Beyond Bravado

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

Studies of men who batter their partners seldom consider that many of these men are also fathers or stepfathers of children. This study draws upon several weeks of observations of group sessions with men court-mandated into group counseling due to their violence in relationships with intimate partners. Subsequent intensive interviews were conducted with eight fathers from among the group participants. Our focus was on their experiences with and reflections upon themselves as fathers. We found many of the men used the father role as a source of reentry into the moral community. Specifically, the themes of the catastrophic moment, remorse, responsibility, reparational scripts, redemption, and reconstruction are discussed in a process of moving beyond bravado. We draw implications for further research with fathers who batter as well as suggestions for human services and criminal justice professionals who may work with men and their families in these situations.