Perceptions of Torture in Men's Abuse of Women

Abstract

In this study, social work field instructors provided their perceptions regarding the prevalence and severity of torture in men's behavior toward women. Participants (N = 33) identified whether they perceived torture in stimuli that reflected men's abuse of women, and if so, the extent to which they perceived the torture as severe. Using a common sense definition of torture, the study participants found torture in 68% of the incidents and rated these as moderately severe, on average. The most severe torture was observed in acts that involved men's sexual assault of women in some form. The findings from this study suggest that practitioners and researchers in the field of intimate partner violence (IPV) should take into account that, (a) a torture screening checklist could be helpful in identifying the extent to which torture occurs in men's abuse of women in intimate relationships; (b) women who report violence in intimate relationships may not perceive the abuse as torture; and (c) substantially more applied and empirically based research is needed to further examine the narrative that IPV is simply “domestic” violence.