‘Everyone is Against me’: A Qualitative Study of Intimate Partner Violence Perpetration with Both Convicted and Voluntary Help-Seeking Men.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) significantly harms women globally, yet, research on perpetrator treatment efficacy is inconclusive. Understanding how perpetrators perceive their own perpetrations is crucial for effective prevention and treatment. This study examines how male IPV perpetrators describe their emotions and cognitions surrounding their violent acts, using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of interviews with seven convicted men, and six men who had sought treatment voluntarily. Two superordinate themes emerged: <italic>Aggression</italic> as a means to meet with unfulfilled psychological needs which encompasses how aggression is used to satisfy the need to gain control and protect the self, and <italic>Aggression</italic> as an automatic response which entails automatically reacting with aggression, for example due to perceiving the world through a hostile lens. These findings can increase our understanding of factors and dynamics related to precipitation and continuation of IPV perpetration, which, in turn, can be identified, assessed, and potential targets for intervention and prevention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]