"I Didn't Know Whether I Was Right or Wrong or Just Bewildered": Ambiguity, Responsibility, and Silencing Women's Talk of Men's Domestic Violence

Alison J Towns; Peter J Adams

doi:10.1177/1077801215605918

"I Didn't Know Whether I Was Right or Wrong or Just Bewildered": Ambiguity, Responsibility, and Silencing Women's Talk of Men's Domestic Violence

Violence Against Women. 2016 Mar;22(4):496-520. doi: 10.1177/1077801215605918. Epub 2015 Sep 28.

Authors

Alison J Towns¹, Peter J Adams²

Affiliations

¹ Honorary Academic, School of Population Health, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand atowns@pl.net.
² School of Population Health, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.

PMID: 26416841
DOI: 10.1177/1077801215605918

Abstract

Little has been written about the impact on women of the man's obscuring and deflecting of responsibility when domestic violence is used by him against her. Women's advocates report that women who seek shelter from domestic violence assume blame for the violence and struggle to shift from this position of responsibility. Women are likely to be silenced if they assume responsibility and are less likely to come forward. In this study, we use discourse analysis to describe the ambiguities around responsibility that worked to silence 20 women and the sociocultural influences that supported this ambiguity. We discuss the implications for prevention.

Keywords: blame; domestic violence; intimate partner violence; prevention; responsibility.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
Battered Women / psychology*
Female
Help-Seeking Behavior
Humans
Intimate Partner Violence / psychology*
Male
Middle Aged
Self Efficacy*
Sexual Partners / psychology*
Social Support
Young Adult