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Constructed meanings: A qualitative study of how couples understand relationship violence
Abstract
During the past two decades, the recognition of relationship violence as a significant and frequently occurring problem has generated a great deal of interest and study. The extensive body of literature that has been produced as a result has focused on the traits of perpetrators and victims of violence; sociological factors contributing to violent relationships; and gender-related ideology about relationships in which violence occurs. Largely absent from the literature are the voices of the couples who have themselves experienced such violence. This study attempts to take a systematic look at the subjective experiences of these couples. In so doing, the meanings that the couples construct in relation to the events of violence, as well as the processes involved in constructing those meanings are the focus of this inquiry. The primary method of inquiry utilized was indepth, conjoint interviews with couples who volunteered to participate in the study. Three of these couples had experienced some form of physical violence with one another. Of the two remaining couples who were interviewed, the members of one had experienced extreme physical violence but with partners in earlier relationships. The interviews with each couple were scheduled as two or three one-hour-plus, videotaped and/or audiotaped sessions over a period of three to four weeks. The interviews were minimally structured and open-ended. Case studies were constructed from the data collected in the interviews. The case studies were analyzed from several perspectives. First, unique meaning constructions were considered. Second, the roles of each of the participants as narrators were considered. Further consideration was given to the role of the interviewer in the sessions and, finally, to the experience of participating in the research as reflected in comments made by the participants. Several focal aspects emerged from these analyses. First, meanings cannot be removed from the context of within which they are constructed without distortion. Second, meanings are embedded in a complex network of referential domains. Finally, this systematic approach to studying subjective material, validates the importance of listening to the voice of those who have themselves experienced relationship violence.
Subject Area
Social psychology|Individual & family studies|Sociology
Recommended Citation
Fleming, Patrick Anthony, "Constructed meanings: A qualitative study of how couples understand relationship violence" (1991). Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest. AAI9207398.
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations/AAI9207398