PSYGE – Interventions related to mental health issues and domestic violence

The focus of the project is the relationship between mental illness and intimate partner violence, taking into account gender role models, specifically "toxic" masculinity. Previous research at IKF on intimate partner violence/femicide has pointed to the presence of mental illness among perpetrators as a possible high-risk factor for more than ten years, and this finding was confirmed in a recent study of femicide in Austria from 2016 to 2020 (Haller 2012, Haller/Eberhardt/Temel 2023). While research on the connection between partner violence and mental illnesses, including addictions, of perpetrators has been conducted in the USA for about thirty years (Holtzworth-Munroe & Stuart 1994), comprehensive studies on the connection between mental illnesses of men, gender role models and partner violence are lacking in the German-speaking countries.

In principle, the health care system plays a central role in the protection against intimate partner violence/the prevention of violence, because medical facilities are the docking point in the event of injuries due to violence experienced. However, there is a lack of resources within the health care system for increased engagement in this area, and there is often a lack of both a clear definition of violence and the necessary expertise.

The research project aims to strengthen the role of the health care system and focuses on three levels: (i) the referral function of medical institutions within the violence protection system; (ii) the prevention of violence within the medical field, for example in the context of victim protection groups in hospitals; and (iii) medical expertise made available to the judiciary through the preparation of psychiatric reports as expert witnesses, for example in criminal proceedings for severe violence.

The project aims at an overview of international scientific literature on the topic, as well as a "roadmap" through the institutional structure of the Austrian prevention landscape, combined with policy recommendations for closing supply gaps and implementing " short cuts" between existing services provided by the various actors. Qualitative interviews with experts working in the health care system are the basis for the preparation of internal training documents.