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Published in:

01-01-2006

Intimate Violence in Male Same-Sex Relationships

Authors: Jessica L. Stanley, Kim Bartholomew, Tracy Taylor, Doug Oram, Monica Landolt

Published in: Journal of Family Violence | Issue 1/2006

Abstract

Despite findings suggesting a high prevalence of violence in male same-sex relationships, little is known about the characteristics of this violence. This study explored the general nature of male same-sex intimate violence. The sample consisted of 69 gay and bisexual men, chosen from a randomly selected community sample, who reported at least 1 violent episode in an interview exploring their intimate relationships. Men's descriptions of the most severe incident in the most recent violent relationship were coded from the taped interviews. Patterns of intimate violence varied widely, including a range from mild to severe violence, and situations of unidirectional and bidirectional violence. In the vast majority of cases, violence was an escalation of ongoing conflict, involved bidirectional emotional abuse, and was more expressive than instrumental in nature. Difficulties in conflict resolution and attachment fears appeared to better explain the occurrence of violence than did the intent to control one's partner.

The coding system was developed in a group setting, Before work on this project commenced, the two coders established reliability on a group of interviews that were not part of this project.

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Title: Intimate Violence in Male Same-Sex Relationships
Authors: Jessica L. Stanley
Kim Bartholomew
Tracy Taylor
Doug Oram
Monica Landolt
Publication date: 01-01-2006
Publisher: Springer US
Published in: Journal of Family Violence / Issue 1/2006
Print ISSN: 0885-7482
Electronic ISSN: 1573-2851
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-005-9008-9

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