Citation

Päivinen H, Holma J. J. Gender Based Viol. 2017; 1(2): 221-234.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, Centre for Gender and Violence Research, University of Bristol, Publisher Policy Press)

DOI

10.1332/239868017X15090095287019

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Gender is the most pervasive classification of individuals and thus strongly defines couple relationships. Cultural discourses on couple relationships reproduce hierarchical gender differences, and couple distress is often linked to gendered power inequalities.

At worst, gender is the basis for intimate partner violence (IPV). Generally, however, therapeutic interventions do not address the issues of gender and gendered power. This paper discusses the meaning and functions of gender in the context of couple therapy, in particular for IPV. It is argued that the therapist needs to be skilled in discursive deconstruction to be able not only to address the client's situation as an individual experience but also to locate it in the wider social and cultural context. Addressing the gendered positioning of others and themselves is a clinical tool of potential value in therapeutic conversations.

Key Messages
• Gender and Power Play a Part in Couple's Motivations to Seek Therapy and Need to Be Addressed By the Therapist.
• Positioning May Work As a Clinical Tool for Therapists Working with Couples in General and In Particular with IPV.
• Attention to and Skill in Addressing Gender and Power Should Be Supported in Therapist Training And Supervision

Language: en

Keywords

COUPLE THERAPY; DISCOURSE; GENDER; INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE; POWER