The experience of the preventive detention due to conjugal violence: Men’s speech

Abstract

Objective: to know the male experience regarding the preventive detention due to conjugal violence. Method: it is a qualitative, exploratory-descriptive study, with 23 men sued for marital violence at the 1st Domestic and Family Violence Court against Women, in the city of Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. The collection was carried out through semi-structured interviews and a focus group between May and December 2015. The data were organized from the Discourse of the Collective Subject and NVIVO® 11 software. Results: the men experienced preventive detention ranging from 15 to 90 days. The central ideas emerged were: Feeling wronged and revolted due to being in prison; Recognizing their violent behavior; Aspiring for relations free of violence. Conclusion: the findings indicate that it is common in marital relationships the naturalization of violence, and indicate the importance of social support in the process of reflection on this relationship. The need of articulation between the several sectors involved in the criminal prosecution of men by conjugal violence is added, in order to re-educate and re-socialize the author of the aggression.