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On the Lived Experience of Battered Women Residing in Shelters

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Abstract

We present a qualitative study of battered women, which examined their experiences while staying at shelters. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 18 battered women staying at shelters. The interviews elicited four main themes: the women’s perceptions of the shelter; the woman’s perceptions of herself and her life experiences; the woman’s perceptions of her relations with other battered women at the shelter; and the woman’s perceptions of her relations with the staff of the shelter. The paper concludes with a discussion of the limitations of the study, implications for future research, implications for theory development, and implications for therapy and intervention with the problem of wife battering.

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Correspondence to Muhammad M. Haj-Yahia.

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Haj-Yahia, M.M., Cohen, H.C. On the Lived Experience of Battered Women Residing in Shelters. J Fam Viol 24, 95–109 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-008-9214-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-008-9214-3

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