Battered Women: Mourning the Death of a Relationship

Although concrete services for battered women have become more plentiful the proportion of women returning to battering situations continues to remain high. In this article the authors propose an approach that incorporates the traditional provision of concrete services and goes further to address the powerful emotional ties that keep many women from effecting a lasting separation from their abusive partners. This approach focuses on helping the battered woman identify and mourn the losses accompanying separation.