Discursive Strategies of Intervention Systems Used by Racially Marginalized Immigrant Men Who Use Family Violence in Australia: A Critical Feminist Analysis

Very little is known in critical feminist social work research and praxis about how to support meaningful behavior change among racially marginalized immigrant men who use family violence in Global North contexts. Significant gaps remain in understanding how immigrant men navigate their positioning within intervention systems designed to end their use of family violence. Overlooking this work diminishes efforts to safeguard women and children affected by men's use of family violence. This article uses thematic narrative analysis of qualitative data from 11 semi-structured, in-depth interviews with racially marginalized immigrant men. Grounded in critical feminist, intersectional, and postcolonial approaches, we examine how participants’ intersectional subjectivities and broader social structures shape their experiences with men's behavior change programs (MBCPs) and related legal and service systems. Findings illuminate the complex ways participants navigate power, accountability, vulnerability, and perceived institutional harms within intervention systems. Participants employed discursive strategies of victimhood and resistance to oscillate between institutional regulation and self-repositioning, contesting racialized and gendered constructions of “violent immigrant men.” Implications for critical feminist social work research and praxis emphasize relational, reflexive, and culturally responsive approaches that balance accountability with structural understanding, avoid punitive or collusive responses, and foster conditions for meaningful, transformative change.