The purpose of the current study was to examine qualitatively the life contexts of young males enrolled in programs addressing perpetration of intimate partner violence (IPV). Semistructured interviews were conducted with 19 males recruited from these programs. Interviews were coded to examine life contexts and analyzed using a content analysis approach. Five themes emerged across interviews: (a) disruptive home environment; (b) lack of positive male role models; (c) a peer context characterized by substance use, gang involvement, and behaviors supporting the sexual maltreatment of girls; (d) school circumstances characterized by a lack of academic support; and (e) community exposures to violence. These factors were often interrelated within the various contexts of participants. Further research is needed to provide insight into whether and how these issues may contribute to IPV perpetration. Efforts to support young males regarding a broad array of concerns should be included in programming to reduce IPV perpetration.
Ackard, D.M., & Neumark-Sztainer, D. (2002). Date violence and date rape among adolescents: Associations with disordered eating behaviors and psychological health. Child Abuse & Neglect, 26, 455-473.
2.
Ackard, D.M., Neumark-Sztainer, D., & Hannan, P. (2003). Dating violence among a nationally representative sample of adolescent girls and boys: Associations with behavioral and mental health. Journal of Gender-Specific Medicine, 6, 39-48.
3.
Barnow, S., Schuckit, M.A., Lucht, M., John, U., & Freyberger, H.J. (2002). The importance of a positive family history of alcoholism, parental rejection and emotional warmth, behavioral problems and peer substance use for alcohol problems in teenagers: A path analysis. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 63, 305-315.
4.
Benson, M., Fox, G.L., DeMaris, A., & Van Wyk, J. (2003). Neighborhood disadvantage, individual economic distress and violence against women in intimate relationships . Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 19, 207-234.
5.
Bronfenbrenner, U. (with Morris, P.A.). (1998). The ecology of developmental processes. In W. Damon & R. M. Lerner (Eds.), Handbook of child psychology: Vol. 1. Theoretical models of human development (pp. 993-1028). New York: Wiley.
6.
Carr, J.L., & VanDeusen, K.M. (2002). The relationship between family of origin violence and dating violence in college men. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 17, 630-646.
7.
Catalano, R.F., & Hawkins, J.D. (1996). The social development model: A theory of antisocial behavior. In J. D. Hawkins (Ed.), Delinquency and crime: Current theories (pp. 149-197). New York: Cambridge University Press.
8.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. ( 2006). Compendium of HIV prevention interventions with evidence of effectiveness from CDC's HIV/AIDS Prevention Research Synthesis Project . Atlanta, GA: Author.
9.
Coie, J., Watt, N., & West, S. (1993). The science of prevention: A conceptual framework and some directions for a national research program. American Psychologist, 10, 1013-1022.
10.
Coker, A.L., Davis, K.E., Arias, I., Desai, S., Sanderson, M., & Brandt, H.M. (2002). Physical and mental health effects of intimate partner violence for men and women. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 23, 260-268.
11.
Cunradi, C., Caetano, R., Clark, C., & Schafer, J. (2000). Neighborhood poverty as a predictor of intimate partner violence among white, black, and Hispanic couples in the United States: A multilevel analyses. Annals of Epidemiology, 10, 297-308.
12.
Decker, M.R., Silverman, J.G., & Raj, A. (2005). Dating violence and sexually transmitted disease/HIV testing and diagnosis among adolescent females. Pediatrics , 116, e272-e276.
13.
Dishion, T.J., Patterson, G.R., Stoolmiller, M., & Skinner, M.I. (1991). Family, school, and behavioral antecedents to early adolescent involvement with antisocial peers. Developmental Psychology, 27, 172-180.
14.
Dornbusch, S.M., Carlsmith, M., Bushwall, S.J., Ritter, P.L., Leiderman, H., Hastorf, A.H., et al. (1985). Single parents, extended households, and the control of adolescents. Child Development, 56, 326-341.
15.
Dutton, D.G., van Ginkel, C., & Starzomski, A. (1995). The role of shame and guilt in the intergenerational transmission of abusiveness. Violence and Victims, 10, 121-131.
