The coping window: A contextual understanding of the methods women use to cope with battering

This study aimed to develop a conceptual framework for understanding the coping strategies used by women who are battered, drawing from the existing literature and qualitative interviews with 10 women seeking services in shelters for women who have been battered. This conceptual framework is needed to reflect the unique complexity of the nature of the chronic and acute stressors associated with battering. The results of the data analyses were integrated with the existing literature to form a model, The Coping Window. This model includes an external frame of contextual influences, as well as a Focus Axis (including emotion-focused and problem-focused coping strategies) and a Resource Axis (including intrapersonal and interpersonal coping strategies). The Coping Window model could be used in individual or group counseling and educational programs, and additional research is needed to refi ne this model.