Masculinity, ‘weakness’ and men’s use of violence

NZ Herald reports on research into masculinity, ‘weakness’ and men’s use of violence.

"An Auckland woman researching the behaviour of abusive men has found many of them want to love and care for their wives and partners but suppress the desire in order to look ‘tough’ in front of other men.

Dr Clare Murphy, a counsellor and life coach, interviewed 16 men in stopping-violence programmes for her doctoral thesis about their childhoods, adult relationships and ‘their sense of the way the world works’.”

Read Many 'tough' men suppress caring urge, NZ Herald, 9/4/12

Read Murphy, Clare. (2009). Men's intimate partner abuse and control: reconciling paradoxical masculinities and social contradictions. A thesis submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Queensland University of Technology. (Available through the New Zealand Family Violence Clearinghouse library.)

Go to www.speakoutloud.net, Dr Clare Murphy's website on psychological abuse.