Exploring the Lived Experiences of Ethnically Marginalised Men of Colour Who Use Family Violence in Australia

Abstract

Family violence is a prevalent form of interpersonal trauma and human rights violation worldwide, with documented impacts on women, children, and young people in Australia and globally. While research has focused on women as victim-survivors, less attention has been given to men who use family violence, particularly ethnically marginalised men of colour, limiting the development of safe, ethical, and culturally responsive interventions. Using an interpretive paradigm, this research explored the lived experiences of eleven ethnically marginalised men of colour in Australia through semi-structured interviews, examining their understandings of family violence, perspectives on gender roles, and experiences with intervention systems. A literature review highlighted their limited inclusion in research and resulting gaps in evidence-informed interventions. Guided by feminist, critical race, and postcolonial theories, the study employed reflexive, narrative, and thematic analysis, generating three key insights: recognising heterogeneity, attending to power relations, and foregrounding human agency. The findings challenge essentialist, ahistorical, and reductionist portrayals of men of colour and their use of family violence, informing nuanced, ethically grounded frameworks for research, practice, and policy that promote perpetrator accountability while prioritising the safety and wellbeing of victim-survivors. The thesis follows a thesis-with-publication format, comprising four articles: three published in national and international peer-reviewed journals, and one under review, contributing to social work scholarship on improving interventions for family violence in racialised contexts.