Separate and Intersecting Realities

Abstract

The authors seek to contribute to a fuller understanding of men's violence against women in intimate relationships by comparing men's and women's accounts of the violence, injuries, and controlling behavior used by men against women partners. Although men and women inhabit a shared physical and social space within the home, their lived experiences and perceptions of such relationships often differ. Despite this, many studies do not consider what effect such gender differences might have on accounts of violence against women and, instead, assume that men's and women's accounts are basically unproblematic. The authors ask whether this is so. Based on findings from an in-depth interview study of 122 men who had perpetrated violence against a woman partner and 144 women who had been the victims of such violence, the results show that women and men provide significantly different accounts of men's violence, controlling behavior, and injuries. These results make problematic the assumption that men's accounts of their own violent behavior can be used uncritically and without reference to women's accounts of men's violence.