The power of naming: co-constructing knowledge about violence in the family

A pilot project was conducted in the English Midlands to better understand how violence in family settings is described and defined. We present qualitative data from focus groups with mothers who have experienced violence in their families and practitioners working to address such experiences. Drawing upon this evidence, we show the importance of developing a shared, contextualized understanding of family violence to clearly identify what survivors of violence need and to facilitate appropriate service referrals. Participants’ naming of violent behaviors is an intersectional project marked by gender, race, disability, and class, best understood within the context of life stages. The process of practitioners and survivors co-constructing meaningful, intersectional definitions of violence helps clarify the extent to which daily experiences align with social policies, and is essential to improving criminal justice, health and social care praxis. This paper contributes new knowledge about how “violence in the family” is constructed and enacted within patriarchal social structures in ways injurious to family life