This study examined the interaction between structure and agency for individuals in the first or early phase of primary desistance (1 year offending free) from intimate partner violence (IPV). Narrative accounts of perpetrators, survivors, and IPV program facilitators were analyzed using Thematic Analysis. Changes in the self and the contexts, structures, and conditions were necessary to promote desistance. Perpetrators made behavioral and cognitive changes taking on different identities (agentic role) by removing external stressors and instability within the confines of a supportive environment (structural role). Findings provide a theoretical framework of desistance from IPV that integrates social processes and subjective change.
AldarondoE. (1996). Cessation and persistence of wife assault: A longitudinal analysis. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 66, 141-151.
2.
AlexanderP. C.MorrisE. (2008). Stages of change in batterers and their response to treatment. Violence and Victims, 23, 476-492. doi:10.1891/0886-6708.23.4.476
3.
Attride-StirlingJ. (2001). Thematic networks: An analytic tool for qualitative research. Qualitative Research, 1, 385-405.
4.
BabcockJ. C.GreenC. E.RobieC. (2004). Does batterers’ treatment work? A meta-analytic review of domestic violence treatment. Clinical Psychology Review, 23, 1023-1053.
5.
BottomsA.ShaplandJ.CostelloA.HolmesD.MuirG. (2004). Towards desistance: Theoretical underpinnings for an empirical study. Howard Journal of Criminal Justice, 43, 368-389.
6.
BowenE. (2011). The rehabilitation of partner-violent men. Chichester, UK: Wiley-Blackwell.
7.
BowenE.GilchristE. (2006). Predicting dropout of court-mandated treatment in a British sample of domestic violence offenders. Psychology, Crime & Law, 12, 573-587.
8.
BoyatzisR. E. (1998). Transforming qualitative information: Thematic analysis and code development. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
9.
BraunV.ClarkeV. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3, 77-101.
10.
CaetanoR.FieldC. A.Ramisetty-MiklerS.McGrathC. (2005). The 5-year course of intimate partner violence among white, black, and Hispanic couples in the United States. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 20, 1039-1057.
11.
CalverleyA. (2012). Cultures of desistance: Rehabilitation, reintegration and ethnic minorities. Oxon, UK: Routledge.
12.
CatlettB. S.ToewsM. L.WalilkoV. (2010). Men’s gendered constructions of intimate partner violence as predictors of court-mandated batterer treatment drop out. American Journal of Community Psychology, 45(1-2), 107-123.
13.
ChamberlandC.FortinA.TurgeonJ.LaporteL. (2007). Men’s recognition of violence against women and spousal abuse: Comparison of three groups of men. Violence and Victims, 22, 419-436.
14.
ChovanecM. G. (2009). Facilitating change in group work with abusive men: Examining stages of change. Social Work With Groups: A Journal of Community and Clinical Practice, 32(1-2), 125-142.
15.
ConnorsA. D.MillsJ. F.GrayA. L. (2012). An evaluation of intimate partner violence intervention with incarcerated offenders. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 27, 1176-1196.
16.
CookS. L. (2002). Self-reports of sexual, physical, and nonphysical abuse perpetration: A comparison of three measures. Violence Against Women, 8, 541-565.
17.
CurwoodS. E.DeGeerI.HymmenP.LehmannP. (2011). Using strength-based approaches to explore pretreatment change in men who abuse their partners. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 26, 2698-2715.
18.
DanermarkB.EkströmM.JakobsenL.KarlssonJ. C. (2001). Explaining society: Critical realism in the social sciences. Oxon, UK: Routledge.
19.
DanielsJ. W.MurphyC. M. (1997). Stages and processes of change in batterers’ treatment. Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, 4, 123-145.
20.
DeGraziaD. (2005). Human identity and bioethics. New York: Cambridge University Press.
21.
DixonL.Graham-KevanN. (2011). Understanding the nature and etiology of intimate partner violence and implications for practice and policy. Clinical Psychology Review, 31, 1145-1155. doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2011.07.001
22.
DuttonD. G. (1988). Profiling of wife assaulters: Preliminary evidence for a trimodal analysis. Violence and Victims, 3, 5-29.
23.
DuvalS.WicklundR. A. (1973). Effects of objective self-awareness on attribution of causality. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 9, 17-31.
24.
EckhardtC. I.BabcockJ.HomackS. (2004). Partner assaultive men and the stages and processes of change. Journal of Family Violence, 19, 81-93. doi:10.1023/B:JOFV.0000019839.98858.5c
25.
