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Cited by 46Intimate Partner and Family ViolenceChild Abuse and TraumaChildren's Rights and Participation

Children’s embodied experience of living with domestic violence: “I’d go into my panic, and shake, really bad”

Open access
Callaghan, Jane E. M., Alexander, Joanne H, Fellin, Lisa C·2016·Subjectivity
DOI 10.1057/s41286-016-0011-9
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AI snapshot

Written from the paper’s full text.

TL;DR

This qualitative UK study explores how children living with domestic violence articulate embodied pain, coercion, and resistance, challenging framings of them as passive witnesses. Through interviews and visual methods with children, it argues that their bodies and use of space can express both woundedness and agency.

Key findings

  • Children described embodied experiences of violence and coercive control, but also resistance: Lizzy (14) said she would “go into my panic” and “shake, really bad”; Hannah (11) described her mind “blowing up”; Ali described learning to angle and tense her body so punches or a belt would hurt less.
  • The wounded body could function as both victimhood and agency: George (11) and Paul (9) displayed scars and marks, with Paul’s scar narrated alternately as an accident and as a suicide attempt, signifying their father’s brutality and their survival.
  • Home and material space were ambiguous: Lizzy described unsafe outer rooms, smashed windows, alarms, and locking doors; Emma (16) described hiding behind a gap behind her bed and wardrobe so the perpetrator “wouldn’t know where I am.”
  • The paper challenges academic/professional representations of children as passive, damaged, inarticulate, or emotionally incompetent, arguing instead for their embodied and affective subjectivity.

Methods

  • The article draws on the European project “Understanding Agency and Resistance Strategies,” using interviews with 27 UK children (abstract) / 17 girls and 11 boys aged 8–17 years (Method), recruited through specialist domestic violence services.
  • Interviews incorporated family drawings, photographs, and spatial maps; visual images were embedded within interview transcriptions, and text and image were analysed simultaneously.
  • Analysis used Denzin’s (2001) Interpretive Interactionism; transcripts were coded independently by two research team members, then compared, and considered separately and together to contextualise accounts.

Limitations

  • The paper states ethical complexity: asking children to articulate experiences might risk secondary traumatisation; safeguards included pre-interview questions, developmental structuring, interviewing only children who had left abuse and were assessed safe, access to specialist domestic violence workers, a cooling-off period, consent/assent, and pseudonyms.
  • The sample was recruited through specialist domestic violence services, all non-violent parents in the sample were mothers, and children were only interviewed if they had left situations of domestic abuse and were assessed as safe to work with, which constrains the range of experiences represented.
  • Evident from the text: there is no dedicated limitations section; the sample is a small qualitative UK sample, and the abstract reports 27 children while the Method reports 17 girls and 11 boys (which sums to 28), an inconsistency in the reported sample.

Model-written summary. Check it against the paper before relying on it.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1057/s41286-016-0011-9

Cites

57 of 58 references verified1 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Nothing to recompute.

Claims the paper makes

5 of 46 cited sources checked · 2 supported · 0 flagged · accuracy not yet measured

  • Premisecitation

    Violence, coercion and intimidation are often directed at both the adult and child victims of domestic violence.

    “Violence, coercion and intimidation are often directed at both the adult and child victims of domestic violence (Callaghan, Alexander, et al., 2016a;Dallos & Vetere, 2012), and at times, abuse, threats and manipulation of children is used as a strategy to intimidate and control the partner (Hester, 2000).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim1 of 2 sources checked
    • cites Callaghan, Alexander, et al., 2016a source
    • cites Dallos & Vetere, 2012 source
  • Interpretationcitation

    This embodied subjectivity is constituted intersubjectively, intercorporeally, in the interactions between the brothers, and in the way that these interactions are embedded in familial and cultural contexts that entrench perceptions of masculinity as macho-ess.

    “This embodied subjectivity is constituted intersubjectively, intercorporeally (Blackman et al., 2008;Ugazio, 2013), in the interactions between the brothers, and in the way that these interactions are embedded in turn within familial and cultural contexts that entrench perceptions of masculinity as macho-ess.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim1 of 2 sources checked
    • cites Blackman et al., 2008 source

      Split into 2 atoms — 1 confirmed, 1 partially supported, 0 disputed, 0 misattributed, 0 unverifiable. Expand the claim to see per-atom verdicts.

      Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
    • cites Ugazio, 2013 source
    • Rests on an assumption: Children's interview accounts and drawings provide valid access to their lived experiences of domestic violence.
  • Findingown data

    Lizzy (aged 14) describes her emotional reaction to violence unfolding around her, characterised by a sense of being entirely identified with her panic and coming out of it and trying to get on, looking it out.

    “In this extract, Lizzy (aged 14) describes her emotional reaction to the violence unfolding around her. Her experience of violence is characterised by a sense of being entirely ide tified ith he pa i a d o i g out of it a d t i g to get o lo ki g it out .”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: Children's interview accounts and drawings provide valid access to their lived experiences of domestic violence.
  • Findingown data

    Children's descriptions of violence in the home, and of coping with violence, suggest an embodied subjectivity, constituted in relation to an intertwining sense of coping and of damage.

    “Child e s descriptions of violence in the home, and of coping with violence suggests an embodied subjectivity, constituted in relation to an intertwining sense of coping and of damage.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: Children's interview accounts and drawings provide valid access to their lived experiences of domestic violence.
  • Findingreasoning

    For children who live with domestic violence, the embodied nature of their experiences is not always evident.

    “For children who live with domestic violence, the embodied nature of their experiences is not al a s e ide t.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: Children's interview accounts and drawings provide valid access to their lived experiences of domestic violence.
  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim. 27
  • May combine two claims. 41
  • The quote only partly states this claim. 1

  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim. May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    Like torture, the point of domestic violence is not the violence itself; rather it functions to establish the power of the perpetrator to define and control the relationship, and challenges the subjectivity of the victim.

    “Like torture, the point of the violence is not the violence itself; rather it functions to establish the power of the perpetrator to define and control the relationship, and challenges the subjectivity of the victim (Callaghan, Alexander, Sixsmith, & Fellin, 2016a).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim1 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Callaghan, Alexander, Sixsmith, & Fellin, 2016a source

      The Discussion describes domestic violence as an issue of power and control, not only physical violence. The section on children’s experiences of coercive control also describes psychological effects that undermine a child’s sense of self. The paper does not make the comparison with torture or establish that the purpose of violence in general is to let the perpetrator define the relationship. (LLM, conf=0.84)

      Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing). May combine two claims.

    Study design and conductcitation

    Researchers were responsive to children's cues and interactional styles in the interviews, and used a range of creative techniques to support the interview when children wanted to use them.

    “Figure: esea he s e e espo si e to hild e s ues a d i te a tio al st les i the i te ie s(Pascal & Bertram, 2009), and using a range of creative techniques to support the interview, when children wanted to use them(Fargas-Malet, McSherry, Larkin, & Robinson, 2010).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim1 of 2 sources checked
    • cites Pascal & Bertram, 2009 source
    • cites Fargas-Malet, McSherry, Larkin, & Robinson, 2010 source

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing). May combine two claims.

    Study design and conductcitation

    Several steps were taken to protect children involved in the research, including ensuring they understood the focus of the research, had access to questions before the interview, structuring interviews to take into account the developmental level of the young person, and ensuring children were only interviewed if they had left situations of domestic abuse and if professionals assessed them to be安全

    “Several steps were taken to protect children involved in the research, including ensuring that they understood the focus of the research, and had access to questions before the interview so they could make informed choices about involvement; structuring interviews to take into account the developmental level of the young person, and ensuring that Children were only interviewed if they had left”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim1 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Morris et al., 2012 source

      Split into 2 atoms — 0 confirmed, 2 partially supported, 0 disputed, 0 misattributed, 0 unverifiable. Expand the claim to see per-atom verdicts.

      Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Findingown data

    Hannah (aged 11) describes her mind being chopped apart, reformed and blown up again when angry.

    “Whe I a o ed it s ho i le, it s ot like othe people, it feels like i d s lo i g up a d let s just sa it feels like I e ee hopped i to u es, glued a k togethe a d ee lo up.That s hat it feels like he I a o ed.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: Children's interview accounts and drawings provide valid access to their lived experiences of domestic violence.

  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    Whilst there may be a temporary breakdown in the ability to directly articulate the experience in words, the experience is part of our representational processes, and Lizzy is able to articulate the experience quite competently when looking back on it.

