The purpose of this article is to explore the structure and content of recollections of violent events among cohabiting partners. The authors used qualitative methodology to examine 48 in-depth interviews. Content analysis of the interviews yielded two parallel and interrelated continua: One represented the life circumstances (staying in spite of violence) impinging on the recollections; the other dealt with the content of the memories of violent events. These two interacted according to a series of structural features. Both men and women living in violent relationships described a contextual variation ranging from choosing to stay to being prevented from leaving. The memory of violence was constructed in a manner meant to achieve coherence with the appropriate context.
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