“I Like The Way Your Feet Dangle”: A Content Analysis of IPV Perpetrators’ Words to Victims During Strangulation

• In Event: Intimate Partner Related Strangulation

Abstract

Victims of non-fatal strangulation (NFS) are almost seven and a half times more likely to die at the hands of their abuser than those who are not victimized by IPVRS (Campbell et al., 2003). Because of this increased risk of homicide, it is important that research continues to understand variables related to IPV and IPVRS. While quantitative research can guide understanding of the frequencies, methods, symptoms, and victimology of IPV and IPVRS, qualitative analysis can guide understanding of strangulation motives as well as relationship dynamics between the abuser and the victim. This qualitative study utilizes a sample of 4,571 strangled clients who received services from One Safe Place in Fort Worth, Texas from 2016 to 2021. A content analysis of victim reports of what abusers said to them during the strangulation event was conducted to identify emergent themes.

Authors

• Marissa Dean Hayes, Tarleton State University

• Tara O’Connor Shelley, Tarleton State University