    “Whilst there may be a temporary breakdown in the ability to directly articulate the experience in words, nonetheless the experience is part of our representational processes, and Lizzy is able here to articulate the experience quite competently when looking back on it.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: Children's retrospective accounts accurately represent their experiences at the time of the violence.

  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

    Findingown data

    Hannah's description illustrates the sense of embodied emotional experience as highly disruptive and overwhelming.

    “This extract illustrates the sense of embodied emotional experience as highly disruptive and overwhelming.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: Children's interview accounts and drawings provide valid access to their lived experiences of domestic violence.

  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    Lizzy's account suggests that when violence occurs in her home, her brain stops working and she loses her sense of joining a narrative, disrupting her ability to speak or function with any lucidity.

    “In this extract, Lizzy suggests that, when violence occurs in her home, her ai stops o ki g a d she loses he se se of a joi i g a ati e, dis upti g he a ilit to speak or function with any lucidity (she suggests she is confused about what happens afterwards).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: Children's interview accounts and drawings provide valid access to their lived experiences of domestic violence.

  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    Hannah's description suggests a moment in which she does experience herself as inert object, but she is also able to articulate the experience in colourful and detailed ways retrospectively, suggesting a knowing subject experiencing the sense of being overpowered and objectified by the intensity of her emotion.

    “This graphic description of the emotional experience of rage suggests a moment in which Hannah does, indeed, experience herself as inert object.However, she is also, reflecting back on the experience, able to articulate the experience in colourful and detailed ways.That she is able to articulate the experience so graphically when looking on it retrospectively does suggest a knowing subject, experi”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: Children's interview accounts and drawings provide valid access to their lived experiences of domestic violence.

  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    Children's reported experience is not quite this totalising; children are often acutely aware of and able to articulate complex lived and embodied experiences.

    “Ho e e , hild e s epo ted experience is not quite this totalising.As Lizzy demonstrates, children are often acutely aware of and able to articulate complex lived and embodied experiences.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: Children's interview accounts and drawings provide valid access to their lived experiences of domestic violence.

  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    Children described a range of ways in which they escaped within the home, and used its physical spaces and material objects to manage the abuser and transform their experience.

    “Children described a range of ways in hi h the es aped ithi the ho e, a d used its physical spaces and material objects to manage the abuser and transform their experience.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Findingnone given

    In Ali's account, the violence she experienced is embodied: her comportment reflects, symbolises and resists the violence of the perpetrator, and she adapted her body's responses to the violence of her abusive father.

    “I Ali s a ou t, e see lea l ho the iole e she has e pe ie ed is e odied hehow her comportment reflects, symbolises and resists the violence of the perpetrator.She has adapted he od s espo ses to the iole e of he a usi e fathe .”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    For Lizzy, the house is marked with experiences of violence and intrusion; she can identify specific areas that feel unsafe-the outer sections of the house, the areas the perpetrator had previously broken into.

    “For Lizzy, the house is marked with the experiences of violence and intrusion.She can identify specific areas that feel unsafethe outer sections of the house, the areas the perpetrator had previously broken into.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Findingcitation

    In interviews with children, home and family relations emerged as a complex and ambiguous space: on the one hand a dangerous space of violence and threat, on the other hand a space in which they could reclaim a sense of agency and that enabled a capacity for resistance.

    “In our interviews with children, home-and family relations-emerged as a complex and ambiguous space for childrenon the one hand a dangerous space of violence and threat, on the other hand, a space in which they could reclaim a sense of agency, and that enabled a capacity for resistance (Alexander et al., 2016;Callaghan, Alexander, et al., 2016a, 2016b).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 2 sources checked
    • cites Alexander et al., 2016 source
    • cites Callaghan, Alexander, et al., 2016a, 2016b

      Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    They give varying accounts of the incident, with Paul narrating an accident in which he fell down, and George telling the story of how Paul tried to jump and kill himself.

    “They give varying accounts of the incident, with Paul narrating an a ide t, i hi h he fell do , a d Geo ge telli g the sto of ho Paul t ied to ju p a d kill hi self .”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: Children's interview accounts and drawings provide valid access to their lived experiences of domestic violence.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing), S4 (based).

