Methamphetamine using Women’s Experiences of Intimate Partner Violence as both Offender and Perpetrator

• In Event: The Lived Experiences of People Who Use Methamphetamine

Abstract

This paper is a qualitative analysis of methamphetamine using women’s experiences with intimate partner violence (IPV). This examination will focus on women methamphetamine users as victims of IPV as well perpetrators of IPV. Further, I will examine the considerable overlap between being a victim of IPV and committing violence against intimate partners, and the possible role methamphetamine use plays. Analysis will draw from qualitative in-depth interviews with 40 incarcerated women who were participants in a court ordered correctional drug and alcohol treatment program. These interviews include extensive data on the consequences of women’s MA use as well as their perceptions of its impact on their personal relationships. Inductive analysis techniques will also be employed to identify emergent themes and patterns in the data related to experiences of IPV both as victim and perpetrator.

Author

• Mikh Vincent Gunderman, Missouri Southern State University