What Do We Know About Older Abusers? A Typology of Violent Husbands Dwelling in Lifelong Intimate Violence Relationships

Abstract

Most research on intimate partner violence to date has focused on young men. Although interest and research regarding older abused women has increased in recent years, research on the voices and experiences of older abusive men is still scarce. The purpose of this article is to present a typology of older battering men dwelling in lifelong intimate violence relationships. Fifteen older Israeli abusive men, aged 65 to 84 years, were interviewed in depth. Four types were identified: the “Non-quitter,” the “Cover-up”-er, the “In-between”-er, and the “Normalizer.” These types were constructed based on four dimensions: the construction of violence over the years, the perception of the spouse over the years, losses accompanying the violent relationship, and the meaning of violence in old age. The four types enable an in-depth look at the experiential world of older abusers and paint a complex picture of various ways in which abusive men live with violence over time.