    Findingnone given

    In the extract, a specific scar is identified as symbolising the victim status of the younger brother, Paul.

    “However, in this extract, a specific scar is identified as symbolising the victim status of the younger brother, Paul.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: Children's interview accounts and drawings provide valid access to their lived experiences of domestic violence.

  • May combine two claims. The quote only partly states this claim.

    Findingcitation

    Ali's embodied experience both reflects and resists the institutional forces that act upon her; even in abject victimisation she narrates a resistant sense of subjectivity and reasserts personhood by adapting her body to blows to minimise impact.

    “Her embodied experience, her comportment both reflects and resists the institutional forces that act upon her.I this se se, Ali s a ou t he e e e plifies Lee's (2005) challenge to Scarry, that there is nothing necessarily inert about the body.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Lee's (2005) source

  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    Initially, Paul has shown a cut from an accident the day before, but George uses this exposure as an opportunity to draw the interviewer to a different kind of wound, one that is revealed as evidence both of the brutality they have experienced, and of Paul's specific status as wounded victim.

    “Initially, Paul has shown a cut from an accident the day before, but George uses this exposure as an opportunity to draw the interviewer to a different kind of wound, one that is revealed as evidence both of the brutality the ha e e pe ie ed, a d of Paul s spe ifi status as wounded victim.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: Children's interview accounts and drawings provide valid access to their lived experiences of domestic violence.

  • May combine two claims.

    Findingreasoning

    In the case of the two boys interviewed, they displayed their wounds and scars with a sense of pride, as evidence of both their hurt, and of their survival.

    “In the case of the two boys interviewed here, they displayed their wounds and scars, with a sense of pride, as evidence of both their hurt, and of their survival.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: Children's interview accounts and drawings provide valid access to their lived experiences of domestic violence.

  • May combine two claims.

    Findingnone given

    Children's use of space expresses the sense of constraint that characterises the spatial experience of domestic violence, and the material spaces of home come to signify the perpetrator and the violence.

    “Fu the , hild e s use of space expresses the sense of constraint that characterises the spatial experience of domestic violence, and the material spaces of home come to signify the perpetrator and the violence.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing). May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    The home became a prison for Lizzy; there was no way to get out.

    “The home became a prisonthere was no way to get out.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing). May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    Paul and George's accounts intertwine, with two different explanations of Paul's scar emerging.

    “As you read the extract, take note of the a that Paul a d Geo ge s accounts intertwine, as two different explanations of Paul s s a e e ge:”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: Children's interview accounts and drawings provide valid access to their lived experiences of domestic violence.

  • May combine two claims.

    Findingcitation

    Children are able to use the material spaces of home to enable gestures of defiance and re-forge and re-create a sense of home, through movement and use of space that enables a sense of control and redresses some of their material experiences of power imbalance.

    “Simultaneously, though, children are able to use the material spaces of home to enable gestures of defiance (Authors, 2007), and re-fo ge a d e eate a se se of ho e , through movement and use of space that enables a sense of control, and redresses some of their material experiences of power imbalance.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Authors, 2007

      Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S4 (based). May combine two claims.

    Premisenone given

    Because children are typically described as witnesses to domestic violence, they are framed as relatively detached from the direct experience of violence, which is seen as taking place in the intimate adult dyad.

    “Be ause the a e t pi all des i ed as it esses to do esti iole e , children are framed as relatively detached from the direct experience of violence, which is seen as taking place in the intimate adult dyad.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable).

    Interpretationown data

    Understanding embodied experience as historically located within the life stories of interacting subjects is important.

    “This experience underscores the importance of understanding embodied experience as historically located within the life stories of the interacting subjects.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: Children's interview accounts and drawings provide valid access to their lived experiences of domestic violence.

  • May combine two claims.

    Interpretationown data

    Children's experiences of pain and their capacity to resist it are always located in embodied and interactional contexts.

    “We argue that their experiences of such pain, and their capacity to resist it, are always located in embodied and interactional contexts.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: Children's interview accounts and drawings provide valid access to their lived experiences of domestic violence.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable).

    Premisecitation

    There is a need to shift from the passive framing of children as witnesses to a more complex understanding of them as both victims and agents, through understanding how children make sense of and work with their experiences of domestic violence.

