| Name: | Description: | Size: | Format: | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 124.67 KB | Adobe PDF |
Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
Research about intergenerational transmission of spouse abuse produced diverse results
assigning different degrees of importance to parental abuse or to child witnessing of interparental
violence as risk factors for future intimate partner violence. The present study analyses early
experiences of abuse through childhood recollections of physical and emotional abuse and
neglect and of witnessing interparental violence. Data were collected using a semi-structured
interview specially conceived for this study. Some of the main issues explored were parental
behaviour regulation, guidance, affection, attending child emotional needs and congruency
between demands and expectancies and child development and interparental relationship and
violence. Our participants are adults inmates arrested for violence or homicide against partner:
twenty men and eight women arrested for murdering the partner and six men arrested for
violence against the partner. A content analysis procedure was used to categorize the interviews
transcripts. We did not find any regularity neither between mother or father's physical abuse or
witnessing interparental violence and the perpetration of intimate partner violence as adult. On
the contrary, emotional neglect is constantly present in the childhood experiences of the
individuals. We discuss the importance of emotional neglect and emotional abuse for emotional
regulation and attachment in romantic adult relationship accordingly to attachment theory and for
the construction of beliefs about the self and others accordingly to schema-focused approach.
Description
Keywords
Citation
Pereira, Paula Sismeiro; Gonçalves, Rui Abrunhosa (2013). Early childhood experiences of intimate partner violence. In XXXIIIrd International Congress on Law and Mental Health. Amesterdam
Publisher
International Academy of Law and Mental Health