EckhardtC. I.MurphyC.BlackD.SuhrL. (2006). Intervention programs for perpetrators of intimate partner violence: Conclusions from a clinical research perspective. Public Health Reports, 121, 369-381.
26.
EndlerN. S.ParkerJ. D. (1990). Multidimensional assessment of coping: A critical evaluation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 58, 844-854.
27.
FarrallS. (2002). Rethinking what works with offenders: Probation, social context and desistance from crime. Cullompton, UK: Willan.
FarrallS.SharpeG.HunterB.CalverleyA. (2011). Theorizing structural and individual-level processes in desistance and persistence: Outlining an integrated perspective. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Criminology, 44, 218-234.
30.
FederL.WilsonD. B. (2005). A meta-analytic review of court-mandated batterer intervention programs: Can courts affect abusers’ behavior?Journal of Experimental Criminology, 1, 239-262.
31.
FeldS. L.StrausM. A. (1989). Escalation and desistance of wife assault in marriage. Criminology, 27, 141-161.
32.
FishbachA.FinkelsteinS. R. (2012). How feedback influences persistence, disengagement, and change in goal pursuit. In AartsH.ElliotA. J. (Eds.), Goal-directed behavior (pp. 203-230). New York: Psychology Press.
33.
FlinckA.PaavilainenE. (2008). Violent behavior of men in their intimate relationships, as they experience it. American Journal of Men’s Health, 2, 244-253.
34.
GaddD. (2006). The role of recognition in the desistance process: A case analysis of a former far-right activist. Theoretical Criminology, 10, 179-202.
35.
GalinskyA. D.GilinD.MadduxW. W. (2011). Using both your head and your heart: The role of perspective taking and empathy in resolving social conflict. In ForgasJ. P.KruglanskiA. W.WilliamsK. D. (Eds.), The psychology of social conflict and aggression (pp. 103-118). New York: Psychology Press.
36.
GehlbachH. (2004). A new perspective on perspective taking: A multidimensional approach to conceptualizing an aptitude. Educational Psychology Review, 16, 207-234.
37.
GibbonsF. X. (1983). Self-attention and self-report: The “verdicality” hypothesis. Journal of Personality, 51, 517-542.
38.
GiordanoP. C.CernkovichS. A.RudolphJ. L. (2002). Gender, crime, and desistance: Toward a theory of cognitive transformation. American Journal of Sociology, 107, 990-1064.
39.
GiordanoP. C.JohnsonW. L.ManningW. D.LongmoreM. A.MinterM. D. (2015). Intimate partner violence in young adulthood: Narratives of persistence and desistance. Criminology, 53, 330-365.
40.
GondolfE. W.HannekenJ. (1987). The gender warrior: Reformed batterers on abuse, treatment, and change. Journal of Family Violence, 2, 177-191.
41.
HayC.ForrestW. (2006). The development of self-control: Examining self-control theory’s stability thesis. Criminology, 44, 739-774.
42.
HealyD. (2010). The dynamics of desistance: Charting pathways through change. Cullompton, UK: Willan.
43.
HellmanC.JohnsonC.DobsonT. (2010). Taking action to stop violence: A study on readiness to change among male batterers. Journal of Family Violence, 25, 431-438. doi:10.1007/s10896-010-9304-x
44.
Holtzworth-MunroeA.MeehanJ. C.HerronK.RehmanU.StuartG. L. (2003). Do subtypes of maritally violent men continue to differ over time?Journal of Consulting & Clinical Psychology, 71, 728-740.
45.
Holtzworth-MunroeA.StuartG. L. (1994). Typologies of male batterers: Three subtypes and the differences among them. Psychological Bulletin, 116, 476-497.
46.
HudsonB.BramhallG. (2005). Assessing the “other”: Constructions of “Asianness” in risk assessments by probation officers. British Journal of Criminology, 45, 721-740.
47.
JohnsonD. W. (1975). Cooperativeness and social perspective taking. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 31, 241-244.
48.
KellyL.WestmarlandN. (2015). Domestic violence perpetrator programmes: Steps towards change (Project Mirabel final report). London, England: London Metropolitan University.
49.
KingS. (2013). Early desistance narratives: A qualitative analysis of probationers’ transitions towards desistance. Punishment & Society, 15, 147-165.
50.
