Rationalities, closures, and dilemmas. Ethical and methodological issues in fieldwork on male perpetrators of intimate partner violence against women

Social and criminological research on gender-based violence has sparked a range of scholarly debates. However, due to the scarcity of qualitative studies focusing on male perpetrators, little attention has been given to the ethical considerations arising from qualitative research on violence. Drawing on findings from four fieldwork projects, this paper identifies the primary ethical and methodological issues related to fieldwork in batterer programs. Four main domains are analyzed: institutional review boards, institutional demands, coercion to participate, and participant protection. The characteristics of institutions and the rationale of social actors involved create tensions in the fieldwork, prompting a re-evaluation of interview methodologies. We argue for the necessity of highlighting the institutional and ethical challenges in these studies, often obscured in academic literature.