure to abuse through a secondary analysis of qualitative interviews that were conducted in South Africa. The setting was a peri-urban township characterized by high unemployment, immigration from rural areas, and low service provision. We utilized thematic qualitative analysis that was guided by the social ecological framework. Of 30 participants, 20 were residents in the neighborhood, 7 were trained community members, and 3 were program staff. Men reported consumption of alcohol and lack of employment as being triggers for IPV and community violence in general. Multiple participants recounted childhood exposure to abuse. These themes, in addition to culturally prescribed gender norms and constructs of manhood, seemed to influence the use of violence. Interventions aimed at reducing IPV should consider the cultural and social impact on men's use of IPV in low-resource, high-IPV prevalence settings, such as peri-urban South Africa. This work highlights the persistent need for the implementation of effective primary prevention strategies that address contextual and economic factors in an effort to reduce IPV that is primarily utilized by men directed at women.

Sections du résumé

BACKGROUND BACKGROUND
Intimate partner violence (IPV) affects one in four women globally and is more commonly enacted by men than women. Rates of IPV in South Africa exceed the global average. Exploring the background and context regarding why men use violence can help future efforts to prevent IPV.
METHODS METHODS
We explored adult men's perspectives of IPV, livelihoods, alcohol use, gender beliefs, and childhood exposure to abuse through a secondary analysis of qualitative interviews that were conducted in South Africa. The setting was a peri-urban township characterized by high unemployment, immigration from rural areas, and low service provision. We utilized thematic qualitative analysis that was guided by the social ecological framework.
RESULTS RESULTS
Of 30 participants, 20 were residents in the neighborhood, 7 were trained community members, and 3 were program staff. Men reported consumption of alcohol and lack of employment as being triggers for IPV and community violence in general. Multiple participants recounted childhood exposure to abuse. These themes, in addition to culturally prescribed gender norms and constructs of manhood, seemed to influence the use of violence.
CONCLUSION CONCLUSIONS
Interventions aimed at reducing IPV should consider the cultural and social impact on men's use of IPV in low-resource, high-IPV prevalence settings, such as peri-urban South Africa. This work highlights the persistent need for the implementation of effective primary prevention strategies that address contextual and economic factors in an effort to reduce IPV that is primarily utilized by men directed at women.

Identifiants

pubmed: 38626034
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0298198
pii: PONE-D-22-12812
doi:

Types de publication

Journal Article

Langues

eng

Sous-ensembles de citation

IM

Pagination

e0298198

Informations de copyright

Copyright: © 2024 Pelowich et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Auteurs

Krysta A Pelowich (KA)

School of Public Health, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, United States of America.
Department of Community Health Sciences, Fielding School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States of America.

Tosin Akibu (T)

School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
UN Women Nigeria, Abuja, Nigeria.

Jennifer Pellowski (J)

Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences, School of Public Health, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, United States of America.
Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.

Abigail Hatcher (A)

School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Department of Health Behavior, School of Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States of America.

Dumisani Rebombo (D)

Sonke Gender Justice, Johannesburg, South Africa.

Nicola Christofides (N)

School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.

Karen Hampanda (K)

Center for Global Health, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, Colorado, United States of America.
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, Colorado, United States of America.

Classifications MeSH