Associations and Experiences Observed for Family and Nonfamily Forms of Violent Behavior in Different Relational Contexts Among Swedish Men and Women

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to examine how lifetime experiences of different types of violent behavior as well as violence by different kinds of perpetrators overlap, and to investigate the co-occurrence of experiences of violent behavior by kind of perpetrator. This was done among both sexes in both a random sample from a county population (women n=1168, men n=2924) and a clinical sample (women n=2439, men=1767) in Sweden. More than one kind of perpetrator was reported by 33-37% of female and 22-23% of male victims of some kind of violence, whereas 47-48% of female and 29-31% of male victims reported more than one kind of violence. The reporting of two or three kinds of perpetrators was associated with the reporting of experiences of more than one kind of violent behavior. Health care providers must be trained to recognize the overlap of violent victimization and help prevent further victimization of those who already have such experiences.

Lifetime co-occurrence of violence victimisation and symptoms of psychological ill health: a cross-sectional study of Swedish male and female clinical and population samples

“…However, gender-based comparisons of the association between violence and psychological ill health should be made with caution. Men and women are exposed to different kinds of violence, and violence by different perpetrator s. As has also been reported by others, a previous descriptive study of the samples used in the current study found that men report a larger proportion of violence by acquaintances/strangers than women, and women report a larger proportion of intimate partner violence than men [ 5 ]. Because our measure of multiple forms of violence included violence by all kinds of perpetrators, the characteristics of violence reported by men and women are likely to be different, and gender-based comparisons of the risk of reporting symptoms of psychological ill health may be misleading.…”

“…Recently, there has been a growing understanding that different kinds of violence co-occur [ 1 – 3 ]. Many victims of interpersonal violence report being exposed to more than one form of violence (e.g., physical, sexual or emotional violence) and/or violence from more than one kind of perpetrator (e.g., family members, intimate partners, or peers) [ 1 , 2 , 4 , 5 ]. In this study we investigate how this co-occurrence of violence for male and female victims is associated with symptoms of psychological ill health.…”

“…However, one difficulty when comparing psychological health effects between the sexes is that men and women are often reported to be exposed to forms of violence that are conceptually different. For example, intimate partner violence against men and against women is markedly different regarding context, chronicity, and severity [ 29 , 32 – 34 ], and in some, studies co-occurrence of violence among adults has been reported to be more common among female victims than among male victims [ 28 , 31 , 35 ].…”

“…The co-occurrence of violence has previously been examined in the same samples as is used in this study. It was found that 47–48 % of female and 29–31 % of male victims reported experiences of multiple forms of violence, and 33–37 % of female and 22–23 % of male victims reported violence by multiple perpetrators [ 5 ]. This is in line with a growing body of research suggesting that co-occurrence of violence is common.…”

Men’s Experience of Intimate Partner Violence

“…It is well documented in a number of studies that people who experience violence in childhood and adolescence are more vulnerable to becoming victims of violence later in life (Andersson et al 2014;Thoresen and Hjemdal 2014;Simmons et al 2014). In the survey Vold og voldtekt i Norge (Violence and Rape in Norway), the authors emphasise that they cannot identify the exact mechanisms at work that could explain the link between suffering violence as a child and later as an adult.…”