16.
Fals-Stewart, W., Golden, J., & Schumacher, J.A. (2003). Intimate partner violence and substance use: A longitudinal day-to-day examination. Addictive Behaviors, 28, 1555-1574.
17.
Forbes, G.B., Adams-Curtis, L.E., Pakalka, A.H., & White, K.B. (2006). Dating aggression, sexual coercion, and aggression-supporting attitudes among college men as a function of participation in aggressive high school sports. Violence Against Women, 12, 441-455.
18.
Griffin, K.W., Botvin, G.J., Scheier, L.M., Diaz, T., & Miller, N.L. (2000). Parenting practices as predictors of substance use, delinquency, and aggression among urban minority youth: Moderating effects of family structure and gender. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors , 14, 174-184.
19.
Harper, F.W., Austin, A.G., Cercone, J.J., & Arias, I. (2005). The role of shame, anger, and affect regulation in men's perpetration of psychological abuse in dating relationships. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 20, 1648-1662.
20.
Heinrich, C.C., Schwab-Stone, M., Fanti, K., Jones, S.M., & Ruchkin, V. (2004). The association of community violence exposure with middle school achievement: A prospective study. Applied Developmental Psychology, 25, 327-348.
21.
Ingoldsby, E.M., & Shaw, D.S. (2002). Neighborhood contextual factors and early-starting antisocial pathways. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 5, 21-55.
22.
Ingoldsby, E.M., Shaw, D.S., Winslow, E., Schonberg, M., Gilliom, M., & Criss, M.M. (2006). Neighborhood disadvantage, parent-child conflict, neighborhood peer relationships, and early antisocial behavior problem trajectories . Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 34, 303-319.
23.
Jackson, P.I. (1991). Crime, youth gangs, and urban transition: The social dislocations of post-industrial economic development. Justice Quarterly, 8, 379-397.
24.
Jaffee, S.R., Moffitt, T.E., Avshalom, C., Taylor, A., & Arseneault, L. (2002). Influence of adult domestic violence on children's internalizing and externalizing problems: An environmentally informative twin study. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 41, 1095-1103.
25.
Jessor, R. (1993). Successful adolescent development among youth in high-risk settings. American Psychologist, 48, 117-126.
26.
Jessor, R. (Ed.). (1998). New perspectives on adolescent risk behavior. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
27.
Jessor, R., & Jessor, S.L. (1978). Theory testing in longitudinal research on marijuana use. In D. Kandel (Ed.), Longitudinal research on drug use (pp. 41-71). Washington, DC : Hemisphere.
28.
Jessor, R., Van Den Bos, J., Vanderryn, J., Costa, F.M., & Turbin, M.S. (1995). Protective factors in adolescent problem behavior: Moderator effects and developmental change. Developmental Psychology, 31, 923-933.
29.
Klein, M.W. (1995). The American street gang. New York: Oxford University Press.
Koenig, M.A., Stephenson, R., Ahmed, S., Jejeebhoy, S.J., & Campbell, J. (2006). Individual and contextual determinants of domestic violence in North India. American Journal of Public Health , 96, 132-138.
32.
Lamb, M.E., & Garretson, M.E. (2003). The effects of interviewer gender and child gender on the informative-ness of alleged child sexual abuse victims in forensic interviews. Law and Human Behavior, 27, 157-171.
33.
Lavoie, F., Hébert, M., Tremblay, R., Vitaro, F., Vézina, L., & McDuff, P. (2002). History of family dysfunction and perpetration of dating violence by adolescent boys: A longitudinal study . Journal of Adolescent Health, 30, 375-383.
34.
Lerner, R.M., & Simi, N.L. (2000). A holistic, integrated model of risk and protection in adolescence: A developmental contextual perspective about research, programs, and policies. In L. Bergman & R. Cairns (Eds.), Developmental science and the holistic approach (pp. 421-443). Madison, WI: Lawrence Erlbaum.
35.
