Masculinity and Men’s Violence against Known Women in Trinidad—Whose Responsibility?

Abstract

This paper explores the male batterer's account of his violence based on a qualitative study of a sample of working class men, alleged batterers, conducted in Caribbean island of Trinidad demonstrating that the violence that they perform is integral to their masculine gender identity and that they take little or no responsibility for this violence. The findings are congruent with the international literature on the male account of battering which consistently reveals patterns of denial, minimization, excuses and justifications - tools through which the batterer may deny responsibility or accept limited responsibility for his violence. The paper also highlights the international and regional trends in responsibility in relation to masculinity and men's violence against known women particularly in the context of battering. In this study the complexity of the issue of responsibility in relation to local masculinities is further developed in the question of men taking responsibility for their violence against female intimate (ex)partners if not the men themselves.