Over the past several decades, there has been considerable academic, policy, and public attention paid to the social problem of domestic violence in Canada. One result of this increased attention is that a large body of... [ view full abstract ]
Over the past several decades, there has been considerable academic, policy, and public attention paid to the social problem of domestic violence in Canada. One result of this increased attention is that a large body of sociological literature on domestic violence has emerged. However, this literature has failed to specifically examine the voices of women and their children in regards to their experiences of abuse, despite long-standing research findings which indicate that women with children are up to three times more likely to experience domestic violence than are childless women, and women’s responses to violence, help seeking choices, and experiences with domestic violence interventions are shaped by their status/role as mothers and their children’s needs. Most of the literature thus far is largely not based on claims made by abused women and their children themselves, but rather deduced from claims made by others such as criminal justice agents, shelter workers, child protection staff, teachers, legislative reviews, and researchers’ observations. This paper, which is based on a qualitative research study of 29 abused women residing in nine different abused women’s shelters in Calgary, Alberta, provides a unique and in-depth discussion of the individual narratives, experiences, and lived realities of abused mothers and their children in situations of domestic violence. This paper provides important research findings about the difficulties and struggles, as well as the approaches and strategies that abused mothers and their children adopt as a result of living in, experiencing, coping, and overcoming domestic violence. Specific focus is given to approaches that mothers and children adopt to move from crisis to resilience. I discuss the implications that these research findings have for specific attempts to protect, assist, and best support abused mothers and their children victimized by domestic violence.
