"My mother was nothing to me". A qualitative study of childhood memories, perceptions and experiences of women victims of intimate partner violence

Clinical research suggests that there is a relationship between victimization in childhood and victimisation in adulthood. Witnessing IPV between parents could be a risk factor for suffering from it in the next generation, since it would encourage tolerance of violence due to the learning process taking place during childhood. The intergenerational transmission of violence theory refers to the influence of the family environment on children who after being exposed to violence, learn to use it or tolerate it (Martínez, et al., 2014). Exposure to violence between parents and experience of child abuse therefore appears to be related to the subsequent perpetration of and victimisation from IPV. The aim of the research is to explore thoughts and experiences about the models which characterize the representations of childhood experiences and relationships of women victims ofIPV. A semi-structured interview was constructed. The interview explored the history of women with regard the maternal and paternal representations, the role of childhood maltreatment and the relationship between childhood trauma and IPV. Interviews' transcripts have been analyzed with the method of Consensual Qualitative Research (CQR). 15 women victims of IPV were interviewed. Several themes emerged, among those: descriptions of negative parental representations. Mother figures are represented as weak, rejecting, emotionally involved but not able to provide suitable emotional support. Paternal figures are represented as more neglectful than the maternal figures. The disciplinary aspects used in the family context are described as particularly hard and violent. It is also useful to reflect on the fact that the IPV sample is not characterized by events of premature loss or a high frequency of sexual abuse, confirming that a central aspect of victimization in adulthood is prolonged exposure to cumulative forms of maltreatment. Implications of findings for clinical assessment are discussed.