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01-01-2017 | Original Article

Attentive Surveillance: A Preliminary Study of Prioritizing Mothering Standards in the Face of Intimate Partner Violence

Author: Kelly M. Bentley

Published in: Journal of Family Violence | Issue 1/2017

Abstract

A retrospective qualitative constant comparative analysis of the stories of English speaking women (N==22) who mothered children age 6 or under, while experiencing abuse at the hands of a male partner, was conducted. The emergent theory of Attentive Surveillance (AS), a vital, proactive, complex process of monitoring and prioritizing, was identified. Two non-linear and interrelated stages emerged. One, Understanding Circumstances (UC) is a gradual increase of awareness that the family environment and a woman’s ability to achieve her mothering standards are affected by her partner’s behavior. The second stage, Prioritizing Standards (PS), is a deliberate or a subconscious balancing act of assessing needs, adapting, and ranking mothering standards while still mothering as close to the original standards as possible. Recommendations for professionals, based on AS, in supporting mothers existing capacities to foster mother-child relationships and healthy child outcomes in the context of intimate partner violence are provided.

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Title: Attentive Surveillance: A Preliminary Study of Prioritizing Mothering Standards in the Face of Intimate Partner Violence
Author: Kelly M. Bentley
Publication date: 01-01-2017
Publisher: Springer US
Published in: Journal of Family Violence / Issue 1/2017
Print ISSN: 0885-7482
Electronic ISSN: 1573-2851
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-016-9871-6

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Attentive Surveillance: A Preliminary Study of Prioritizing Mothering Standards in the Face of Intimate Partner Violence

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