“Meet me at the hill where we used to park”: Interpersonal processes associated with victim recantation

“Double Crap!” Abuse and Harmed Identity inFifty Shades of Grey

“…While providing gifts may not be the first thing that comes to mind in defining ''stalking,'' it is an important component used in an overarching dynamic to control victims-hence its inclusion in the CDC's definition; 63 in our own analysis of real-world violent couples, one abuser delivered a hundred dollar bill to the victim's apartment, to remind the victim of his control over her. 58 Christian also intimidates and humiliates Anastasia by reminding her of transgressions she has committed (e.g., having a massage by a male masseuse) and threatening her with severe recourse (e.g., binding and gagging her in a crate). Other notable instances of intimidation occur throughout the novel, such as Christian's routine threats to punish Anastasia for rolling her eyes, his castigations over her eating behaviors (''Eat what's on your plate.…”

“…Borgia (2011), in a detailed analysis of the Twilight series, highlights the dynamic of ''the breathtakingly handsome vampire Edward with a sexually charged tension that quickly leads to his complete domination of the young woman [Bella], which she eagerly embraces '' (p. 4). 13 Despite the widespread popularity of Fifty Shades, beyond BDSM, [42][43][44][45] concerning is the power imbalance in Christian and Anastasia's relationship, including behaviors consistent with those observed in chronically violent couples 49,[56][57][58][59] and the significant adverse impacts of the abuse for Anastasia as experienced by abused women. [60][61][62] Using United States Centers for Disease Control (CDC) definitions of intimate partner violence (IPV) 63 and Smith's conceptualizations of how abuse adversely impacts women, 60-62 we systematically analyzed Fifty Shades of Grey-the first novel in the trilogy-to identify and describe (1) patterns in Christian's behavior consistent with IPV; and (2) Anastasia's responses to Christian's behaviors that are consistent with women's abuse experiences.…”

“…[13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22] Methods All three authors read Fifty Shades of Grey and participated in the analysis. The analysis was led by the first author, an expert in qualitative methods and dynamics of violent couples; 58,59,64 the first author provided training and oversight in the documentation of themes undertaken by all three authors. Thematic analysis 65 was used to guide our multi-step analysis:…”

“…We organized our analysis in a timeline format, highlighting in narrative summaries 58,66 events/interactions in the couple's relationship-such as their initial meeting during Anastasia's interview of Christian for her college's newspaper, and the first time Christian ''stalks'' Anastasia by casually ''showing up'' at the independent hardware store where she works. We chose to summarize the couple's events in a narrative format, rather than ''coding'' each theme, in order to maintain the continuity and integrity of the couple's interactions and conversations, and to capture the context surrounding their violent events; this approach has been used in our previous qualitative studies involving violent couples' conversational interactions.…”

“…We chose to summarize the couple's events in a narrative format, rather than ''coding'' each theme, in order to maintain the continuity and integrity of the couple's interactions and conversations, and to capture the context surrounding their violent events; this approach has been used in our previous qualitative studies involving violent couples' conversational interactions. 58,59,64 The narrative timeline was punctuated by IPV-consistent behaviors (using the CDC's definition of emotional abuse, stalking, and sexual violence) 63 and IPV responses (using Smith's descriptions of perceived threat, managing, altered identity, yearning, entrapment, and disempowerment). [60][61][62] Comparisons of themes in the first eight chapters were checked and arbitrated in weekly in-person meetings involving all authors, and when necessary, modifications were made to the narrative documentation.…”