Allen, C. / Published 2013 / Article
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Citation: Allen, C. (2013). Gender as one’s eligibility to engage in social practices: Unpacking the relationship between masculinity and intimate partner violence. In K.E. Davis, R.M. Bergner, & F. Lubuguin, & W. Schwartz, (Eds.), Advances in Descriptive Psychology: Vol.10 (pp. 235-259). Ann Arbor, MI: Descriptive Psychology Press.
Abstract: Among men’s studies scholars, violence is a major focus of attention. Research findings of the past two decades indicate that violence is gendered, and can only be understood in the context of gender inequality. And though contemporary theories on men and violence have rejected the notion that violence is a necessary result of being male, the field continues to struggle with the need for a more contextual understanding of men’s relationship to violence. Drawing from Descriptive Psychology and existing paradigms for studying gender and violence, I argue that conceptualizing gender as a status that confers eligibility to engage in some social practices rather than others holds promising potential for explicating masculinity’s relationship to intimate partner violence.