Home violence and abuse (DVA) is a severe however usually missed public well being subject. It happens between people who find themselves personally linked like companions and members of the family, and the time period covers bodily, sexual, psychological or monetary abuse and controlling or coercive behaviour (UK Authorities, 2021). The Crime Survey for England and Wales estimates that 3.9 million adults had been damage on this manner between March 2023 to 2024 (Workplace for Nationwide Statistics, ONS 2024). Every of these incidents is probably lethal and carries fast and long-term well being penalties, putting a big burden on people, households, and healthcare programs.
Well being practitioners have an vital function in recognising and serving to victims of DVA, (Eyuboglu, 2021) however they will lack confidence, abilities and understanding. Addressing DVA as a well being subject means coaching well being professionals to recognise indicators of abuse and embedding routine enquiry in consultations. Early identification, intervention, and cross-disciplinary communication can mitigate well being impacts and scale back long-term prices to each people and the NHS.
This latest examine helps practitioners perceive the lived experiences of moms and daughters who’ve collectively skilled DVA (King et al, 2023). It addresses a important hole within the literature by focusing not solely on particular person trauma, however on relational elements. It demonstrates that DVA is not only about bodily or verbal acts; it’s about how these acts operate inside an internet of emotional, social, and psychological ties. The authors discover how these dyads make sense of their experiences over time and the way their relationships affect restoration, resistance, and progress.
3.9 million adults skilled home violence and abuse (DVA) in 2023-2024. What are the experiences of moms and daughters who’ve collectively skilled DVA?
Strategies
This examine makes use of Narrative Inquiry (Riessman, 2015), a qualitative analysis strategy that centres on lived experiences and explores the methods folks make sense of their lives. Narrative Inquiry considers the previous, current, and future inside the unfolding of tales. It’s contextual as a result of tales sit inside broader social, cultural, and institutional frameworks.
The next questions had been used to construction the analysis:
- What narratives are constructed and the way have they modified over time?
- How have these narratives constructed the abuse and the relationships impacted by the DVA?
- What narratives are shared between caregiver and baby and what narratives are stored to the person?
The researchers carried out interviews with two mother-daughter pairs after which spoke to every participant individually to seize the dynamics of the relationships and particular person views. This methodology recognises the interplay between researcher and participant, and the way their relationship shapes how which means is made.
Outcomes
The findings are shared as interwoven tales that reveal the complexity of trauma and restoration, encouraging practitioners to maneuver past simplified assessments and have interaction with extra nuanced understandings of lived expertise.
The authors recognized three overarching narrative themes:
The Relationship with DVA
- Abuse formed the dyads’ relational dynamics, usually creating cycles of silence, guilt, and safety.
- Moms and daughters skilled abuse otherwise however shared a mutual understanding of its influence.
Understanding and Connection
- The function of shared reflection in therapeutic was discovered to be key.
- Dyads reported that sharing their tales helped them reframe trauma and construct belief and empathy.
Proper Assist on the Proper Time
- Well timed and acceptable trauma-informed care is significant, but members revealed systemic failures in care.
In Narrative Inquiry, researchers usually determine a number of layers or sorts of tales inside a participant’s account. These are typically known as sub-stories and so they assist unpack the complexity of lived expertise.
- There are private tales, right here described firstly as ‘Acts of Resistance’, demonstrations of company and defiance in opposition to abuse. This recognition of individuals experiencing DVA as resistors as an alternative of merely passive victims is useful in supporting empowerment and alter. Secondly as “Embodied Lives”, a document of the bodily and emotional toll of abuse and restoration. When professionals are collaborating with individuals who have survived DVA you will need to recognise the echo of that trauma and its impacts.
- Interpersonal tales emerge from interactions between the participant and others. They replicate the relationships and shared experiences, right here they’re grouped underneath the heading “Mom and Daughter”, and this evolving bond was central to restoration.
- Cultural or Social Tales place the private narrative inside broader societal or cultural contexts. Right here critiques of institutional responses to DVA are recorded as “Failure of Companies”. Members criticised systemic gaps, particularly in psychological well being and safeguarding.
Recognising folks experiencing home violence as resistors as an alternative of passive victims will be useful in supporting empowerment and alter.
Conclusions
This analysis is an instance of how qualitative inquiry can illuminate the nuanced realities of home abuse survivors. It underscores the significance of relational contexts in each the expertise and restoration from trauma and gives professionals evidence-based methods to know and assist folks with lived expertise of DVA.
This analysis reveals how qualitative inquiry can illuminate the complicated realities of individuals experiencing home abuse.
