As if living in a concentration camp: The experience of intimate partner violence as seen through the eyes of female victims

Abstract

The aim of this paper was to evaluate the understanding of partner violence from the perspective of female victims. This study addresses intimate partner violence from a qualitative paradigm and a social constructivist approach. Data was collected from interviews with 15 female victims of violence, which was used as the basis for thematic analysis. In the contents of the subjects’ narratives, four core themes and eight sub-themes stood out. The core themes were: incident-based violence, life in the world of the perpetrator, causes of the violent behavior and justification for it, and victims taking responsibility for the violence. The results of the analysis showed that the violence experienced by these victims could not be reduced to isolated incidents. Still, it was a process that included situations and behaviors that were not subject to punishment, which kept the victim in constant fear, controlled her behavior, and made her a subordinate perpetrator. In contrast, most explanations given (by the victims) for the violent behavior had the function of justifying the perpetrators’ behavior and attributing responsibility to other agents – alcohol, mental illness, problems in the family of origin, or an external source of frustration. In certain cases, the women felt that they could be responsible for their own victimization as victims of violence. The results of the research indicate that intimate partner violence should be considered as a crime against identity and freedom, and that persons working with victims of violence should aim to deconstruct the beliefs that lead victims to find excuses for violent partner behavior, as well as to deconstruct beliefs that lead them to feel responsible for their victimization.

Keywords

• intimate partner violence
• victims
• battered women
• qualitative research
• serbia