Subjection, Subjectivity, and Agency

Drawing on in-depth interviews with mothers who were abused by intimate partners, we argue that mothering can be a source of empowerment that helps battered women both care for their children and survive and assert themselves. Women in the study sample described a violation of some aspect of their mothering as the reason they left their partners. However, narrative analysis exposed contradictions in participants' stories, revealing multiple factors that shaped their decisions to leave. Although motherhood was significant for the women who participated in the study, it was not their only motivation for ending their relationships with abusive partners

Agency (philosophy · Developmental psychology · Domestic violence · Empowerment · Medical emergency · Narrative · Narrative inquiry · Poison control · Political science · Sociology · Subjectivity · Suicide prevention · Child Abuse and Trauma · Gender Studies · Intimate Partner and Family Violence · Medicine · Psychology · Sex work and related issues · Social Psychology

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• Mothering during domestic abuse

  Open Access•Fiona Buchanan, Nicole Moulding et al.•Qualitative Social Work•2021

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• Un/mothering

  Open Access•Brenda Herbert•Feminist Review•2026

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• “Does It Really Get Better After Dad Leaves?” Children’s Experiences With Domestic Violence

  Open Access•Shefaly Shorey, Sara Baladram•Trauma Violence & Abuse•2024

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• What Do We Know After Decades of Research About Parenting and IPV? A Systematic Scoping Review Integrating Findings

  Open Access•Cindy A Sousa, Manahil Siddiqi et al.•Trauma Violence & Abuse•2022

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• Coercive Control, Domestic Violence, and a Five-Factor Framework

  Open Access•Emma Katz•Violence Against Women•2019

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• Mothers’ Narratives of Their Involvement With Child Welfare Services

  Open Access•Judy Hughes, Shirley Chau et al.•Affilia•2015

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• Exploiting the ‘good mother’ as a tactic of coercive control

  Open Access•Susan Heward‐Belle, Susan Heward-Belle•Affilia•2017

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• Attentive Surveillance

  Open Access•Kelly M Bentley•Journal of Family Violence•2016

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• The Long Shadow of Family Separation

  Open Access•Lisa A Goodman, Jennifer E Fauci•Journal of Family Violence•2020

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• Surveillance or Support? Mothers’ Experiences of Parenting in U.S. Intimate Partner Violence Shelters

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• My Eyes Were Open’

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• Evaluation of outcomes of the Building Resilience in Children groupwork programme for women and children impacted by intimate partner violence

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• Intimate partner violence during pregnancy

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• A Qualitative Study of Arab-American Perspectives on Intimate Partner Violence in Dearborn, Michigan

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• Recovery-Promoters

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• Mechanisms linking intimate partner violence and prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV

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• Children's Perspectives on Domestic Violence

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• Handbook of Interview Research

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• Shifting the Center

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• Representations of Motherhood

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• Mothering in the context of domestic violence

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• Protecting the Child and the Family

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• The Mothering Perceptions of Women Abused by Their Partner

  Open Access•Einat Peled, Inbal Barak Gil•Violence Against Women•2011

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• Domestic violence in the child protection system

  Open Access•Ann Fleck‐Henderson, Ann Fleck-Henderson•Children and Youth Services Review•2000

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• Woman Abuse

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• The Battered Woman and Shelters

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• Women

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• Mothering against the Odds

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• The Private Image

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• The Cultural Contradictions of Motherhood

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• Feminist Methods in Social Research

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• The Psychic Life of Power

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• Conceiving and Investigating Motherhood

  Open Access•Terry Arendell•Journal of Marriage and the Family•2000

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