Intimate Partner Violence Incidents and Solutions Reported by Turkish Couples in Long-Term Marriages: An Exploratory Qualitative Study

Mehmet A. Balkanlioglu; Zeynep Ozinci

doi:10.18778/1733-8077.18.3.06

Authors

Mehmet A. Balkanlioglu Georgetown University, USA https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1488-5327
Zeynep Ozinci Atlantic Health System & NYC Children’s Center, USA https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5773-1750

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18778/1733-8077.18.3.06

Keywords:

Long-Term Marriage, Gender, Intimate Partner Violence, Domestic Violence, Family Violence, Physical Violence, Psychological Violence, Economic Violence, Sexual Violence, Turkish Couples

Abstract

This qualitative study investigates the relationship between intimate partner violence (IPV) and the duration of marriage in the Turkish context and explores spouses’ perceptions, experiences, and solutions concerning IPV. Participants were thirty Turkish couples married for twenty or more years. Data collection tools were a semi-structured interview, observation notes taken during the interview, and a socio-demographic questionnaire. Data analysis showed that psychological violence was the most reported type, while sexual and economic violence was not reported in long-term marriages. Only a few instances of physical violence were reported during the first years of marriage. Regarding gender, the perpetrators of physical IPV were all men except for only one case, while both men and women were the perpetrators and victims of psychological violence. Spouses’ proposed solutions for IPV were identifying the determinants of IPV, encouraging religious and values education, solving economic problems, building communication and patience, learning respect, responsibility, and love; or getting divorced. The study suggests some implications for professionals.

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Author Biographies

Mehmet A. Balkanlioglu, Georgetown University, USA

Dr. Mehmet Ali Balkanlioglu has been teaching at the college level since 2011. He has a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of North Texas. Currently, he is a visiting researcher in ACMCU at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. His research interests are marriage and family (long-term marriage, intermarriage, and divorce), gender, race/ethnicity, and Alevism—the religious creed and tradition in Turkey. His publications include two books: And Love Has Won: Alevi-Sunni Intermarriage and Code of Marriage: 40 Secrets of Happy and Long-term Marriage, in addition to several articles in both Turkish and English. Dr. Balkanlioglu’s work focuses on theoretical and applied Sociology. His recent research projects are: “Gender, Ethnicity, and Religion: Turkish-American Intermarriage in the US” and “An Investigation of Alevi Civic Organizations and Activities as a Type of Social Capital.” He is an expert for the European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST/EU-funded program) and a reviewer for international journals (e.g., International Sociology). Dr. Balkanlioglu has been an invited speaker by national and international institutions and presented his studies at national and international conferences in the US and Europe (e.g., the American Sociological Association and the European Sociological Association).

Zeynep Ozinci, Atlantic Health System & NYC Children’s Center, USA

Dr. Zeynep Ozinci has been a medical doctor since 2008. She is board certified in General Adult Psychiatry and Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. She worked as a research fellow at New York University, finished her residency training at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, and completed the fellowship training at Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell. Currently, she works as a psychiatrist at Atlantic Health System in New Jersey and NYC Children’s Center in New York. Her interests include family systems, multiculturalism and diversity, community-based research, public health, resilience, social and emotional development, clinical psychology, trauma, ADHD, ASD, OCD, mood disorders, and anxiety. Dr. Ozinci has published on different topics in the field of psychiatry, lectured on various mental health topics, and presented her studies at national and international conferences and meetings.

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