    “Some researchers have pointed out the need to shift from this passive framing of children as it ess to a o e o ple u de sta di g of the as oth i ti s a d as age ts, th ough an understanding of how children make sense of and work with their experiences of domestic violence (Øverlien, 2011;Øverlien and Hydén, 2009;Mullender et al., 2003;Authors et al., 2016b;Authors, 2015).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 3 sources checked
    • cites Øverlien, 2011 source
    • cites Øverlien and Hydén, 2009 source
    • cites Mullender et al., 2003

      Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  • May combine two claims.

    Premisereasoning

    The world of the victim of domestic violence, and their sense of self within that world, is diminished as the power and control of the perpetrator increases, and vice versa.

    “The world of the victim of domestic violence, and their sense of self within that world, is diminished as the power and control of the perpetrator increases, and vice versa.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Interpretationreasoning

    The experience of violence is an always-embodied and always-emotional one.

    “The experience of violence is an always-embodied and always-emotional one.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    Children who experience domestic violence live in households pervaded by dynamics of coercion and flooded with anxieties about aggression and violence; their experiences are characterised by emotional and physical pain, and control.

    “However, children who experience domestic violence live in households pervaded by dynamics of coercion (Cooper & Vetere, 2008) and flooded with anxieties about aggression and violence: their experiences are characterised by emotional and physical pain, and control.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Cooper & Vetere, 2008

      Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable).

    Premisereasoning

    Pain and suffering, as well as resistance to that suffering, must be understood as constituted intersubjectively in the multiple relations within families, cultures, belief systems, and values, as located, emotional and embodied experiences.

    “Adopting a contextual approach means that pain and suffering, as well as resistance to that suffering, must be understood as constituted intersubjectively in the multiple (often ambivalent) relations within families, cultures, belief systems, and values, as located, emotional and embodied experiences.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    When violence occurs in the home, it does not just take place in the intimate dyad; it pervades the family and has a negative impact on patterns of relating throughout and beyond the household.

    “When violence occurs in the home, this does not just take place in the intimate dyad it pervades the family and has a negative impact on patterns of relating throughout and beyond the household (Cooper & Vetere, 2008;Dallos & Vetere, 2012;Øverlien, 2013;Vetere & Cooper, 2006).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 3 sources checked
    • cites Cooper & Vetere, 2008

      Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

    • cites Dallos & Vetere, 2012 source
    • cites Øverlien, 2013 source

  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim. May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    Domestic violence is about power and control, and the pain inflicted by the perpetrator in abusive relationships is just one tool to express that power.

    “Feminists have long argued that domestic violence is about power and control (Stark, 2007), and that the pain inflicted by the perpetrator in abusive relationships is just one tool to express that power.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Stark, 2007 source

  • May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    Most research about children and domestic violence rarely focuses on children's lived experience, is largely quantitative, and is based on adult-scored questionnaires about the child.

    “Further, most of this research, while being about children rarely focuses on their lived experience, it is largely quantitative, and based on adult scored questionnaires about the child (Callaghan, 2015;Øverlien, 2009).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 2 sources checked
    • cites Callaghan, 2015

      Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

    • cites Øverlien, 2009

      Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

    Premisecitation

    Embodiment, emotional experience and subjectivity intertwine as intersubjective, intercorporeal experiences, constituted in interaction, not in isolation or in a-priori states.

    “Embodiment, emotional experience and subjectivity intertwine as intersubjective, intercorporeal experiences, constituted in interaction, not in isolation or in a-priori states (Ugazio,2013).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Ugazio, 2013 source

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Premisecitation

    The agency of the aggressor is manifest in the woundedness of the victim.

    “Lee (2005) suggests that the agency of the aggressor is manifest in the woundedness of the victim:”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Lee, 2005 source

  • May combine two claims.

    Interpretationreasoning

    In domestic violence, the political implications of coercive control and of the violence itself are clear, but this is located in a complex interpersonal situation in which it is perhaps not only the victim who experiences powerlessness or who has run out of words.

    “In domestic violence, the political implications of coercive control and of the violence itself is clear, but this is located in a complex interpersonal situation in which it is perhaps not (just) the victim who experiences powerlessness or who has u out of words .”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Premisecitation

    Violence in close and intimate relationships may function as a form of communication for a person who cannot find words.

