Got One Another's Backs: Mother-Teen Relationships in Families Escaping Intimate Partner Violence

Abstract

This Life Story study gained a comprehensive picture of experiences of young adolescents (ages 12–14) accompanying mothers in emergency domestic violence shelters. A holistic, chronological approach in interviews with an ethnically diverse sample of youth and their mothers (N = 27) yielded insights into perspectives on relationships. This article focuses on the complex thematic finding “interconnected family boundaries,” a central dynamic in mother-youth relationships characterized by emotional closeness, highly cohesive boundaries, and interdependence in problem solving regarding family issues. Participants identified this dynamic as essential for adaptation yet entailing losses. Discussion considers theoretical triangulation and implications for research, intervention, and practitioner education.

Keywords::

• Adolescents
• mothering
• parent-child relationship
• intimate partner violence
• family systems
• domestic violence

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The author thanks participants for generously sharing their stories, shelters for supporting the research, and Jeremy Goldbach, PhD, MSSW for assisting with data analysis. The study would not have been possible without wise guidance from dissertation committee members Drs. Noel Bush-Armendariz, Ruth G. McRoy, George Holden, James A. Schwab, and Dawnovise Fowler.

FUNDING

The Fahs-Beck Fund for Research and Experimentation provided financial support for this study with a doctoral dissertation grant.