The Father, the Son, and the Abuser: The Portrayal of Male Victims of Intimate Partner Homicide in the News Media

Kenzie Hanson,Alexandra Lysova

doi:10.1177/10887679211047445

Abstract

Media research on intimate partner homicide (IPH) has primarily focused on male perpetrators and female victims. This study analyzed 203 English-language news articles of IPH involving male victims and female perpetrators for the year 2019. Using thematic analysis, we identified two main themes: doubting the victim (who is the victim?) and victim recognition (“he didn’t deserve this”). The findings suggest that male victims of female perpetrated IPH tend to be blamed for their victimization and represented as non-ideal and illegitimate victims in the news media.

Highlights

Media research on intimate partner homicide (IPH) has primarily focused on male perpetrators and female victims
Some studies of a non-lethal context suggested that female partners may initiate a significant amount of intimate partner violence (IPV) (Cook, 2009; Douglas & Hines, 2011; Muftić et al, 2007), overall, data consistently indicate that female perpetrators experience high rates of physical abuse by a male victim before IPH (Caman et al, 2016; Campbell et al, 2016; Weizmann-Henelius et al, 2012)
This study is one of the first to examine the representation of male victims of female perpetrated IPH in the news media

Summary

Introduction

Media research on intimate partner homicide (IPH) has primarily focused on male perpetrators and female victims. Gender differences are the most noticeable aspects relating to the prevalence of IPH, where females are statistically more likely to be victims, and males are more likely to be the perpetrators (Beattie et al, 2018). Some studies of a non-lethal context suggested that female partners may initiate a significant amount of intimate partner violence (IPV) (Cook, 2009; Douglas & Hines, 2011; Muftić et al, 2007), overall, data consistently indicate that female perpetrators experience high rates of physical abuse by a male victim before IPH (Caman et al, 2016; Campbell et al, 2016; Weizmann-Henelius et al, 2012)

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