Citation

Murphy S, Lemire L, Wisman M. Am. Indian Alsk. Native Ment. Health Res. 2009; 16(1): 39-59.

Affiliation

University of New Hampshire, Social Work Department, Durham, NH 03824, USA. sharon.murphy@unh.edu

Copyright

(Copyright © 2009, National Center for American Indian and Alaska Native Mental Health Research)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

19340765

Abstract

This qualitative case study explores one American Indian (AI) woman's experience of intimate partner violence and the subsequent murder of her abusive partner. The lens of complex personhood (Gordon, 1997) has been applied as a method for understanding "Annie's" multiple identities of AI woman, victim of intimate partner violence, mother, and convicted felon. The aim of the current case study was to uncover implicit and explicit meanings embedded in the experiences of moving from a victim of IPV to an off ender by applying a framework of hermeneutic phenomenology as the methodology. Three relational themes emerged from the interview data: "Getting out of Hand," "They're in my Footstep all the Way Now," and "What's a Miranda Right"? Lastly, this article begins an exploration into the complex link between victimization and offending as it applies to one battered woman.

Language: en