‘Everything Comes for a Reason’: The Meaning of Spirituality and Faith Among Ultra-Orthodox Jewish Women Survivors of IPV

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Purpose: This phenomenological study stems from the critical role of examining diversity in interpersonal violence research and aims to gain a deeper understanding of the lived experiences of Ultraorthodox Jewish Women (UJW) survivors of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) on (1) What is it like to be an UJW who survived IPV; (2) In what ways do religious beliefs of UJW shed light on the experience of IPV. Method: In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 participants who identified themselves as IPV survivors. The qualitative analysis program N-Vivo 10 was utilized for coding and constructing themes. Results: Relying on the descriptive phenomenological approach, findings revealed three core themes: ‘Everything comes from heaven, but everyone has free will’ (IPV came from above); ‘What does not break you, heals you’ (IPV came for a purpose) and; The cycle of abuse- a spiritual war (the perpetrator’s goal to inflict damage to her soul). Conclusion: The findings suggest that religious terminology, values, and beliefs shed light on surviving IPV and on interpreting dynamics related to IPV. The Meaning Making Framework (MMF) was the guiding theoretical framework for interpreting and analyzing the findings. Implications of the research emphasize that engagement with Jewish terminology and fundamental beliefs promotes a deeper understanding of IPV survivors from the Ultraorthodox community.

Original languageEnglish
JournalJournal of Family Violence
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 2023
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.

Keywords

  • Intimate partner violence (IPV)
  • Phenomenological study
  • Religious and IPV
  • Ultraorthodox Jewish women

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Clinical Psychology
  • Social Sciences (miscellaneous)
  • Sociology and Political Science
  • Law

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