Sleeping With My Abuser: A Qualitative Study on the Development of Transferred Aggression Expression among Battered Women

Authors:
Virginia T. Tan, University of Santo Tomas, Philippines, & De La Salle University-Dasmarinas, Philippines
Email: vttan@dlsud.edu.ph
Published: April 30, 2018
https://doi.org/10.22492/ijpbs.4.1.06

Citation: Tan, V. T. (2018). Sleeping With My Abuser: A Qualitative Study on the Development of Transferred Aggression Expression among Battered Women. IAFOR Journal of Psychology & the Behavioral Sciences, 4(1). https://doi.org/10.22492/ijpbs.4.1.06


Abstract

This qualitative study aimed at understanding the experiences of battered women. Using the grounded theory method, the author generated a conceptual model of transferred aggression expression explaining abused women's perpetration of aggression in intimate relationships. For broader sampling, 18 battered women in a highly populated province in the Philippines were selected as the participants for one-on-one, semi-structured and in-depth interviews. The field texts gathered in the study were subjected to Strauss and Corbin's (2008) grounded theory method of data analysis, comprising open, axial and theoretical coding procedures. Six stages emerged which described women's manifestation of transferred aggression expression, namely enduring, inhibiting, placating, reciprocating, aggressing and retaliating. Results indicated that women who faced intimate partner violence were likely to exhibit transferred aggression expression via passive, passive-aggressive and reactive-aggressive ways. Implications and future directions of study are also offered.

Keywords

transferred aggression expression, intimate partner violence, violence against Filipino women, aggressive women, grounded theory