Delineating self: How individuals renegotiate boundaries after experiencing intimate partner violence

1 online resource (241 pages) : PDF

2014

University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a complex set of behaviors that begins with verbal or emotional abuse and often escalates to physical violence, stalking, or sexual assault. In order to escape the violence, many individuals resort to anonymity and seek services or housing in shelters that have historically operated under an umbrella of confidentiality. However, the expectation of anonymity perpetuates the sense that perpetrators are powerful and that victims do not have the ability to hold them accountable for their behavior. It is possible that boundary renegotiation can aid individuals in maintaining safety while simultaneously allowing them to access the supportive relationships needed for healing. As such, this qualitative study examined how individuals renegotiate their physical, emotional, and spiritual boundaries after experiencing IPV. The Moving from Victim to Survivor of Cultural Violence (MVSCV, Salazar & Casto, 2008) model of identity development provided a theoretical framework for this study. MVSCV is based on Sue and Sue's (1999) Racial and Cultural Identity Development model (R/CID). This study contributes to the understanding of the healing journey and process of identity renegotiation that victims of IPV experience. Results of this study (a) provide information to counselors and counselor educators that inform the services they provide to victims of IPV, (b) provide information on healing from IPV that is embedded in socially and culturally sensitive language, and (c) contribute to the dearth of literature that addresses boundary renegotiation and re-discovery of self after experiencing IPV. The results of this study also reinforce the current emphasis in counselor education and training on providing interventions that are based on theories that are culturally sensitive.

doctoral dissertations

Counseling psychology

Ph.D.

Boundaries
Confidence
Domestic Violence
Empowerment
Healing
Intimate Partner Violence

Counseling

Lassiter, Pamela

Abrams, Lyndon
Furr, Susan
Lim, Jae Hoon
Boyd, Suzanne

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 2014.

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Czerny_uncc_0694D_10676

http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.13093/etd:844