“Kind of backed into this corner

” Exploring Gendered Interpretations and Responses to Violence in Long-Term Residential Care

Bibliographic Data

ID21258136
AuthorsKirsten J Brooks (Brandon University), Rachel V Herron (0000-0003-4836-878X, Brandon University, corresponding author), Dorsey Spencer (0000-0001-6742-8915, Carleton University), Sheila Novek (0000-0002-5173-1175, Brandon University), Laura M Funk (0000-0003-0411-0410, University of Manitoba), Katie Aubrecht (0000-0002-8948-275X, St. Francis Xavier University), Christine Kelly (0000-0002-3316-3258, University of Manitoba), Douglas A Brownridge (0000-0002-9880-4669, University of Manitoba), Lori E Weeks (0000-0001-5334-3320, Dalhousie University)
Year2025
Volume7
Pages100555
Publication date2025-06-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSSM - Qualitative Research in Health (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2667-3215 • E-ISSN: 2667-3215
PublisherElsevier BV (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1016/j.ssmqr.2025.100555
OpenAlexW4409151073
LanguageEN
References cited41

Violence in long-term residential care (LTRC) is primarily directed at women who make up a disproportionate share of residents and staff, yet gender has been relatively understudied and undertheorized in research on violence in this setting. In this paper we draw together the concept of gender structure and Pierre Bourdieu's concepts of habitus and field to explore staff perspectives on violent situations and learn about gendered power dynamics in LTRC. Our analysis of interviews with 29 staff in two Canadian provinces explored how gender infused the ways in which staff interpreted, experienced, and responded to violence in LTRC. Gendered perceptions and assumptions manifested in how participants spoke of orienting to the importance of body size, strength, speed, and perceived capability when anticipating who might perpetrate violence. Likewise, gender and gendered bodily characteristics also appeared to shape work roles (e.g., who was expected to provide ‘back-up’ in violent situations). Staff accounts also provided insight into how past experiences of gender-based violence and gendered power dynamics outside of LTRC shaped violent situations and power dynamics inside LTRC. Lastly, in response to violent situations, staff routinely minimized, downplayed, and trivialized violence to cope with their positions within these situations, illuminating a gendered duty to care. Our findings advance understandings of gendered interpretations and strategies employed in response to violence in LTRC, raising questions about the consequences for both residents and staff. • Long-term residential care (LTRC) can be a site of gendered violence. • Gender has received limited attention in research, policy and theory on violence in LTRC. • Narratives reveal gender plays an important role in how staff experience violence. • Past experiences of gendered power dynamics outside of LTRC shape dynamics inside LTRC. • Bourdieusian theory helps advance understandings of gendered power dynamics in LTRC

Criminology · Long-term care · Psychiatry · Residential care · Sociology · Elder Abuse and Neglect · Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health · Intergenerational Family Dynamics and Caregiving · Medicine · Psychology · Gerontology

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