KistenmacherB. R.WeissR. L. (2009). Motivational interviewing as a mechanism for change in men who batter: A randomized controlled trial. In MurphyC. M.MaiuroR. D. (Eds.), Motivational interviewing and stages of change in intimate partner violence (pp. 25-42). New York: Springer.
51.
KlostermannK. C.Fals-StewartW. (2006). Intimate partner violence and alcohol use: Exploring the role of drinking in partner violence and its implications for intervention. Aggression & Violent Behavior, 11, 587-597.
52.
KuhnT. S. (1970). The structure of scientific revolutions (2nd ed.). Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
53.
LanglandsR. L.WardT.GilchristE. (2009). Applying the good lives model to male perpetrators of domestic violence. Behaviour Change, 26, 113-129.
54.
LaubJ. H.NaginD. S.SampsonR. J. (1998). Trajectories of change in criminal offending: Good marriages and the desistance process. American Sociological Review, 63, 225-238.
55.
LaubJ. H.SampsonR. J. (2001). Understanding desistance from crime. In TonryM. (Ed.), Crime and justice: A review of the research (pp. 1-69). London, England: University of Chicago Press.
56.
LaubJ. H.SampsonR. J. (2003). Shared beginnings, divergent lives: Delinquent boys to age 70. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press.
57.
LazarusR. S.FolkmanS. (1984). Stress, appraisal and coping. New York: Springer.
58.
LehmannP.SimmonsC. A. (2009). Strengths-based batterer intervention: A new paradigm in ending family violence. New York: Springer.
59.
MarunaS. (2001). Making good: How ex-convicts reform and rebuild their lives. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
60.
MarunaS. (2004). Desistance from crime and explanatory style. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 20, 184-200.
61.
MarunaS.ImmarigeonR.LeBelT. P. (2004). Ex-offender reintegration: Theory and practice. In MarunaS.ImmarigeonR. (Eds.), After crime and punishment: Pathways to offender reintegration (pp. 3-26). Collumpton, UK: Willan.
62.
MarunaS.LebelT. P.MitchellN.NaplesM. (2004). Pygmalion in the reintegration process: Desistance from crime through the looking glass. Psychology, Crime & Law, 10, 271-281.
63.
MarunaS.MannR. E. (2006). A fundamental attribution error? Rethinking cognitive distortions. Legal and Criminological Psychology, 11, 155-177.
64.
MarunaS.RoyK. (2007). Amputation or reconstruction? Notes on the concept of “knifing off” and desistance from crime. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 23, 104-124.
65.
MaxwellJ. A. (2012). A realist approach for qualitative research. London, England: Sage.
66.
McAdamsD. P. (1995). What do we know when we know a person?Journal of Personality, 63, 365-396.
67.
MechanicM. B.WeaverT. L.ResnickP. A. (2008). Mental health consequences of intimate partner abuse. Violence Against Women, 14, 634-654.
68.
MitchellO.MacKenzieD. L. (2006). The stability and resiliency of self-control in a sample of incarcerated offenders. Crime & Delinquency, 52, 432-449.
69.
MuravenM.BaumeisterR. F.TiceD. M. (1999). Longitudinal improvement of self-regulation through practice: Building self-control strength through repeated exercise. Journal of Social Psychology, 139, 446-457.
70.
MurphyC. M.MeyerS. L. (1994). Dependency characteristics of partner assaultive men. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 103, 729-735.
71.
MurrayC. (2010). Conceptualizing young people’s strategies of resistance to offending as “active resilience.”British Journal of Social Work, 40, 115-132.
72.
NealeB.FlowerdewJ. (2003). Time texture and childhood: The contours of qualitative longitudinal research. International Journal of Social Research Methodology: Theory and Practice, 6, 189-199.
73.
NealeB.HenwoodK.HollandJ. (2012). Researching lives through time: An introduction to the timescapes approach. Qualitative Research, 12, 4-15.
74.
PandyaV. (2009). A study of change processes in domestically violent men in group therapy. Journal of Evidence-Based Social Work, 6, 127-146.
75.
PandyaV.GingerichW. J. (2002). Group therapy intervention for male batterers. Health & Social Work, 27, 47-55.
76.
PetersonC.BuchananG. M.SeligmanM. E. P. (1995). Explanatory style: History and evolution of the field. In BuchananG. M.SeligmanM. E. P. (Eds.), Explanatory style (pp. 1-20). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
77.
PiqueroA. R.MoffittT. E.WrightB. E. (2007). Self-control and criminal career dimensions. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 23, 72-89.
