This article analyses the meanings that men accused of violence attach to abuse against women, in the context of the Maria da Penha Act and current public policy. Attention is drawn to the possible contributions of an interactionist approach, focusing on the importance of ideas and values in the analysis of public policies, especially those that take identities into account. Research on discussion groups at Domestic and Family Violence against Women Court indicated how some diffused values and ideas, like those associated with aggressor "accountability" of the aggressor, are confronted by men. They frequently refer to the situational circumstances in which the couple's interpersonal conflicts occurred, identifying the aggressions as a response, or even punishment, for the inappropriate behavior of women who would have challenged the traditional division of gender roles, recognized by men as universally accepted.
gender; violence; public policies; interactionism