Paper
Thursday, July 22, 2004
9:30 AM - 10:00 AM
Thursday, July 22, 2004
2:30 PM - 3:00 PM
Through the Eyes of Women: Cultural Insights Into Living as a Battered Woman
Lois A. Magnussen, EdD, APRN1, Nancy Smith, PhD, APRN2, and Mary Jane Amundson, PhD, APRN1. (1) School of Nursing and Dental Hygiene, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI, USA, (2) Colorado Board of Nursing, Denver, CO, USA
| Learning Objective #1: n/a |
| Learning Objective #2: n/a |
Objectives: This study examined the impact of culture on the lived experience of being in a violent relationship. Research design: A phenomenological qualitative design was used. Population, Sample, Setting, Years: A convenience sample of 10 women were interviewed in a setting chosen by the participant. Inclusion criteria were: (a) that the respondent had been battered in a relationship at any time; and (b) was willing to be interviewed. Variables Studied: Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) and culture were the variables studied. Methods: Phenomenological interviews were conducted. The Colaizzi (1978) method of phenomenological data analysis was used to code the data and identify themes. The themes which emerged from the qualitative data were compared across major cultural and ethnic groups in Hawaii and with the data in a previous study. Findings: Four major theme clusters emerged from the data: (a) being shaped by culture; (b) living with abuse; (c) describing the violence; and, (d) after the violence. Each cluster was further broken down to themes. Conclusions: The cultural expressions of women showed that it is in society’s (not the victim’s) response to the violence where the differences in culture are apparent, however, the range of responses described by the women in this study revealed that generational change in Asian societies may have an impact. Implications for Nursing: Intimate partner violence is a social problem of great significance in our country. Although the reported rates of IPV for Asian/American women are lower than other ethnic groups, there is little specific data available. Obvious signs of abuse may be ignored by health care providers leading to under-reporting. Nurses need to be aware of the cultural dynamics involved in the lived experience of IPV.
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Sigma Theta Tau International
July 22-24, 2004