Adult Daughters of Victimized Mothers: Navigating Relationships with Fathers Who Abuse

Abstract

This article reports on a qualitative study that examined how adult daughters (N=17) of victimized mothers navigate relationships with fathers/stepfathers who abuse their intimate partners. Through the use of purposive sampling and the grounded theory method, participants' intentional decision-making involved upholding self-preservation while distinguishing relationship boundaries with their abusive father figures. Three adult daughter-father relational categories emerged depicting the tenuous balance between maintaining self and engaging in paternal contact: self-defend, self-sustain, and self-transcend. Each grouping included key emotional, cognitive and behavioral processes for adult daughters in regard to relationship commitment, support, and contact with their fathers/stepfathers. This study's findings contribute to a gap in knowledge regarding possible processes and consequences for adult daughters in negotiating relationships, including caregiving assistance, with partner-abusive fathers/stepfathers. Such knowledge informs the feminist, child development and fathering literature and opens up possibilities for further study in domestic violence research.