Empowering Battered Women as Mothers

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Abstract
Battered women consistently point to “the children” as a primary reason for staying in an abusive relationship (e.g., Henderson, 1990; Hilton, 1992). The cultural messages are powerful: “I don't want my children to come from a broken home,” “The kids need a father,” “I can't raise them alone,” or “I want us to be a family” (Jordan, 1980). The prohibition to discuss a strong, confident model of female parenting is so powerful in our patriarchal culture that most mothers have no frame of reference for seeing themselves capable of parenting alone. That social workers and other practitioners generally do not explore the association between staying in an abusive relationship and parenting children is a serious oversight. Social norms ...

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