This book follows on from my thesis research that has examined what male social workers believe to be the causes of domestic violence and, more importantly, what they believe causes non-violence between partners. The research was a qualitative study of interviews with men, mostly social workers, who worked with both perpetrators and victims of domestic violence. The aims of the research are to provide some answers as to why, despite the attention given to domestic violence and the provision of DV treatment programs by social workers and counsellors, in both public and private sectors, the problem remains intractable.

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Men who worked in the area of domestic violence were interviewed, individually, with a series of twenty-five questions. Two leaders of a local men’s group were also interviewed. The main discussion topics for all these men were their views on the causes of domestic violence and then, more positively, what they felt were the reasons why most men, including themselves, were physically non-violent.

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Investigating what these men feel causes domestic violence and non-violence may provide an insight into what brings most men in our society to be physically non-violent to their partners. Hopefully, this information can be used to implement factors into families and society to work towards non-violence.

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The interviewees’ definitions of domestic violence were discussed, and what causes it. What causes non-violence, and scripting was positioned by them as the major factor in both. Within traditional Western male scripting lies males’ sense of entitlement to privileged positions in their families and society. A question about violence surfaced. What is the purpose of violence? For the purpose of this book violence is defined as person or persons insisting on getting what they want, as a result of their claim to have the right to have it.