Loh, C., & Gidycz, C.A. (2006). A prospective analysis of the relationship between childhood sexual victimization and perpetration of dating violence and sexual assault in adulthood. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 21, 732-749.
36.
Luthra, R., & Gidycz, C.A. (2006). Dating violence among college men and women: Evaluation of a theoretical model. Journal of Interpersonal Violence , 21, 717-731.
37.
Maddahian, E., Newcomb, M., & Bentler, P. (1988). Risk factors for substance use: Ethnic difference among adolescents. Journal of Substance Abuse, 1, 11-23.
38.
Malik, S., Sorenson, S.B., & Aneshensel, C.S. (1997). Community and dating violence among adolescents: Perpetration and victimization. Journal of Adolescent Health, 21, 291-302.
39.
McCloskey, L.A., Figuerado, A.J., & Koss, M.P. (1995). The effects of systemic family violence on children's mental health. Child Development, 66, 1239-1261.
40.
McCord, J. (1979). Some child-rearing antecedents of criminal behavior in adult men. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , 37, 1477-1486.
41.
Miller, L.S., Wasserman, G.A., Neugebauer, R., Gorman-Smith, D., & Kamboukos, D. (1999). Witnessed community violence and antisocial behavior in high risk urban boys. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology , 28, 2-11.
42.
Moore, T.M., & Stuart, G.L. (2004). Illicit substance use and intimate partner violence among men in batterers' intervention. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 18, 385-389.
43.
O'Neil, J.M., & Harway, M. (1997). A multivariate model explaining men's violence toward women: Predisposing and triggering hypotheses. Violence Against Women, 3, 182-203.
44.
Palmeri Sams, D., & Truscott, S.D. (2004). Empathy, exposure to community violence, and use of violence among urban, at-risk adolescents. Child and Youth Care Forum, 33, 33-50.
45.
Pollner, M. (1998). The effects of interviewer gender in mental health interviews. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 186, 369-373.
46.
Raghavan, C., Mennerich, A., Sexton, E., & James, S.E. (2006). Community violence and its direct, indirect, and mediating effects on intimate partner violence. Violence Against Women, 12, 1132-1149.
47.
Raj, A., Silverman, J.G., & Amaro, H. (2000). The relationship between sexual abuse and sexual risk among high school students: Findings from the 1997 Massachusetts Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Maternal and Child Health, 4, 125-134.
48.
Rennison, C. (2003). Intimate partner violence, 1993-2001 [Publication No. NCJ197838]. Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Department of Justice.
49.
Riggs, D., & O'Leary, K. (1996). Aggression between heterosexual dating partners: An examination of a causal model of courtship aggression. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 50, 744-753.
50.
Rivera-Rivera, L., Allen-Leigh, B., Rodriguez-Ortega, G., Chavez-Ayala, R., & Lazcano-Ponce, E. (2007). Prevalence and correlates of adolescent dating violence: Baseline study of a cohort of 7960 male and female Mexican public school students. Preventive Medicine , 44, 477-484.
51.
Roberts, A.R. (1998). Substance abuse among men who batter their mates. The dangerous mix. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 5, 83-87.
52.
Rosario, M., Salzinger, S., Feldman, R.S., & Ng-Mak, D.S. (2003). Community violence exposure and delinquent behaviors among youth: The moderating role of coping. Journal of Community Psychology, 31, 489-512.
53.
Rothman, E.F., Decker, M.R., Reed, E., Raj, A., Silverman, J.G., & Miller, E. (in press). "Running a train": Adolescent boys' accounts of sexual intercourse involving multiple males and one female. Journal of Adolescent Research.
54.
Ryan, G., & Weisner, T. (1998). Analyzing words in brief descriptions: Fathers and mothers describe their children. Cultural Anthropology Methods Journal, 8, 13-16.
55.
Sampson, R.J. (1987). Urban black violence: The effect of male joblessness and family disruption. American Journal of Sociology, 93, 348-382.
56.
Santana, M.C., Raj, A., Decker, M.R., La Marche, A., & Silverman, J.G. (2006). Masculine gender roles associated with increased sexual risk and intimate partner violence perpetration among young adult men. Journal of Urban Health, 83, 575-585.
