'I planned to survive': The role and experiences of women in the desistance from male-perpetrated intimate partner violence

Abstract

Despite 40 years of research, evidence regarding the effectiveness of common responses to male-perpetrated intimate partner violence (IPV) is mixed. To improve the safety of victims/survivors and their children, it is instructive to apply the learnings from different bodies of research, such as desistance, to IPV. However, considering the unique dimensions associated with IPV, the relevance of desistance frameworks to this crime is unclear. In particular, IPV occurs within a dyadic and domestic context, meaning that women who experience IPV are not only in a unique position to observe their partner's behaviours (and how they change over time), but also to implement strategies to initiate and support their partner's desistance.

This study involved semi-structured interviews with 40 women who had experienced male-perpetrated IPV within a current or former relationship. Focusing on the period where participants relationships with abusers were still intact, 15 women reported that the violence had stopped or decreased significantly for a period of six months or longer (i.e., desistance of the IPV perpetrated against them). The other 25 women reported that the violence had been ongoing or escalated throughout the relationship (i.e., persistence of the IPV perpetrated against them).

The analysis found that respondents were highly agentic actors within their relationships and implemented a range of strategies to both mitigate their day-to-day risk of violence and support their partners' long-term behavioural changes. Even in situations where the violence did not stop entirely, the strategies participants implemented were important for inhibiting escalating patterns of violence and abuse within their relationship. Although their understanding of abusers' thought processes and motivations was limited by contextual awareness, participants' narratives suggested that desistance would not have occurred, but for their actions.

However, descriptions of the patterns of violence and abuse provided by participants highlight the limitations of current definitions of desistance in relation to IPV. In particular, the complete cessation of all forms of violence within the relationships was only reported by three women in the sample. While a reduction in physical violence was frequently reported, so was the persistence or escalation of coercive control and emotional abuse.

The findings from this study demonstrate a number of ways in which desistance theory can help to understand the processes by which male-perpetrated IPV may cease or reduce significantly. However, they also point to areas where desistance frameworks may be enhanced or adapted to improve their relevance to IPV, as well as other offending behaviours.