Desencadenantes internos y externos de las conductas violentas y estrategias de afrontamiento del conflicto en violencia contra la mujer

Abstract

Violence against women is a social and public health problem that affects all societies around the world. This phenomenon requires a critical look at the measures, policies and actions adopted to date, since the prevalence figures continue to be worrying. Data from reports and studies indicate that approximately one in three women worldwide has been the victim of physical and/or sexual violence by a current or former male spouse or partner at least once in her lifetime. The scientific literature has provided different theoretical perspectives to explain the causes and effects of violence against women. The theoretical framework of this doctoral thesis reviews the main theories elaborated in recent years, finding perspectives that have examined violence against women in intimate partner relationships, from cultural and social variables to contextual and personal ones. Some of these theoretical models have focused on the multicausality of violence against women. These theories refer to the interactive effects of different broader dimensions, such as culture (macrosystem), subculture (exosystem), family networks (microsystem) and individually learned characteristics (ontosystem). Likewise, this doctoral thesis is structured around the nested ecological model proposed by Dutton in 1995, for its capacity to integrate the different risk factors that facilitates a comprehensive analysis of violence against women, finalizing the theoretical framework with an analysis of the specific issues studied at each level of the system, their influence on the individual and the relationship with the perpetration and victimization of violence against women. In the empirical framework, this theoretical model is applied with the objective of expanding and improving the knowledge about the internal and external triggers of violence against women, the evolution of conflicts and the coping strategies used by aggressors and victims in their relationships. Interviews are conducted and focus group discussions are created, gathering information from the perspectives of four groups of participants: men convicted of intimate partner violence, women victims of intimate partner violence, prison professionals and professionals in the field of care and intervention with women victims of this type of violence. The different dimensions and interactive effects of the four levels of multi-causality of violence against women are assessed. At the macrosystem level, the influence of the cultural context is observed in the internalization of gender roles that promote beliefs and social norms that perpetuate gender inequality and mark the processes of formal and informal education. At the exosystem level, there is evidence of intimate partner violence caused by socioeconomic factors, the early initiation of romantic relationships and the criminal history of the aggressors. At the microsystem level, the presence of triggers is shown, such as the need for control and male power, avoidance behaviors, intimidation or stalking, communication problems, minimization and legitimization of violent behaviors, bidirectional violence and the absence of awareness of the mistreatment inflicted and suffered. Violence against women extends to the children during the relationship and in the post-separation or divorce period. The aggressors instrumentalize their children to continue exerting violence against their ex-wife. At the individual level, the presence of rigid mental schemas, cognitive distortions, traditional gender stereotypes, deficit of impulse control on the part of the aggressors, victim self-blame, low self-esteem, depressive and anxious symptoms, alcohol and substance abuse are observed.