    “As Elie Wiesel suggests, violence in close and intimate relationships may function as a form of communication for a person who cannot find words: Violence is a language.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Wiesel, in conversation with Moyers, 1991

      Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing). May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    In the Anglo European imaginary, home is conceptualised as an intimate, private space associated with comfort and belonging; when disrupted by violence or other experiences that unsettle belonging, home can become a space of marginalisation and estrangement.

    “Mallett (2004) argues that ou se se of ho e occupies a particular place in the Anglo European imaginary, with home conceptualised as an intimate, private space, associated with comfort and belonging.However, when disrupted by violence, or by other experiences that unsettle this sense of belonging, home can, Mallett argues, become a space of marginalisation and estrangement.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Mallett (2004) source

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing). May combine two claims.

    Interpretationown data

    Paul becomes positioned as the desperate, suicidal victim, with his body indelibly marked with a wound that bears testimony to his victim position, and the concomitant stripping away of his agency.

    “Paul becomes positioned as the desperate, suicidal victim, with his body indelibly marked with a wound that bears testimony to his victim position, and the concomitant stripping away of his agency.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: Children's interview accounts and drawings provide valid access to their lived experiences of domestic violence.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Premisecitation

    In domestic violence, the body of the victim bears scars and wounds that simultaneously express their woundedness and implicate and accuse the perpetrator.

    “In domestic violence, the body of the victim bears the scars and wounds that simultaneously express their woundedness, and implicate and accuse the perpetrator (Lee, 2012).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Lee, 2012 source

  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim. May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    Domestic space, the room, is a space that enlarges the body, houses us, keeps us safe and warm; we tend to identify with our homes and see them as extensions of sense of self.

    “In The Body in Pain,”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Scarry

      Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing). May combine two claims.

    Study design and conductnone given

    To ensure anonymity, pseudonyms have been used, and identifying information in all data have been omitted or altered.

    “To ensure anonymity, pseudonyms have been used, and identifying information in all data have been omitted or altered.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing). May combine two claims.

    Study design and conductnone given

    Transcripts were coded independently by two members of the research team, then compared to enable the refinement of the coding process, as researchers built consensus about the interpretation.

    “Transcripts were coded independently by two members of the research team, then compared to enable the refinement of the coding process, as researchers built consensus about the interpretation.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim. May combine two claims.

    Study design and conductnone given

    Children's visual images were embedded within interview transcriptions and the analysis of text and image proceeded simultaneously, to avoid any treatment of image and text as separate forms of data.

    “Child e s isual i age as e edded ithi i te ie t a s iptio s and the analysis of text and image proceeded simultaneously, to avoid any treatment of image and text as sepa ate fo s of data .”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing). May combine two claims.

    Study design and conductcitation

    A cooling-off period of at least 24 hours was agreed, and written and verbal informed consent was secured from willing parents and assent from willing children.

    “A cooling-off period of at least 24 hours was agreed, and written and verbal informed consent was secured from willing parents and assent from willing children (Eriksson & Näsman, 2012).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Eriksson & Näsman, 2012 source

  • May combine two claims.

    Interpretationreasoning

    Wounds are not inert or silent marks-they are articulate and have the potential to express agency.

    “Wounds, in this sense are not inert or silent marksthey are articulate and have the potential to express agency.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: Children's interview accounts and drawings provide valid access to their lived experiences of domestic violence.

  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

    Premisecitation

    The experience of domestic violence is one of being homeless at home.

    “Wardaugh (1999) has suggested that the experience of domestic violence is o e of ei g ho eless at ho e .”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Wardaugh (1999) source

  • May combine two claims.

    Interpretationreasoning

    The wounded body also actively bears testimony to the act of violence that has produced its scars; it is not a mere object that absorbs blows and is marked by violence.

    “At the same time though, the wounded body also actively bears testimony to the act of violence that has produced its scars.It is not a mere object that absorbs blows and is marked by violence.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: Children's interview accounts and drawings provide valid access to their lived experiences of domestic violence.

  • May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    Pain can be impossible to express and share verbally, and this can contribute to obscuring or minimising these experiences.

    “We concur with Scarry that pain can be impossible to express and share verbally, and that this can contribute to obscure or minimise these experience.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Scarry

      Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  • May combine two claims.

