This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by BAKER, P. L. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

AND I WENT BACK

Battered Women's Negotiation of Choice

For battered women who participate in social and police services designed to help them, a dominant cultural script has emerged that directs them to get away and stay away from their abusers. Using in-depth interview and participant-observation data, the author examines the strategies battered women employ to resist that script. Staying with an abuser, ignoring and lifting restraining orders, and refusing to call and cooperate with police were active, reasoned choices battered women made in response to an array of conditions including fear of and harassment by abuser, complex everyday-life contingencies, and emotional attachment to abuser. The battered women tried to use the dominant cultural script to get away and stay away, but found that the script was overly narrow and there was a lack of coordinated institutional support for their decisions. This study extends sociological perspectives on battered women by viewing them as a culture of resistance and focusing on strategies they employ to assert control and make choices relevant to their needs and interests.

Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, Vol. 26, No. 1, 55-74 (1997)
DOI: 10.1177/089124197026001003


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				J. L. Postmus Challenging the Negative Assumptions Surrounding Civil Protection Orders: A Guide for Advocates Affilia, November 1, 2007; 22(4): 347 - 356. [Abstract] [PDF]

				J. L. Dunn and M. Powell-Williams "Everybody Makes Choices": Victim Advocates and the Social Construction of Battered Women's Victimization and Agency Violence Against Women, October 1, 2007; 13(10): 977 - 1001. [Abstract] [PDF]

				N. Berns and D. Schweingruber "When You're Involved, It's Just Different": Making Sense of Domestic Violence Violence Against Women, March 1, 2007; 13(3): 240 - 261. [Abstract] [PDF]

				C. Brown, R. M. Linnemeyer, W. L. Dougherty, J. C. Coulson, H. B. Trangsrud, and I. S. Farnsworth Battered Women's Process of Leaving: Implications for Career Counseling Journal of Career Assessment, November 1, 2005; 13(4): 452 - 475. [Abstract] [PDF]

				V. Frye, V. Hosein, E. Waltermaurer, S. Blaney, and S. Wilt Femicide in New York City: 1990 to 1999 Homicide Studies, August 1, 2005; 9(3): 204 - 228. [Abstract] [PDF]

				T. Logan, L. Shannon, and R. Walker Protective Orders in Rural and Urban Areas: A Multiple Perspective Study Violence Against Women, July 1, 2005; 11(7): 876 - 911. [Abstract] [PDF]

				H. Itzhaky and A. B. Porat Battered Women in Shelters: Internal Resources, Well-Being, and Integration Affilia, February 1, 2005; 20(1): 39 - 51. [Abstract] [PDF]

				D. L. Stephens, R. P. Hill, and J. W. Gentry A Consumer-Behavior Perspective on Intimate Partner Violence Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, February 1, 2005; 34(1): 36 - 67. [Abstract] [PDF]

				A. Malecha, J. McFarlane, J. Gist, K. Watson, E. Batten, I. Hall, and S. Smith Applying for and Dropping a Protection Order: A Study with 150 Women Criminal Justice Policy Review, December 1, 2003; 14(4): 486 - 504. [Abstract] [PDF]

				B. Rothenberg "We Don't have Time for Social Change": Cultural Compromise and the Battered Woman Syndrome Gender Society, October 1, 2003; 17(5): 771 - 787. [Abstract] [PDF]

				F. Boonzaier and C. de La Rey "He's a Man, and I'm a Woman": Cultural Constructions of Masculinity and Femininity in South African Women's Narratives of Violence Violence Against Women, August 1, 2003; 9(8): 1003 - 1029. [Abstract] [PDF]

				J. Krane and L. Davies Sisterhood Is Not Enough: The Invisibility of Mothering in Shelter Practice With Battered Women Affilia, May 1, 2002; 17(2): 167 - 190. [Abstract] [PDF]

				A. Y. Jiao Police and Culture: A Comparison between China and the United States Police Quarterly, June 1, 2001; 4(2): 156 - 185. [Abstract] [PDF]

				J. T. Wood The Normalization of Violence in Heterosexual Romantic Relationships: Women's Narratives of Love and Violence Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, April 1, 2001; 18(2): 239 - 261. [Abstract] [PDF]

				O. W. BARNETT Why Battered Women Do Not Leave, Part 1: External Inhibiting Factors Within Society Trauma Violence Abuse, October 1, 2000; 1(4): 343 - 372. [Abstract] [PDF]

				L. A. ZOELLNER, N. C. FEENY, J. ALVAREZ, C. WATLINGTON, M. L. O'NEILL, R. ZAGER, and E. B. FOA Factors Associated With Completion of the Restraining Order Process in Female Victims of Partner Violence J Interpers Violence, October 1, 2000; 15(10): 1081 - 1099. [Abstract] [PDF]

				E. B. FOA, M. CASCARDI, L. A. ZOELLNER, and N. C. FEENY Psychological and Environmental Factors Associated with Partner Violence Trauma Violence Abuse, January 1, 2000; 1(1): 67 - 91. [Abstract] [PDF]

				Z. EISIKOVITS and E. BUCHBINDER Talking Control: Metaphors Used by Battered Women Violence Against Women, August 1, 1999; 5(8): 845 - 868. [Abstract] [PDF]