Resilience, Violence, and Early Pregnancy

Sylvie Lévesque and Claire Chamberland

SAGE Open, 2016, vol. 6, issue 1, 2158244016640851

Abstract: Giving birth at a young age and being a victim of intimate partner violence are adversities that affect the life course of women. However, some young mothers overcome these adversities and cope well, showing a dynamic resilience pathway. In this qualitative exploratory study, we examined a purposive sample of 10 resilient mothers who gave birth as adolescents in a situation of intimate partner violence. Their stories were gathered from individual in-depth interviews and on-site participatory observations. Data were collected and analyzed simultaneously, according to grounded theory. Inspired by Masten and Monn’s integrated framework of resilience, the resilience pathway of the participating mothers began with the occurrence of the adversities addressed in this study, namely, early pregnancy combined with intimate partner violence. To overcome these adversities, the participants deployed several protective processes: (a) establishing their maternal identity and the creation of a bond with the child as a turning point, (b) taking an active stance to respond to victimization, and (c) acting proactively and adjusting to motherhood. Promotive processes, positive adaptation indicators, and risks to positive adaptation complete the proposed resilience pathway. The results lead to the conclusion that increased recognition of the challenges that these young mothers face and greater emphasis on the importance of their social surroundings to support these protective processes would support them in their transition to motherhood and promote their well-being and that of their children.

Keywords: resilience; early pregnancy; intimate partner violence; qualitative study (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:sagope:v:6:y:2016:i:1:p:2158244016640851

DOI: 10.1177/2158244016640851

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