To uncover implicit and explicit meanings that are embedded in the experiences of adult survivors of sexual assault, the authors conducted interviews with 12 women survivors. Using Heideggerian hermeneutic phenomenology, they uncovered three relational themes and one overarching pattern from the data. “Breaking down” describes the violence that survivors experience, “making meaning” expresses the ways in which survivors incorporate the assault into the narratives of their lives, and “going beyond themselves” explicates what survivors do with their story, who they tell, and what they want to happen. Moving within the spiral: the process of surviving, the constitutive pattern, contains emerging themes, lived experiences, and the practices of participants.
Allen, D., Benner, P., & Diekelmann, N. (1986). Three paradigms for nursing research methodological implications. In P. Chinn (Ed.), Nursing research methodology issues in implementation (pp. 23-38). Rockville, MD: Aspen.
2.
Banyard, V.L., & Williams, L.M. (2007). Women's voices on recovery: A multi-method study of the complexity of recovery from child sexual abuse . Child Abuse & Neglect, 31, 275-290.
3.
Barringer, C.E. (1992). The survivor's voice: Breaking the incest taboo . NWSA Journal, 4, 4-22.
4.
Benner, P. (1985). Quality of life: A phenomenological perspective on explanation prediction and understanding in nursing science. Advances in Nursing Science, 8, 1-4.
5.
Benner, P. (Ed.). (1994). Interpretive phenomenology. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
6.
Boudreaux, E., Kilpatrick, D., Resnick, H., Best, C., & Saunders, B. (1998). Criminal victimization, posttraumatic stress disorder, and comorbid psychopathology among a community sample of women. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 11, 665-678.
7.
Brownmiller, S. (1975). Against our will: Men, women, and rape. New York: Simon & Schuster.
8.
Buzawa, E., & Buzawa, C. (2003). Domestic violence: The criminal justice response (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA : Sage.
9.
Campbell, R. (1998). The community response to rape: Victims' experiences with the legal, medical, and mental health systems. American Journal of Community Psychology, 26, 355-381.
10.
Campbell, R., Sefl, T., Barnes, H.E., Ahrens, C.E., Wasco, S.M., & Zaragoza-Diesfeld, Y. (1999). Community services for rape survivors: Enhancing psychological well-being or trauma? Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 67, 847-858.
11.
Campbell, R., Wasco, S.M., Ahrens, C.E., Sefl, T., & Barnes, H.E. (2001). Preventing the "second rape": Rape survivors' experiences with community service providers. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 16, 1239-1258.
12.
Cavanaugh, K. (2003). Understanding women's responses to domestic violence . Qualitative Social Work, 2, 229-249.
13.
Cho, H., & Wilke, D. (2005). How has the Violence Against Women Act affected the response of the criminal justice system to domestic violence? Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare, 32, 125-139.
14.
Danis, F. (2003). The criminalization of domestic violence: What social workers need to know. Social Work, 48, 237-246.
15.
Diekelmann, N., Allen, D., & Tanner, C. (1989). A hermeneutical analysis of the National League for Nursing criteria for the appraisal of baccalaureate programs. In N. Diekelmann, D. Allen, & C. Tanner (Eds.), The National League for Nursing criteria for appraisal of baccalaureate programs: A critical hermeneutical analysis (pp. 11-31). New York: National League for Nursing.
16.
Frazier, P.A., & Haney, B. (1996). Sexual assault cases in the legal system: Police, prosecutor, and victim perspectives. Law and Human Behavior , 20, 607-628.
17.
Grossman, F.K., Cook, A.B., Kepkep, K., & Koenen, K.C. (1999). With the Phoenix rising: Lessons from ten resilient women who overcame the trauma of child sexual abuse. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
18.
Harvey, M.R. (1996). An ecological view of psychological trauma and trauma recovery. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 9, 3-23.
19.
Heidegger, M. (1996). Being and time (J. Stambaugh, Trans.). Albany: State University of New York Press. (Original work published 1953)
20.
Herman, J.L. (2005). Justice from the victim's perspective. Violence Against Women, 11, 571-602.
21.
Kernic, M.A., Monary-Ernsdorff, D.J., Koepsell, J.K., & Holt, V.L. (2005). Children in the crossfire. Violence Against Women, 11, 991-1021.
22.
Koss, M.P. (1993). Rape: Scope, impact, interventions, and public policy responses. American Psychologist, 48, 1062-1069.
23.
Koss, M.P., Goodman, L.A., Browne, A., Fitzgerald, L.E., Keita, G.P., & Russo, N.F. (1994). No safe haven: Male violence against women at home, at work and in the community. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
24.
Krasner, D., & O'Connor, N. (1998). Painful venous ulcers: Themes and stories about living with the pain and suffering. CAET Journal, 17, 7-17.
25.
Little, C.V. (1999). The meaning of learning in critical care nursing: A hermeneutic study. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 30, 697-703.
26.
Murphy, S. (1998). Surviving domestic violence: A study of American Indian women claiming their lives. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Arizona State University, Tempe.
27.
Plichta, S.B., & Falik, M. (2001). Prevalence of violence and its implications for women's health. Women's Health Issues, 11, 244-258.
28.
Ptacek, J. (1999). Battered women in the courtroom. Boston: Northeastern University Press.
29.
Risley-Curtiss, C., Holley, L., Cruickshank, T., Porcelli, J., Rhoads, C., Bacchus, D., et al. (2006). "She was family": Women of color and animal-human connections. Affilia, 21, 433-447.
30.
Sanday, P.R. (1996). Rape-prone versus rape-free campus cultures. Violence Against Women, 2, 191-208.
31.
Wyatt, G.E., Notgrass, C.M., & Newcomb, M. (1990). Internal and external mediators of women's rape experiences. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 14, 153-176.
32.
Yllo, K. (1993). Through a feminist lens: Gender, power, and violence . In R. J. Gelles & D. Loseke (Eds.), Current controversies on family violence (pp. 47-62). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
