Faith in the Future: Posttraumatic Growth Through Evangelical Christianity for Immigrant Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence

ABSTRACT

For immigrants from Latin America experiencing Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) in the United States, complex systems, exclusionary policies, and xenophobia create additional layers of suffering. However, based on ethnographic research among immigrant survivors, I show how the combination of secular IPV services with evangelical Christian practices can lead to positive personal growth in the wake of such hardship – a form of personal development that Richard Tedeschi and colleagues refer to as “posttraumatic growth.” By demonstrating these concrete effects of religion on survivor experiences, I highlight the importance of IPV services that are attentive to the potentialities of faith.

RESUMEN

Para los inmigrantes latinoamericanos experimentando la violencia de pareja en los Estados Unidos, sistemas complejas, políticas discriminatorias, y la xenofobia crean aún más sufrimiento. Sin embargo, basado en una investigación etnográfica con inmigrantes sobrevivientes, yo demuestro cómo la combinación de servicios seculares de la violencia de pareja y prácticos evangélicos puede crear desarrollo personal positivo después de estas dificultades—una forma de desarrollo a que se refieren el Richard Tedeschi y sus colegas como “desarrollo pos-traumático.” Demostrando estos efectos concretos de la religión en las experiencias de sobrevivientes, yo destaco la importancia de que los servicios de la violencia de pareja estén atentos a las potencialidades de la fe.

KEYWORDS:

• Christianity
• immigration
• Intimate Partner Violence
• Latin America
• mental health
• religion

PALABRAS CLAVE:

• Cristianismo
• inmigración
• Violencia de pareja
• Latinoamérica
• salud mental
• religión

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank the survivors of violence and advocates who so generously shared their experiences with me for this research. I must also express my gratitude to the anonymous reviewers, P. Sean Brotherton, and guest editors Thurka Sangaramoorthy and Megan Carney for their insightful feedback on this article’s content and form. Further gratitude goes to Medical Anthropology’s Editor Lenore Manderson and Editorial Assistant Victoria Team for their editorial guidance. Last but not least, I offer thanks to Dorothy Hodgson, Peter Guarnaccia, and Hillary Haldane for their advising and support, along with Marian Thorpe for her invaluable comments.

Notes

1. All survivor names are pseudonyms, and certain identifying details about survivors, advocates, and the center have been changed or omitted for their protection.

2. Interviews and support groups with survivors were conducted in Spanish and later translated to English by myself.

3. Although women in these support groups were mainly immigrants from Latin America, since they had on average lived in the US for ten or more years, I also generally refer to them as “Latina.”

4. The survivors in this study presented themselves as cisgender, heterosexual women. While the difficulties of male and LGBTQ+ survivors are undoubtedly significant, this study cannot speak to those particular experiences.

5. A U visa provides nonimmigrant status for victims of crimes such as IPV, sexual assault, and trafficking who assist law enforcement in their investigation or prosecution of those crimes.

Additional information

Funding

This research was made possible by funding for graduate study through the Anthropology Department at Rutgers University.

Notes on contributors

Allison Bloom

Allison Bloom is an Assistant Professor of Anthropology in the Sociology and Anthropology Department at Moravian College in Bethlehem, PA. Her research interests include gender studies, immigration and Latinx studies, and inequalities in health and social services.