Negotiating Peril: The Lived Experience of Rural, Low-Income Women Exposed to IPV During Pregnancy and Postpartum

Violence Against Women. 2016 Jul;22(8):943-65. doi: 10.1177/1077801215614972. Epub 2015 Nov 26.

Abstract

This qualitative study of 10 rural women examines their lived experience of intimate partner violence during pregnancy and the first 2 postpartum years. In-depth interviews occurred during pregnancy and 4 times postpartum. A Heideggerian approach revealed "negotiating peril" as the overarching theme; sub-themes were unstable environment, adaptive calibration, primacy of motherhood, and numb acceptance. Some incremental shifts in severity of abusive situations were observed. Results elucidate the ambivalence with which these women view institutions that are designed to help them. Findings highlight factors that may explain why interventions designed to help often do not appear efficacious in facilitating complete termination of an abusive situation.

Keywords: intimate partner violence; pregnancy; rural women.

Publication types

  • Randomized Controlled Trial
  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Adaptation, Psychological*
  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Intimate Partner Violence / psychology*
  • Male
  • Mothers / psychology
  • Negotiating / psychology*
  • Patient Acceptance of Health Care
  • Postpartum Period / psychology*
  • Pregnancy
  • Pregnant Women*
  • Qualitative Research
  • Risk Factors
  • Rural Population*
  • Social Environment
  • Young Adult