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Children of domestic abusers promote change 

Jón Ingvar Kjaran, Assistant Professor at the School of Education

 “You could say that the subject chose me. I have studied the gender system, patriarchy and ideas of masculinity, and I have great research interest in these phenomena,” says Jón Ingvar Kjaran, Assistant Professor at the University of Iceland who has worked on the study “the perspective of those who use violence in intimate relationships” over the last few years. RIKK – Institute for Gender, Equality and Difference received a grant to study the perpetrators of violence and sought out Jón Ingvar to lead the project. 

The study seeks to shed light on the experience of heterosexual Icelandic men who have been violent towards their spouses. Jón says that the forms of violence vary, emotional abuse is most common, physical violence as well, and furthermore ill treatment of things that are of value to the spouse sometimes occurs. 

 

Jón Ingvar Kjaran

"The preliminary results show that most of the participants identify as good fathers, and the children are a crucial factor in men’s deciding to seek help."

More information is needed on this subject in Iceland, Jón says. “The experience of women as victims of violence has been studied, so it was time to look at the violence from the point of view of the men.” Data from WHO indicate that one in three women experience violence at some point in their lives, most of the cases being domestic abuse. Therefore, it is important to investigate what lies behind this to seek ways to reduce domestic violence. 

All the participants in the study are former abusers who have of their own accord changed their ways. They have all sought out help and are undergoing therapy at Heimilisfriður, Centre for therapy and knowledge on violence in intimate relationships.

The preliminary results show that most of the participants identify as good fathers, and the children are a crucial factor in men’s deciding to seek help. “Children promote change. The men who seek help do so not least because they want to maintain relationships with their children,” says Jón. 

The study is ongoing and Jón says that further financing is being applied for.