The Pyramid Model: a Feminist Alternative for Analysing Violence against Women

Abstract:

The objective of this paper is to propose an explanatory model for violence against women called pyramidal model, that aims to respond to two objectives: First, this model includes the key elements that are already included in the available multi-causal explanatory models, supplementing some aspects of these models. In particular, it presents a deeper analysis of how to connect together the various factors behind this violence and those mechanisms that allow us to understand why some men choose to exercise violence against women. Secondly, this model has been developed with the intention to apply to different forms of violence against women, deepening the analysis of elements common to them all. The resulting model, which has been called pyramidal model, includes five stages or steps (the patriarchal substrate, differential socialization, expectations of control, triggers, and outbreak of violence) and a filtering process.

Key words:
Models; Violence; Socialization; Triggers