The Role of the Socialisation of Women in Recognising and Responding to the Earliest Warning Signs of Intimate Partner Abuse
Tracks
Monarch Room - In Person
| Thursday, December 1, 2022 |
| 1:40 PM - 2:00 PM |
Overview
Leanne Nunn, University Of Tasmania
Speaker
Ms Leanne Nunn
Psychologist And PhD Student
University Of Tasmania
The Role of the Socialisation of Women in Recognising and Responding to the Earliest Warning Signs of Intimate Partner Abuse
Abstract
Reduction in the exposure of women to intimate partner abuse (IPA) has not yet occurred even with increased funding and national awareness programs. Due to the nature of intimate partner abuse and its effects on a woman’s internal and external resources over time, the longer she is living within an abusive relationship, the harder it becomes for her to escape.
This qualitative research project focused on listening to the voices of survivors of IPA and identified four key findings:
1) Women witnessed behaviours by the perpetrator early in the relationship that they felt were inappropriate or concerning or that they simply did not agree with. However, they did not label these behaviours as early warning signs of abuse, even when they were already very familiar with warning signs of abuse – they explained that it does not look they way you would expect in real life.
2) When women witnessed these inappropriate behaviours, they compromised or pushed down their internal reactions to them.
3) Every relationship included perpetrators’ intense charm, pursuit, love or excitement.
4) Every relationship included perpetrators’ controlling behaviours that imposed limits on the victim-survivor.
These findings suggest that the socialisation of women (including prioritising their partner’s needs over their own, maintaining the relationship at all costs, and a hope to be ‘swept up’ in their relationship) creates a foundation that can be manipulated by perpetrators to further enhance their abusive tactics.
There are important implications of this research that need to be incorporated into primary prevention programs going forward.
This qualitative research project focused on listening to the voices of survivors of IPA and identified four key findings:
1) Women witnessed behaviours by the perpetrator early in the relationship that they felt were inappropriate or concerning or that they simply did not agree with. However, they did not label these behaviours as early warning signs of abuse, even when they were already very familiar with warning signs of abuse – they explained that it does not look they way you would expect in real life.
2) When women witnessed these inappropriate behaviours, they compromised or pushed down their internal reactions to them.
3) Every relationship included perpetrators’ intense charm, pursuit, love or excitement.
4) Every relationship included perpetrators’ controlling behaviours that imposed limits on the victim-survivor.
These findings suggest that the socialisation of women (including prioritising their partner’s needs over their own, maintaining the relationship at all costs, and a hope to be ‘swept up’ in their relationship) creates a foundation that can be manipulated by perpetrators to further enhance their abusive tactics.
There are important implications of this research that need to be incorporated into primary prevention programs going forward.
Biography
Leanne has over twenty years of experience as a psychologist in the clinical, management and training sectors and has her own lived experience of intimate partner abuse (IPA). She is also a PhD Student at the University of Tasmania focusing on the earliest warning signs of IPA. She has worked with thousands of women that have experienced IPA or childhood abuse extensively throughout her career, both individually and in groups, across private practice, hospital and community settings.
