| This dissertation is a practical theological work that aims to convey Korean Protestant women's various and complex reasons for remaining in conflictive and abusive marital relationships. Women remaining in conflictive and abusive marital relationships have been negatively perceived as having low self-esteem or being passive and dependent. Using interdisciplinary practical theological reflection, this dissertation explores women's expressions of life agency, courage, resilience, spirituality, vocation, and hope, which have been rarely investigated or have been underestimated. While acknowledging the importance of assisting women to assess their safety and seek necessary protection, this dissertation argues that their agency, resilience, and spirituality reveal women's strength to cope with their situations and encourage embracing the complexities and multiplicity of women's lives. Therefore, the purpose of this dissertation is to increase understanding of the complexities of women's lives, roles, and decisions, including the decision to remain in conflictive and abusive marital relationships. By reflecting on their agency, resilience, and spirituality, such women can be better understood and receive better help, without being criticized and blamed for their choices to remain in conflictive and abusive marital relationships.;In Chapter 2, "Literature Review," the prevailing understandings of women who remain in marital conflicts and domestic violence situations and critics of these understandings are discussed based on psychological perspectives, feminist and systemic approaches, and religious understandings. In addition, Korean contextual factors that affect Korean women's decisions to remain in their relationships are reviewed. In Chapter 3, "The Descriptive-Empirical Task," within the qualitative research method of phenomenology, the stories of seven Korean women are introduced, and six themes that describe their reasons for living with their situations are articulated. In Chapter 4, "The Interpretive Task," the six themes in Chapter 3 are reinterpreted and reorganized into different themes by using an interdisciplinary approach that integrates relational-cultural theory (RCT), feminist and womanist practical/pastoral theology, Korean feminist perspectives, and systemic/contextual theory in a holistic perspective. This approach facilitates reflection not only on women's decision-making processes in their own contexts, family, society, and culture, but also aids exploration of their strengths, agency, coping strategies, resilience, courage, growth, vocations, and hope. In Chapter 5, "The Normative Task," research participants' feelings for their husbands are described, and the compassionate spirituality found in research participants' lives is interpreted based on the concept of jeong in the Korean context. This chapter argues that research participants' radical agency for transformative possibilities is grounded in their compassionate spirituality. In Chapter 6, "The Pragmatic Task," an argument is presented that the implicit reality of the Korean context needs to be unpacked and marital conflicts normalized so that women can be freer to share their struggles and seek help without fear of being criticized. This chapter provides suggestions for practical/pastoral practices to not only care for women in conflictive and abusive marital relationships, but also to advocate for public discourse, new actions, ethics, and policies. In Chapter 7, "Conclusion and Contribution," a final reflection along with suggestions for future research is presented. |
