TY - JOUR
T1 - Subjection, Subjectivity, and Agency
T2 - The Power, Meaning, and Practice of Mothering Among Women Experiencing Intimate Partner Abuse
AU - Semaan, Ingrid
AU - Jasinski, Jana L.
AU - Bubriski-McKenzie, Anne
PY - 2013/1
Y1 - 2013/1
N2 - Drawing on in-depth interviews with mothers who were abused by intimate partners, we argue that mothering can be a source of empowerment that helps battered women both care for their children and survive and assert themselves. Women in the study sample described a violation of some aspect of their mothering as the reason they left their partners. However, narrative analysis exposed contradictions in participants' stories, revealing multiple factors that shaped their decisions to leave. Although motherhood was significant for the women who participated in the study, it was not their only motivation for ending their relationships with abusive partners.
AB - Drawing on in-depth interviews with mothers who were abused by intimate partners, we argue that mothering can be a source of empowerment that helps battered women both care for their children and survive and assert themselves. Women in the study sample described a violation of some aspect of their mothering as the reason they left their partners. However, narrative analysis exposed contradictions in participants' stories, revealing multiple factors that shaped their decisions to leave. Although motherhood was significant for the women who participated in the study, it was not their only motivation for ending their relationships with abusive partners.
KW - agency
KW - intimate partner abuse
KW - mothering
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84874521942&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84874521942&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/1077801212475335
DO - 10.1177/1077801212475335
M3 - Article
C2 - 23363656
AN - SCOPUS:84874521942
SN - 1077-8012
VL - 19
SP - 69
EP - 88
JO - Violence Against Women
JF - Violence Against Women
IS - 1
ER -