A qualitative study to investigate male victims’ experiences of female-perpetrated domestic abuse in Jordan

Abstract

Battered husband syndrome has not been investigated in an Arab context, despite evidence of a significant increase in violence against men by women. This study investigated male victims' experiences of female-perpetrated domestic abuse in Jordan using a qualitative exploratory descriptive approach. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 33 married men from Amman and analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Five themes were identified: 1. causes of domestic abuse against men; 2. types of domestic abuse against men; 3. effects of domestic abuse against men; 4. men's perception of reducing or stopping abuse by their wives; and 5. abusive wives' characteristics. Participants experienced psychological, emotional and verbal abuse, coercive control, emotional neglect, and physical violence with varying degrees of severity, which affected both them and their families. Abusive wives used numerous tactics, including sex, children, isolation, and money to enable abuse. Moreover, clan and traditional thinking, societal structures, and norms led participants to divorce, stay in an abusive relationship, or use violence against their wives. The leading causes of abuse against the husband were wives' neglecting the house, children, appearance, and personal hygiene; wasting money; wives' family interfering in the couple's private marital affairs; the wife's betrayal; and traditional thinking. New perspectives toward domestic abuse in Jordan need to be developed to help us better understand the nature of abuse against men, provide resources and support for them, reduce the prevalence of domestic abuse, and protect Jordanian families.

The role of patriarchal structure and gender stereotypes in cyber dating abuse: A qualitative examination of male perpetrators experiences

“…The Bedouin Arab cultures play central roles in shaping the Jordanian cultural and social context, and a patriarchal mentality permeates societal and religious influences, as well as legislation and state behavior (Garlick, 2020:6–7). Alsawalqa (2021b) indicated that clan and traditional thinking, societal structures, and norms lead men to divorce, or to stay in abusive relationships, and to perpetrate domestic abuse. Man Box beliefs trap men through pressures to adhere to socially constructed norms of masculinity and rigid notions of manhood, impeding men's formation of emotionally connected friendships and encouraging them to use violence against women, exhibit transgressive emotional behaviors, and promote male superiority (Heilman et al., 2017).…”

Jordanian Men's Experience of Emotional Abuse in Marital Relationships: The Role of Marriage Length and Motivation

“…The Islamic religion and tribal culture play a role in shaping Jordanians' perceptions of sexuality. Conservative norms and the stereotype of masculinity in the socio-cultural Jordanian context have created cultural barriers that prevent men from expressing their emotions, perceiving themselves as victims of abuse, and reporting that they are victims of abuse by women, which is an unforgivable social stigma (Alsawalqa, 2021). Therefore, it is possible that participants were unable or unwilling to respond in a meaningful way to the Sexual Coercion subscale items (e.g., "My wife pressures me to have sex after an argument" and "My wife intentionally hurts me during sex") and the "Degradation" subscale items (e.g., "My wife has told me that I am sexually unattractive, " "My wife threatens me physically during arguments, " "My wife intentionally does things to scare me, " and "My wife threatens me physically during arguments"), which would have played a role in the accuracy of the response scores.…”

“…To our knowledge, this is the first study to address emotional abuse among men in marital relationships in Jordan. In a qualitative study, Alsawalqa ( 2021 ) found that Jordanian married men experienced psychological, emotional, and verbal abuse, coercive control, emotional neglect, and physical violence from their wives, and abusive wives used sex, children, isolation, and money as tactics to enable abuse. The major causes of abuse against the Jordanian husbands were wives' neglecting the children, house, appearance, and personal hygiene; wasting money; the wives' family interfering in the couple's private marital affairs; and the wife's betrayal.…”

“…They are also exposed to social stigma, insults, and humiliation if abused by women, particularly with physical abuse. Additionally, they feel useless, impotent, weak, and in despair due to the emotional neglect and psychological abuse from their wives (Alsawalqa, 2021 ).…”

Personal Tools and Psychosocial Resources of Resilient Gender-Based Violence Women

“…Other family members may blame the victims for the violence or even feel ashamed of the situation. They may try to control them or even play down the abuse, doubting the credibility of the women's testimony [8][9][10].…”