78.
ProchaskaJ. O.DiClementeC. C.NorcrossJ. C. (1992). In search of how people change: Applications to addictive behaviors. American Psychologist, 47, 1102-1114. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.47.9.1102
79.
ProchaskaJ. O.DiClimenteC. C. (1984). The transtheoretical approach: Crossing the traditional boundaries of therapy. Homewood IL: Dow-Jones-Irwin.
80.
QuigleyB. M.LeonardK. E. (1996). Desistance of husband aggression in the early years of marriage. Violence and Victims, 11, 355-370.
81.
RappaportJ. (1993). Narrative studies, personal stories, and identity transformation in the mutual help context. Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 29, 239-256.
82.
ReyesH. L. M.FosheeV. A.BauerD. J.EnnettS. T. (2011). The role of heavy alcohol use in the developmental process of desistance in dating aggression during adolescence. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 39, 239-250.
83.
RyanG. W.BernardH. R. (2003). Techniques to identify themes. Field Methods, 15, 85-109.
84.
SampsonR. J.LaubJ. H. (1993). Crime in the making: Pathways and turning points through life. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
85.
ScottK. L.WolfeD. A. (2000). Change among batterers. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 15, 827-842.
86.
SemiatinJ. N.MurphyC. M.ElliottJ. D. (2013). Observed behavior during group treatment for partner-violent men: Acceptance of responsibility and promotion of change. Psychology of Violence, 3, 126-139.
87.
SheehanK. A.ThakorS.StewartD. E. (2012). Turning points for perpetrators of intimate partner violence. Trauma, Violence and Abuse, 13, 30-40.
88.
ShentonA. (2004). Strategies for ensuring trustworthiness in qualitative research projects. Education for Information, 22(2), 63-75.
89.
ShoverN. (1996). Great pretenders: Pursuits and careers of persistent thieves. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
90.
SilvergleidC. S.MankowskiE. S. (2006). How batterer intervention programs work: Participant and facilitator accounts of processes of change. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 21, 139-159.
SingerJ. A. (2005). Personality and psychotherapy: Treating the whole person. New York: Guilford.
93.
StanleyN.Graham-KevanN.BorthwickR. (2012). Fathers and domestic violence: Building motivation for change through perpetrator programmes. Child Abuse Review, 21, 264-274.
94.
StevensA. (2012). “I am the person now I was always meant to be”: Identity reconstruction and narrative reframing in therapeutic community prisons. Criminology & Criminal Justice: An International Journal, 12, 527-547.
95.
StrausM. A.HambyS. L.Boney-McCoyS.SugarmanD. B. (1996). The revised conflict tactics scales (CTS2). Journal of Family Issues, 17, 283-316.
96.
vanDellenM. R.HoyleR. H. (2010). Regulatory accessibility and social influences on state self-control. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 36, 251-263.
97.
VaughanB. (2007). The internal narrative of desistance. British Journal of Criminology, 47, 390-404.
98.
WalkerK.BowenE.BrownS. (2013). Desistance from intimate partner violence: A critical review. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 18, 271-280
99.
WalkerK.BowenE.BrownS.SleathE. (2015a). An examination of psychopathology in men who have suspended the use of violence in their intimate relationships. Journal of Family Violence, 30, 539-554.
100.
WalkerK.BowenE.BrownS.SleathE. (2015b). Desistance from intimate partner violence: A conceptual model and framework for practitoners for managing the process of change. Journalof Interpersonal Violence, 30, 2726-2750.
101.
WardT.BrownM. (2004). The good lives model and conceptual issues in offender rehabilitation. Psychology, Crime & Law, 10, 243-257.
102.
WhitakerD. J.LeB.NiolonP. H. (2010). Persistence and desistance of the perpetration of physical aggression across relationships. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 25, 591-609.
103.
WinfreeL. T.TaylorT. J.HeN.EsbensenF. A. (2006). Self-control and variability over time: Multivariate results using a 5-year, multisite panel of youths. Crime & Delinquency, 52, 253-286.
104.
WoffordtS.MihalicD. E.MenardS. (1994). Continuities in marital violence. Journal of Family Violence, 9, 195-225.
105.
WooldredgeJ.ThistlethwaiteA. (2006). Changing marital status and desistance from intimate assault. Public Health Reports, 121, 428-434.
106.
World Health Organization. (2010). Preventing intimate partner and sexual violence against women: Taking action and generating evidence. Geneva, Switzerland: Author.
