Understand how women survivors of abuse have become empowered to work for social change and help others! This one-of-a-kind book explores the processes through which women survivors of abuse can transform psychological trauma into a politics of resistance and become involved in collective action for social change. Women Survivors, Psychological Trauma, and the Politics of Resistance uses the powerful testimony of survivors to reveal the processes, factors, insights, and conditions that prompted these women to join in the collective struggle opposing violence against women and children. Unlike other books that only examine the empowerment strategies that women employ to leave abusive relationships, this essential book is a unique, in-depth exploration of the social and psychological processes of survivors’empowerment. This book traces how these processes unfold, showing how women have made sense of their lives and became involved in action for social change. In this unique book, you will discover: how the transition house movement came about and how its practices were conceived and shaped how women survivors have learned to recognize “invisible” conflicts and contradictions in their lives new directions for feminist social work research the barriers that stand in the way of building communities dedicated to healing, action, and change how the involvement of survivors themselves can help to recreate shelters and women's organizations as settings for the collective struggle against violence which currently used remedies for woman/child abuse need to be reexamined . . . and much more! Containing qualitative studies of eleven women, analysis of their abusive experiences, and suggestions for new social work models to help survivors of abuse, Women Survivors, Psychological Trauma, and the Politics of Resistance will assist you in developing improved techniques from a feminist social work perspective to provide help to abused women.

This book offers reflections on how liberation might be experienced by clients as a result of the therapeutic relationship. It explores how power and resistance might be most effectively and ethically understood and utilised in clinical practice with survivors of trauma. Power, Resistance and Liberation in Therapy with Survivors of Trauma draws together narrative therapy, Coordinated Management of Meaning (CMM) and liberation psychology approaches. It critically reviews each approach and demonstrates what each contributes to the other as well as how to draw them together in a coherent way. The book presents: an original take on CMM through the lenses of power and resistance a new way of thinking about resistance in life and therapy, using the metaphor of creativity numerous case examples to support strong theory-practice links. Through the exploration of power, resistance and liberation in therapy, this book presents innovative ways of conceptualising these issues. As such it will be of interest to anyone in the mental health fields of therapy, counselling, social work or critical psychology, regardless of their preferred model. It will also appeal to those interested in a socio-political contextual analysis of complex human experience.

"A trauma revolution is quietly sweeping social services in the United States. For women who have experienced domestic violence, proving that you are a "good victim" is no longer enough when navigating these institutions. Women must also show that they are recovering, as if domestic violence were a disease: they must show that they are transforming from "victims" into "survivors." Through archival research, life story interviews, and participation observation, The Politics of Surviving shows that "becoming" a survivor is full of contradictions, perils, politics, and pleasures. Using an intersectional lens, Paige L. Sweet reveals how the idea of "resilience" and being a "survivor" can become a coercive force in women's lives. With nuance and compassion, The Politics of Surviving wrestles with questions about the gendered nature of the welfare state, the unintended consequences of feminist mobilizations for these programs, and the women who are left behind by the limited forms of citizenship we offer them"--

Feminist scholars have demonstrated how ‘dominant discourses’ and ‘master narratives’ frequently reflect patriarchal influence, thereby distorting and depoliticizing women’s storying of their own lives. In this groundbreaking volume a number of internationally recognized researchers, working across a range of disciplines, provide a detailed examination of women’s attempts to counter-story their lives when prevailing discourses are unhelpful or, indeed, harmful. As such, it is an exploration of women’s agency and resistance, which highlights the challenges and complexities of such discursive work. The chapters explore women’s resistance across a wide range of experiences, including: intimate partner violence, casual sex, depression, premenstrual change, disordered eating, lesbian identity, women’s work in male-dominated spaces, rape, and child birth. Each chapter combines theoretical analyses with illuminating first-hand accounts, and elaborates practical implications that provide directions for individual and social change. Providing an incisive and comprehensive exploration of discourse, oppression and resistance, that cuts across domains of women’s everyday lives, Women Voicing Resistance will be of great interest to students, scholars and practitioners in the fields of psychology, gender studies, women’s studies, sociology, and social work.

Traumatic experiences and their consequences are often the core of life stories told by survivors of violence. In Trauma: Life Stories of Survivors leading academics explore the relationship between the experiences of terror and helplessness that have caused trauma, the ways in which survivors remember, and the representation of these memories in the language and form of their life stories.International case studies include the migration of Ethiopian Jews to Israel, the life stories of Guatemalan war widows, violence in South Africa, persecution of political prisoners in South Africa and the former Czechoslovakia, lynching in the Mississippi Delta, resistance in Zimbabwe's liberation war, sexual abuse, and the ongoing Irish troubles. The volume reveals the complexity of remembering and forgetting traumatic experiences, and shows that survivors are likely to express themselves in stories containing elements that are imaginary, fragmented, and loaded with symbolism. Trauma: Life Stories of Survivors is a groundbreaking work of relevance across the social sciences. This new perspective on trauma will be of particular importance to researchers in psychology, history, women's studies, anthropology, sociology and cultural studies.

African American women and men share their stories of how feminism has influenced their daily lives.

The Politics of Child Sexual Abuse is the first study of activism against child sexual abuse, tracing its emergence in feminist anti-rape efforts, its development into mainstream self-help, and its entry into mass media and public policy. Nancy Whittier deftly charts the development of the movement's "therapeutic politics," demonstrating that activists viewed tactics for changing emotions and one's sense of self as necessary for widespread social change and combined them with efforts to change institutions and the state. A lucid and moving account, this book draws powerful lessons about the transformative potential of therapeutic politics, their connection to institutions, and the processes of incomplete social change that characterize American politics today.