The effects of intimate partner violence on women’s and children’s health

the collective imaginary

Abstract

Objective: to understand the imagery constructed by women regarding the effects of intimate partner violence on their health and that of their children. Method: this was a qualitative, descriptive study conducted at a Women’s Care Reference Center in Petrolina, Pernambuco, Brazil, with 12 participants who had experienced intimate partner violence. Data were collected between July 2019 and February 2020 through semi-structured interviews, systematized using the collective subject discourse (CSD), and interpreted in light of Michel Maffesoli’s Comprehensive and Everyday Sociology. Results: the collective subject was between 32 and 56 years old, Black and Brown, evangelical, with a college degree, low income, and financially dependent. The following central ideas emerged from the CSD: “I became very ill” and “Living with my exhusband disrupted my children’s lives in every way.” The discourses highlighted physical and mental illness, as well as intergenerational impacts, such as anxiety, withdrawal, and violent behavior in children. Conclusions: the collective Imaginary revealed intimate partner violence as a totalizing phenomenon that spans generations, structuring suffering as a symbolic and social experience. The findings point to the need for health care based on interdisciplinarity, articulation of knowledge, and intersectoral public policies to break cycles of violence.