| For victims of domestic abuse who are also mothers, social system interaction can have unintended and counter-productive consequences. Antiquated policies and practices based on patriarchal norms may hold her hostage within the relationship and further endanger those involved. According to the literature, society assumes that victims: (1) Can escape if they choose, (2) Are attracted to dangerous men, (3) Choose their batterer over their children, (4) Do not choose to protect or love their children, (5) Are not successful in protecting their children, (6) Are better off if they leave the relationship, (7) Systems are resources are readily available to assist victims in leaving, and (8) Children should be removed from their mothers in these cases. These assumptions are presumed to affect the policies and practices of the Child Protection Services as well as other systems with which survivors of abuse come into contact.; The overall purpose of the study was to explore the meaning domestic abuse survivors assigned to their interaction with societal and other systems. The study also examined environments in which those interactions occurred, the consequences of those interactions; what was helpful and not helpful to survivors, and how those factors shaped their decisions. The research questions were: (1) How does the intersection of victim safety goals and perpetrator accountability expectations influence the consequences for women subject to domestic violence? and (2) How do ecosystem factors in the environments of women subject to such violence affect the outcomes for those women? Limited documentation of their lived experience exists within the literature.; Ten black and ten white women were interviewed in-depth, using the frameworks of Phenomenology, Neo-feminism and Human Ecology. Women in the study experienced a wide range of abuse, as did their children. In this study, although some participants received the help they needed, most did not. Systems as a whole denied, ignored, or minimized the abuse, failed to protect the victims, held them responsible for the violence and the exposure of the children to it, and often gave visitation and custody rights to abusive fathers. Many women in the study were sanctioned with extensive parenting plans, had charges filed against them, and received little help post-separation.; Many participants, unable to stop the abuse, were held responsible for it. Fear, lack of resources, family and religious pressures, a 'Mr. Perfect' seduction into the relationship, and isolation were found to be key factors in their inability to leave. Most women in the study were homeless upon leaving the relationship. Study participants offer specific suggestions in regard to what workers can do to effectively engage with abused women who are also mothers. The author proposes changes within and across systems that may begin to address the complexity and devastation of domestic abuse. It is hoped the study will inform policy, educate workers, identify alternative practices that help rather than hurt, and gives voice to the women as to their lived experience. |
