The Etiology of Intimate Partner Violence Among Incarcerated Men
Dr. Swogger will discuss the lived experiences of 15 incarcerated men with a history of intimate partner violence. This study revealed the impact significant loss in childhood had on these men with the most critical being the loss of a parent. The results also showed that significant loss set in motion a series of adaptive and maladaptive interpersonal behaviors with significant others, primarily parents and intimate partners, that continued through adulthood and incarceration. The grounded theory dimensional analysis used in the study revealed five primary dimensions that described the dominant social processes described by the participants. These processes were: seeking, overcoming, blaming, controlling, and disengaging behaviors. The consequences of these interpersonal behaviors led only to disappointment, disillusionment, addiction, promiscuity, rage, violence and ultimately serving a sentence in a correctional institution.
This study illustrated the need to consider the broadening of the scope for exploring intimate partner violence by indicating that intimate partner violence is perpetrated through a variety of specific crimes.
Roxanne is currently serving as the Northwest Reentry Administrator for the Office of Programming, Development & Evaluation within the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. Throughout her 18 years with ODRC, Roxanne has served in the capacity of Correction Officer, Case Manager, Program Coordinator, Victim Advocate, Warden’s Assistant, and was the 2006 ODRC Employee of the Year recipient.
She earned her Bachelor and Master’s degrees in Criminal Justice at Youngstown State University. She also earned a Master’s degree and a Ph.D. in Organizational Leadership & Change from Antioch University. Roxanne’s doctoral dissertation was entitled “The Etiology of Intimate Partner Violence Among Incarcerated Men”, exploring violent men’s understandings of abuse, violence, and homicide against an intimate partner. Roxanne serves as a member of the Enhance Worldwide Board of Directors, a non-profit organization that fights to end child marriage by educating girls in Ethiopia. Roxanne is also a member of the International Leadership Association and the Society for Organizational Learning.