    Interpretationreasoning

    While domestic violence has many features in common with Scarry's analysis of torture, the meaning of pain and violence is shaped by the relational aspects of the violence, not just by its political nature.

    “While domestic violence has many features in common with”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Scarry

      Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  • May combine two claims.

    Interpretationreasoning

    In domestic violence, the function of violence is still to control and to impose the will of the perpetrator on the victims, but the relational and emotional context is very different from torture.

    “In contrast, in situations of domestic violence, whilst the function of violence is still to control and to impose the will of the perpetrator on the victims, the relational and emotional context is very different.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: In domestic violence, the function of violence is to control and to impose the will of the perpetrator on the victims.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable). May combine two claims.

    Interpretationreasoning

    Failing to hear children's experiences of domestic violence contributes to their invisibility in academic, professional and policy discourse, further victimising and isolating those who have lived them and enlarging the illusion of the power of the perpetrators.

    “Faili g to hea hild e s e pe ie es of do esti iole e contributes to their invisibility in academic, professional and policy discourse, further victimising and isolating those who have lived them and enlarging the (illusion of) power of the perpetrators.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: Children who live with domestic violence are often denied a sense of agency and voice, and their lived experiences are often reduced to descriptions of them as witnesses or exposed to violence.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable).

    Premisecitation

    The family is a fleshy, psychosocial and semantic entity, in which an embodied, relational subjectivity is constituted.

    “The family is a fleshy, psychosocial and semantic entity, in which an embodied, relational subjectivity is constituted.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Ugazio

      Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

53 of 53

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Children's interview accounts and drawings provide valid access to their lived experiences of domestic violence.

    “We report on interviews and drawings with 27 UK children, using interpretive analysis to explore their capacity for agency and resistance.”

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Children's retrospective accounts accurately represent their experiences at the time of the violence.

    “Whilst there may be a temporary breakdown in the ability to directly articulate the experience in words, nonetheless the experience is part of our representational processes, and Lizzy is able here to articulate the experience quite competently when looking back on it.”

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Children who live with domestic violence are often denied a sense of agency and voice, and their lived experiences are often reduced to descriptions of them as witnesses or exposed to violence.

    “This is, we argue, a particular problem for children, who are often denied a sense of agency and voice, and whose lived e pe ie es of do esti iole e a e ofte edu ed to des iptio s of the as it esses o e posed to iole e.”

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    In domestic violence, the function of violence is to control and to impose the will of the perpetrator on the victims.

    “whilst the function of violence is still to control and to impose the will of the perpetrator on the victims”
4 of 4

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 2

  1. Blackman, L. (2008) The Body: Key Concepts. New York: Bloomsbury Academic.
  2. Weiss, N. (2014) Research under duress. In I. Maček (ed.), Engaging Violence: Trauma, Memory and Representation. London: Routledge, pp. 127–139.

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Related

Authors
Callaghan, J. E. M., Alexander, J. H., & Fellin, L. C.
Affiliations
  • University of Northampton (GB)
  • University of East London (GB)
Corresponding author
Callaghan, Jane E. M.
ORCID
Venue
Subjectivity
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2016-09-24
Volume
9
Issue
4
Pages
399-419
ISSN
  • 1755-6341 (ISSN-L)
  • 1755-635X
DOI
10.1057/s41286-016-0011-9
OpenAlex
W2521365077
Semantic Scholar
342213ee222968b09367a76170d9eb8e6918e1cc
Cited by
46
References
56
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 16 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 5
FWCI
5.91
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
www.springer.com/tdm (unspecified)
Locations
  • Subjectivity (publishedVersion)
  • UEL Research Repository (University of East London) (acceptedVersion)
  • NECTAR - Northampton Electronic Collection of Thesis and Research (University of Northampton) (submittedVersion)
  • Aisberg (University of Bergamo) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • Stirling Online Research Repository (University of Stirling) (submittedVersion, public-domain)
  • UEL Research Repository (University of East London) (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Health › Intimate Partner and Family Violence
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child Abuse and Trauma
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Children's Rights and Participation
Keywords
children exposed to domestic violence, embodied experience, agency and resistance, coercive control, space use, children's drawings, children's interviews, child victims

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