Counteracting abuse and breaking free: The process of leaving revealed through women's voices

Marilyn Merritt‐Gray · Judith Wuest

194 citations0/0 files storedHealth Care For Women International

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Intimate Partner and Family Violence Child Abuse and Trauma Elder Abuse and Neglect

Abstract

In a feminist, grounded-theory study, we interviewed rural survivors of abusive relationships to discover a substantive theory to explain the process of leaving. The central process for survivors was reclaiming self. In this article, we discuss the initial stages of reclaiming self: counteracting abuse and breaking free. Our findings reveal that the abused women were not passive victims. From the beginning, they counteracted abuse by relinquishing parts of self, minimizing abuse, and fortifying their defenses. The work of counteracting abuse prepared the survivor for testing the exits in the process of breaking free. These findings support the view of abused women as survivors and clearly demonstrate the societal infrastructure required to support women's efforts to counteract abuse until they have acquired the strength and resources to leave. In addition, questions are raised about the roles of lay and professional helpers in facilitating and inhibiting the process of reclaiming self.

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References

2017The Discovery of Grounded Theory 2017The Discovery of Grounded Theory 1980Grounded Theory Methodology: Its Uses and Processes 1983Beating wife-beating 1989A Process of Entrapment in and Recovery from an Abusive Relationship

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2000Why Battered Women Do Not Leave, Part 1 2017Stories from Survivors 2001Enduring love: A grounded formal theory of women's experience of domestic violence 2007Victim Help Seeking: Differences Between Intimate Terrorism and Situational Couple Violence 2015Violence Against Women 2005The Voices of Battered Women in India 2005Health care interventions for intimate partner violence: What women want 2010Understanding Turning Points in Intimate Partner Violence: Factors and Circumstances Leading Women Victims Toward Change

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