Citation

Anderson KM. Affilia 2006; 21(4): 419-432.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2006, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/0886109906292130

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This article reports on a qualitative study that examined first-person accounts of resilient women who, as children, were exposed to the battering of their mothers. The key finding was the roots of their resilient capacities that were forged in resistance to their childhood adversity and its consequences, particularly the violence perpetrated by their fathers against their mothers. The women used a variety of protective strategies to withstand and oppose their sense of powerlessness owing to the batterers' oppression of them and their mothers. Implications for social work practice include using resistance to oppression as part of a resilience-oriented helping paradigm in working with children who have been exposed to domestic violence.