Abstract
Religion and Intimate Partner Violence: Understanding the Challenges and Proposing Solutions is a comprehensive book that shares data, findings, and an analysis of the work the four authors have done in understanding and addressing the intersection of interpersonal violence, intimate partner violence (IPV), and religion. The book explores the perspectives of victims, abusers, religious leaders, congregation members, and service providers, all of whom are deeply faithful or have strong religious convictions. It highlights how knowledge of the topic of IPV is not enough to ensure sufficient support and healing for IPV victims. To work with victims and abusers, it is crucial to understand their socioemotional world, cultural background, and religious systems and how all of these factors impact their experience within an intimate relationship.
The book is comprised of six chapters, each of which is devoted to one of the populations discussed and offers an entire comprehensive introduction on how the authors have built a research trajectory that spans more than 25 years. Each chapter begins by using the power of narrative and lived experience to illustrate the multiple meanings attached to the reality of being a victim, abuser, or religious leader dealing directly with the topic of IPV. The book highlights multiple religious denominations within different ethnic and cultural groups, including African American churches, Korean immigrants, and an aboriginal community in Canada. Although the authors include concepts from several religions, such as Jewish congregations and Muslim communities, the book is Christian-centered.
In the first paragraph of the book, the authors acknowledged that, while IPV is often suffered disproportionally by women, men also are victims of it. They add that there is IPV among same-sex couples but that these individuals often don’t seek help from their religious leaders. The complexity of the topic of how religion can influence the understanding and processing of a victim of IPV who is a man or an individual in a same-sex couple could be the subject of a separate book, but the authors at least introduce consideration of such survivors. To its credit, the book exposes truths like the lack of trust, access to community support, shame and fear that apply to all victims of IPV, regardless of their gender identity or sexual orientation.
Lacking in the book was in-depth consideration of the role of patriarchy, economic troubles, cycles of violence in families, instability in the home due to drugs, and insecure attachment. As much as we know that these are correlates to IPV, the particular circumstances, specifically cultural and religious values of victims, abusers, or religious leaders are often discounted. A more thorough discussion of how these factors are part of the intersectional positionality of each of these individuals would have strengthened the text.
In the book, many of the victims shared that they see their faith community as supportive but also point out that stigma, the strict interpretation of scripture, sexuality, and gender roles among congregants and clergy often can become a hindrance. The book highlights the fact that many clergy don’t understand the processes involved in reporting or providing supports for IPV victims or abusers. More so, clergymen shared with the authors that many of them don’t speak openly to their congregations about IPV. Throughout the book, there is an ongoing theme of a lack of openness about the topic of IPV within congregations. Evidence of congregations’ reluctance to welcome and embrace IPV victims as full members is exemplified by churches discouraging divorce or separation in general, as well as among families affected by IPV. Such congregations also emphasize and revalidate traditional gender roles and/or demands of the religion. They refer to traditional dictates for men and women’s family roles by using the phrase, a “biblical understanding of marriage.”
Of course, some leaders and religious community members offer a safe alternative for the individuals involved in these cases. This book discusses many themes that are universal when considering the role of religion in general, not only Christianity. Universal themes include managing, discussing, and treating IPV victims and abusers; the power of faith; community; belonging; identity; roles; leadership; and many other topics.
The authors devote a complete chapter to training religious leaders and managers of faith-based resources to work with both victims and perpetrators. This content is useful for practitioners who are working with this population in order to contextualize the work and also manage the assets and needs that are present when both IPV and religion coincide or collide.
As a clinician and researcher who has worked with IPV in the United States, Jordan, and Latin America, I can attest to the void of professional publications that consider the immense role that religion, dogma, beliefs, and religious communities have in determining the potential survival of victims and the recovery of abusers. This book offers concrete tools and information with which to better understand and work with the dual presence of IPV and religion in our work.
