Why is it that some men are emotionally or physically abusive towards their intimate partners behind closed doors, but never in public?
Why do some men react with violence when their intimate partner says something, but have no reaction when a mate might say the same thing?
QUT researcher and psychologist Dave Misso hopes to find answers with the help of male volunteers who recognise they have issues with violence in their intimate relationships or if they have been told by a partner they have been abusive.
Mr Misso, who has more than 30 years’ experience working with family violence perpetrators, their victims and families, said there is no one particular personality type for perpetrators.
“They are not an homogenous group – there are different types of perpetrators and different types of violence. No one factor can explain all of men’s violence,” Mr Misso said.
“Some men are clear about ownership of their intimate partner. There is an expectation about a woman’s duty and position as their partner, whereas others are not.
“My research is concerned with looking at the relationship between levels of metacognitive capacity – or the ability to reflect on one’s own and another’s mental states - and the level of violence.
“I am interested in the man’s capacity to reflect on his own and his partner’s experience and how this capacity impacts on the ability to regulate his emotions and behaviour so that his partner is not at risk of harm.
“Perhaps if we can get a better understanding of these relationships we could help men to recognise and eliminate their violence.”
Mr Misso said it had been shown that when a person’s capacity for metacognition was low they had the potential to act out violent behaviour.
“Because there is so much variation between types of violence and the men who commit it, I’m also investigating whether there is a third aspect that could account for the differences and that is personality functioning,” he said.
“Personality functioning is the way we see the world - how we interact with it and react to it. It’s a fairly stable attribute so the question is: is there a link between personality functioning and the ability to reflect internally, and the propensity for violence against an intimate partner?”
Mr Misso said many contemporary models tried to retrain men to be non-violent by teaching them about patriarchy and abusive behaviour.
“But when a person is emotionally dysregulated, or losing it, this tends to fall away.”
Mr Misso said study volunteers would be offered an assessment followed by some feedback.
To take part, contact Mr Misso at ddmisso@hdr.qut.edu.au or 0478 175 256.
Media contact: Niki Widdowson, 07 3138 2999, n.widdowson@qut.edu.au
After hours: Rose Trapnell, 0407 585 901 or media@qut.edu.au
