An Evaluation of Psychological Domestic Abuse of Women by Their Spouse in Iranian Couples: A Qualitative Study

Aim and This study aimed to explore the psychological domestic abuse of women by their spouse in a sample of Iranian couples.
Methods and Materials: This study had a basic aim and a qualitative design (grounded theory). The statistical population consisted of a compilation of electronic resources, books, theses, and journals, and opinions of family counseling experts and women who had suffered domestic abuse in Isfahan, Iran. Purposeful sampling was performed and continued until saturation of the categories. The collected data consisted of 15 semi-structured interviews with abused married women, 10 interviews with family counseling experts and content analysis of books, articles, and journals related to psychological domestic abuse.
Findings: The results showed that some cases of domestic abuse by men were disregard for the spouse's needs, lack of commitment and accountability, controlling behavior, anti-moral values, and frustrating habits and personality traits. Domestic abuse was rooted in social, religious, economic, environmental, cultural, and familial backgrounds. Intervening factors included factors related to the interference of others, personality traits of the abused person, and background factors. The causal factors included interpersonal conditions and personality types. The most important strategies of women against domestic abuse included aggressive–confrontational, silence, peaceful, defensive, reformation, and alternative response. The consequences of domestic abuse were found to be individual, interpersonal, familial, and social consequences.
Psychological domestic abuse of women by men is affected by background, intervening, psychological, and personality factors. It seems that the model obtained in this study can be used in treatment interventions for abused women.