Reconstructing intimate violence: the structure and content of recollections of violent events

The purpose of this article is to explore the structure and content of recollections of violent events among cohabiting partners. The authors used qualitative methodology to examine 48 in-depth interviews. Content analysis of the interviews yielded two parallel and interrelated continua: One represented the life circumstances (staying in spite of violence) impinging on the recollections; the other dealt with the content of the memories of violent events. These two interacted according to a series of structural features. Both men and women living in violent relationships described a contextual variation ranging from choosing to stay to being prevented from leaving. The memory of violence was constructed in a manner meant to achieve coherence with the appropriate context.