Strengths and limitations
This analysis demonstrates robust educational high quality by means of its use of Narrative Inquiry, which successfully uncovers which means by means of tales. The progressive twin interview format, (combining joint dyadic and particular person follow-ups) captures each shared and personal views, revealing how narratives shift in relational contexts. The pattern measurement could seem small, with 4 members (2 mother-daughter dyads), however that is customary as Narrative analysis prioritises depth over breadth. The outline of the examine design accommodates sufficient element to permit for replicability, and prioritising members’ voices over predefined constructs gives recent insights into relational dynamics.
Nevertheless, there have been some limitations to this examine. The examine would profit from extra assorted dyadic configurations. Purposive sampling ensured that the members all had direct, intergenerational DVA expertise however this lack of demographic variety (all dyads from comparable UK contexts) reduces transferability. Utilizing open-ended prompts invitations deep reflection, however there’s a threat of social desirability bias shaping the information shared in joint interviews. The mixture of those elements does optimise the depth of information gathered and gives new insights, however it requires cautious facilitation to handle energy dynamics between all events particularly contemplating the sensitivity of the subject.
Efficient reflexivity is indicated by authenticity, credibility and self-awareness being demonstrated by the researcher, and by transparency and rigour being a part of the methodology. Whereas the analysis crew acknowledge their positionalities as qualitative researchers with DVA experience, better transparency round reflexive practices would strengthen trustworthiness. The paper can be enhanced by better element on how researcher assumptions had been bracketed or how reflexive journaling formed the evaluation of the findings.
This progressive twin interview format captures each shared and personal views, revealing how narratives of home violence shift in relational contexts
Implications for apply
Affect on Follow
- Practitioners ought to incorporate joint narrative periods the place survivors and vital others co-construct their tales of resilience and resistance.
- Clinicians needs to be skilled in dyadic narrative methods and embed routine enquiry about household relationships in DVA assessments, guaranteeing exploration of intergenerational dynamics.
- Moreover, group applications bringing collectively mother or father–baby pairs to apply boundary-setting and co-regulation workouts underneath skilled steering might additionally assist.
Coverage Implications
- These findings name for a shift in coverage from individual-centred to relationship-centred service fashions.
- Updating nationwide DVA frameworks to advocate dyad-focused interventions as a part of restoration companies and guaranteeing that they use inclusive and survivor-informed language might enhance care.
- Devoted funding for intergenerational assist, together with family-inclusive remedy, can also be important.
Future Analysis Instructions
By illuminating the ability of shared storytelling and mutual resistance, this examine opens a number of avenues for additional inquiry. For instance, longitudinal mixed-methods research can look at how dyadic narratives evolve over years and predict long-term wellbeing. Particularly in the event that they discover numerous dyadic configurations like father–son, siblings, LGBTQ+ companions and consider the generalisability of relational therapeutic processes utilizing randomised managed trials by way of psychological and relational outcomes. Future analysis might broaden to incorporate:
- Extra heterogeneous dyads (e.g., father-son, siblings, LGBTQ+ relationships).
- Cross-cultural comparisons to know how cultural norms form DVA experiences.
- Longitudinal research to trace narrative evolution over time.
Narrative analysis might be coproduced with survivors and be designed to supply specific suggestions for enhancing companies for this underserved inhabitants.
Practitioners ought to incorporate joint narrative periods the place survivors and vital others co-construct their tales of home violence, fostering resilience and resistance.
Assertion of pursuits
NA.
Hyperlinks
Main paper
King, L. and Rishworth, B. (2023) ‘The experiences of dyads who’ve collectively been uncovered to home violence and abuse: Narratives of progress, connection and resistance’, Qualitative Social Work, 22(1), pp. 151–167.
Different references
Charura, D. and Smith, P., (2024) Working By way of Relational Trauma: An Exploration of Narratives of Lived Experiences of Trauma and Restoration. In: D. Charura and P. Smith, eds. Relationships and Psychological Well being. Cham: Springer, pp.99–116.
Eyuboglu, (M) 2021) ‘It’s time to CATCH on: supporting well being practitioners to recognise and assist victims of home violence and abuse’. The Psychological Elf, 30th June 2021
Workplace for Nationwide Statistics (2024) Crime Survey for England and Wales, 12 months ending March 2024. [online] Obtainable at: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/bulletins/crimeinenglandandwales/yearendingmarch2024 [Accessed 26 September 2025].
Riessman, C.Ok., (2015) Coming into the corridor of mirrors: Reflexivity and narrative analysis. The handbook of narrative evaluation, pp.219-238
UK Authorities. (2021) Home Abuse Act 2021. [online] Obtainable at: https://www.laws.gov.uk/ukpga/2021/17/enacted [Accessed 26 Sep. 2025].
