Topic 3.8 Can the masculinity we know lead to violence?
Growing up seeing violent behaviour towards women as the norm, is not an uncommon scenario for many boys and girls in patriarchal societies.
And many studies show that kids who grow up witnessing violence are far more likely to be violent themselves.
A lot of men who are treated in perpetrator programs have witnessed abuse against their mother, as a little boy.
On the other hand, Kaufman points that “past experiences of many men also includes the violence they themselves have experienced”
And that “in some cases these personal
experiences instill deep patterns of confusion and frustration, where boys have learned that it is possible to hurt someone you love, where only outbursts of rage can get rid of deeply-imbedded feelings of pain”.
“And finally”, he points “boys in many cultures grow up with experiences of fighting, bullying, and brutalization. Sheer survival requires, for some, accepting and internalizing violence as a norm of behaviour”.
