Violence and voice: using a feminist constructivist grounded theory to explore women’s resistance to abuse

This article describes the rationale for the choice of constructivist grounded theory methodology in a research project which explored women’s responses to intimate partner violence. In view of the very sensitive subject matter of the study, and the long standing and predominant influence of feminist theory in understanding both the causality and dynamics of such violence, a methodology was sought which reflected feminist approaches to research. The article explores the debates regarding the existence or even the possibility of a ‘feminist methodology’. In concluding that there is no specific feminist methodology, the article outlines the rational for the choice of episodic narrative interviews and constructivist grounded theory as methodologies which uphold the goals and values of feminist research. The application of constructivist grounded theory in the analysis of the data and its suitability in the development of a theoretical analysis of women’s responses to intimate partner violence is presented and discussed.