A study on males' experiences with intimate partner violence

The purpose of this study is to examine the experiences and characteristics of men as\ud victims of intimate partner violence (IPV). This secondary analysis was conducted on\ud preexisting quantitative data collected by Pennell and Burke (2002). Using the\ud descriptive design, this quantitative study focused on data collected by the San Diego\ud Association of Governments (SANDAG) and supported by the National Institute of\ud Justice (NIJ). There were a total of 385 victims of IVP in the sample, of which 73\ud were male victims. The main instrument used to gather data for the study was from\ud computerized databases, telephone interviews, and self-enumerated questionnaires,\ud including several Likert-type scales items. A major finding was that white, middle\ud aged (n = 34.82) males had the highest percent of being a victim of IPV by their\ud spouses. Over a quarter of the male victims were abused by a significant other. Most\ud suspects used physical abuse against the male victims by using their hands to hit,\ud push or shove the men. Male victims of IPV were reluctant to seek medical attention,\ud although nearly a third of the men sustained injuries from the abuse. Another major\ud finding was that male victims of IPV still do not have the resources readily available\ud to them such as counseling in comparison to female victims of IPV. Most male\ud victims of IPV had a history of IPV. Finally, male victims reported that their children\ud were present over half of the time when the abuse occurred. There is a real need for\ud more awareness about male victims of IPV. Professionals who engage with male\ud victims of IPV firsthand need to be educated about the barriers that men endure and realize that women can be the perpetrator. Further research needs to be conducted to\ud gain a better understanding of male victims??? experiences with intimate partner\ud violence