Rivas, CA; (2010) I don't feel like I'm in an abusive relationship”: women's naming of their partner's abusive behaviours and how this may be affected by institutional definitions. Psychology of Women Quarterly Review , 12 (2) pp. 2-10.

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Abstract

There is consensus that partner abuse (domestic violence) has significant physical and mental healthconsequences, but less agreement on the way it should be labelled and defined. This paper exploresdifferences in defining and naming abuse, comparing a sample of women’s descriptions and naming oftheir abusive experiences with their conceptualisations of abuse when asked to define it, and with publishedinstitutional definitions. The data from abused women come from qualitative semi-structured interviewswith 20 Caribbean, African and white British women recruited in community contexts, all currentlyexperiencing psychological partner abuse; not all had sought help with, or acknowledged, the abuse. Thesewomen shared a common understanding of partner abuse that diverged from judicial and health caredefinitions, but not public health and feminist definitions that emphasised the intent of the abuser andacknowledged the impact of abuse as a form of coercive control. In describing their own experiences thewomen focused on impact. They often framed their experiences as non-abusive, although not desirable,despite evidently understanding the concept of abuse. Findings should help professionals understand howabused women’s descriptions of their experiences are affected not only by their impact but also by thedefinitions in use in their wider social interactions and institutional settings. If judiciary and health caredefinitions of partner abuse are reviewed to reflect public health and feminist perspectives, and thereforeabused women’s, more abused women might seek and receive appropriate help and support.

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