The Role of Food and Food Behaviors in Intimate Partner Violence

Background: Intimate partner violence is significantly associated with food behaviors (Melchior et al., 2009).  Food theorists argue that food is symbolic of social systems and social events as it embodies ideologies, values, beliefs, and attitudes (Douglas, 2012).  Hence, food creates a complex system that fosters identity (Barthes, 2012). These representations can create an added level of complexity in relationships. This study explores the narratives of food and food behaviors emerging from participants of court-mandated domestic violence offender treatment programs to answer the following broad question, what role does food play in relationships?

Method: 58 group sessions were observed over consecutive weeks. The overall group intervention was either 12 or 16 weeks and all groups were “open” groups. Observers were given guidelines to describe the group type, the physical environment, participant details, group activities, as well as verbal and non-verbal communication. Observations were independently coded by three analysts using constant comparison within and between observation data. Then, analysts met together numerous times to do constant comparison between analysts’ independent coding schemes (Glaser, 1965). Disagreements among analysts were resolved in reconciliation meetings. The first author made a final decision on the code if disagreements remained. All data were managed using Atlas.ti software.

Results: There were 23 female and 38 male participants, over 18 years of age with misdemeanor charges, who attended observed groups. Five ways that food played a relational role emerged from the observations: 1.) Food as a mechanism of acceptance [“The woman would have felt love if the husband would have embraced her culture and cooking”]. 2.) Food can represent rejection and become a trigger for violence [“You are not making that noodle shit again? I don’t like that food, and when you give the kids that shit.”]. 3.) Food as a mechanism of “othering” based on how a certain type of food is perceived [“he doesn’t want their American children having all this Korean food because they are American”]. 4.) Food as a mechanism to build rapport [“Woman 2 passes candy around the room and invites the other ladies to have a piece”]. 5.) Participants also recognize gendered roles assigned to food behaviors which at times created conflicts [“I didn’t feel like my mom was meeting my dad’s needs. Dad cooked and she would go out to her sisters”].

Implications: Data suggests a set of important mechanisms by which food impacts thoughts, behaviors and relationships. For example, when couples are unable to negotiate and accommodate their partner’s food choices and behaviors, it becomes a personal issue because food is value-laden. It can, therefore, lead to an instance of violence. These preliminary findings provide insight into an aspect of how domestic violence can occur in relationships. Mechanisms of change can be tested empirically in future research studies. Given that food is representative of values and engaging in food behaviors is frequent and necessary, evidence suggests that addressing food behaviors could have an important impact on domestic violence.