Learning to change : the influence of men’s learning on their change experiences from participating in an IPV prevention intervention in Côte d’Ivoire

Background: Interventions to reduce intimate partner violence (IPV) in Low-and-Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) have recently shifted to primary prevention, with a focus on engaging men to transform harmful masculine ideals and behaviours. A range of intervention formats have emerged over the last decade that target men alone or both men and women. While rigorous evaluations of some IPV interventions have had a significant effect at reducing men’s IPV perpetration, others have had little effect. There is little theoretical understanding of why some men experience healthy change from participating in IPV prevention interventions while others do not. Aims and objectives: This thesis aimed to examine the connections between men’s experiences with learning about their harmful behaviours and practicing healthy change following a 16-week, men-only group-based training intervention to prevent men’s IPV (the ‘GDH Intervention’) in rural Côte d’Ivoire. The objectives: to examine the connections between the processes and pathways involved with men’s learning and behaviour change experiences; and to consider how men’s socio-demographic characteristics, prior IPV perpetration, and their motivation to join and attend GDH Intervention meetings influenced these experiences. Methods: A qualitative design ‘nested’ within a CRT of the GDH Intervention was used. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were undertaken one-year post-intervention with 36 men selected using stratified purposive sampling (dosage and criterion techniques). Interviews were undertaken primarily in French, digitally recorded, then transcribed and translated into English. Data analysis involved a multi-stage Framework Analysis approach, and Prochaska’s (1997) Transtheoretical Model and Illeris’ (2017) Constructivist Learning Theory Framework were used as lenses through which to view the data. Results: Men’s change capacity was primarily determined by their learning experiences. Either one of two forms of learning and healthy change were demonstrated, or one of several forms of learning and change failure. Each behaviour pathway involved distinct processes toward: 1) conscious, internally motivated learning and change practice; 2) unconscious, externally motivated learning and change practice; 3) incomplete and/or resisted learning and change failure; or 4) distorted and/or prevented learning and change failure. Recommendations are provided for future research and practice on engaging men to prevent IPV.