57.
Scaramella, L.V., Conger, R.D., Spoth, R., & Simons, R.L. (2002). Evaluation of a social contextual model of delinquency: A cross-study replication. Child Development, 73, 175-195.
58.
Schafer, J., Caetano, R., & Cunradi, C.B. (2004). A path model of risk factors for intimate partner violence among couples in the United States. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 19, 127-142.
59.
Silverman, J.G., Decker, M.R., Reed, E., Rothman, E.F., Hathaway, J.E., Raj, A., et al. (2006). Social norms and beliefs regarding sexual risk and pregnancy involvement among adolescent males treated for dating violence perpetration. Journal of Urban Health, 83, 723-735.
60.
Silverman, J.G., Raj, A., & Clements, K. (2004). Dating violence and associated sexual risk and pregnancy among adolescent girls in the United States. Pediatrics , 114, e220-e225.
61.
Silverman, J.G., Raj, A., Mucci, L., & Hathaway, J. (2001). Dating violence against adolescent girls and associated substance use, unhealthy weight control, sexual risk behavior, pregnancy and suicidality. Journal of the American Medical Association, 286, 572-579.
62.
Silverman, J.G., & Williamson, G.M. (1997). Social ecology and entitlements involved in battering by heterosexual college males: Contributions of family and peers. Violence and Victims, 12, 147-165.
63.
Simons, R.L., Lin, K.H., & Gordon, L.C. (1998). Socialization in the family of origin and male dating violence: A prospective study. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 60, 467-478.
64.
Simons, R.L., Wu, C., Conger, R.D., & Lorenz, F.O. (1994). Two routes to delinquency: Differences in the impact of parenting and deviant peers for early versus late starters. Criminology, 32, 247-275.
65.
Singer, M.I., Miller, D.B., Guo, S., Slovak, K., & Frierson, T. (1998). The mental health consequences of children's exposure to violence. Cleveland, OH: Cuyahoga County Community Mental Health Research Institute, Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, Case Western Reserve University.
66.
Steinberg, L. (1987). Single parents, stepparents, and the susceptibility of adolescents to antisocial peer pressure. Child Development , 58, 269-275.
67.
Sturdevant, M.S., Belzer, M., Weissman, G., Friedman, L.B., Sarr, M., & Muenz, L.R. (2001). The relationship of unsafe sexual behavior and the characteristics of sexual partners of HIV infected and HIV uninfected adolescent females. Journal of Adolescent Health, 29(3 Suppl.), 64-71.
68.
Tilley, D.S., & Brackley, M. (2005). Men who batter intimate partners: A grounded theory study of the development of male violence in intimate partner relationships . Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 26, 281-297.
69.
Tontodonato, P., & Crew, B.K. (1992). Dating violence, social learning theory, and gender: A multivariate analysis. Violence and Victims, 7, 3-14.
70.
Wasserman, G.A., & Seracini, A.G. (2001). Family risk factors and interventions. In R. Loeber & D. P. Farrington (Eds.), Child delinquents: Development, intervention, and service needs (pp. 165-189). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.
71.
Widom, C.S. (1989). Does violence beget violence? A critical examination of the literature. Psychological Bulletin, 106, 3-28.
72.
Widom, C.S. (1991). Childhood victimization: Risk factor for delinquency . In M. E. Colten & S. Gore (Eds.), Adolescent stress: Causes and consequences (pp. 201-221). New York: Aldine de Gruyter.
73.
Wingood, G.M., DiClemente, R.J., McCree, D.H., Harrington, K., & Davies, S.L. (2001). Dating violence and the sexual health of black adolescent females. Pediatrics, 107, e72.
74.
Youngblade, L.M., Theokas, C., Schulenberg, J., Curry, L., Huang, I.C., & Novak, M. (2007). Risk and promotive factors in families, schools, and communities: A contextual model of positive youth development in adolescence . Pediatrics, 119(Suppl. 1), S47-S53.
