Guy Enosh

The Interactive Construction of Narrative Styles in Sensitive Interviews: The Case of Domestic Violence Research

Awareness of the possible power relations and conflicts between interviewer and interviewee in qualitative research has grown in recent years; however, scant attempts have been made to analyze this phenomenon empirically. The current work uses interviews conducted with battered women and batterers to understand the co-construction of the narrative of domestic violence. The emergent narrative style is shown to be the product of the interaction between interviewer and interviewee. Four different narrative styles are identified: the narrative style (a) as a struggle, (b) as deflection, (c) as negotiation, and (d) as a self-observation process. The divergent goals and agendas of interviewers and interviewees are discussed, as well as the replication of relational patterns of the interviewee in the interview process. Emphasized are the implications for the study of sensitive domains and power relations in qualitative research.

Processes of Reflectivity Knowledge Construction in Qualitative Research

The aim of this article is to suggest a useful approach demonstrating the focal role of processes of reflectivity in qualitative research. In particular, we distinguish between levels of analysis and analytical procedures for generating and organizing the interpretation of data and meanings in knowledge construction. We argue that reflective processes simultaneously involve both a state of mind and an active engagement. Within this context, reflective processes may refer to deliberate awareness involving both a contemplative stance (state of mind) and intentional activity aimed at recognizing differentness and generating knowledge (active engagement). Specifically, we identify four levels of reflection: observation, informants’ accounts, text deliberation, and contextualization and reconstruction. Simultaneously, we suggest several practical analytical procedures of reflectivity, which emanate from a dialectical line of thinking, including figure and ground, pre-existing expectations, apparent contradictions and opposites, and turning points (epiphanies). The dialectical approach to qualitative inquiry presented here maintains that discrepancies and opposites found at one level of analysis may be reconciled at a higher level of conceptual integration. During this process, the researcher becomes aware of the emergence of new knowledge by being attuned to a sense of differentness. We demonstrate the application of this model utilizing a concrete example taken from a research project evaluating a rehabilitation program for imprisoned male batterers.

Children's experience of interparental violence: A heuristic model

Abstract There is growing empirical evidence regarding the positive correlation between children living in violence-ridden family environments and their impaired development in the physical, cognitive, emotional, behavioral, and social domains. The purpose of this paper is to conceptualize the experience of children who are exposed to violence perpetrated by their father against their mother and suggest a constructivist theoretical model which may serve as the basis for further hypothesizing and intervention. A brief review of the pertinent literature serves as the basis for identifying four constructs used by children who are exposed to such violence in order to come to terms with it (e.g., living with a secret, living in conflict of loyalties, living in terror and fear, and living in an aggressive and dominance-oriented context). The various world views underlying these constructs are described, analyzed and discussed. The model suggests two dimensions along which these constructs can be analyzed (level of acknowledgment and loyalty to one or the other parent), and elaborates the process by which they become established. The possible options of locating specific children along these two dimensions are suggested. Some implications for research and differential intervention are proposed.

Power Relations and Reciprocity Dialectics of Knowledge Construction

In this article we suggest a theoretical framework of knowledge construction by employing the concept of dialectics to power relationships between researcher and participants. Power distribution in research is perceived as dichotomous and asymmetrical in favor of the researcher, creating unequal power relations that make exploitation possible. Acknowledging such exploitation has led to a critical stance and attempts to bridge gaps through egalitarianism and empowerment of participants. Some scholars have focused on shifting expert knowledge differentials between researcher and participants throughout the research project. Others have evaluated such gaps as a source of knowledge construction. In the present work we applied a dialectical approach to understanding research relationships, suggesting reciprocity as their defining attribute, regardless of symmetry or asymmetry and as a source of knowledge construction. In this article we recommend avoiding a taken-for-granted attitude, because we see it as a direct obstacle to the construction of knowledge.

Sense of coherence and socio-demographic characteristics predicting posttraumatic stress symptoms and recovery in the aftermath of the Second Lebanon War

Abstract This study investigated the role of sense of coherence (SOC) as a mediator between demographic attributes of individuals (gender, age, economic situation, and exposure to traumatic events during the war) and two war outcomes (postwar stress symptoms and perceived posttraumatic recovery). The participants were 870 adults (ages ranged between 20 and 85), who were affected by the Second Lebanon War and were evacuated from their home town. They were administered the research questionnaire approximately one year after this war. Path analysis indicated the following: gender, age, economic situation, and exposure were significantly associated with level of symptoms as well as perceived recovery. However, three of these connections (age, economic, and exposure) were partially mediated by SOC which was linked with lower levels of stress symptoms and higher levels of perceived posttraumatic recovery. Unlike our hypothesis, exposure by age interaction was not significantly associated with SOC and the two war outcomes. Results supported the hypotheses that SOC mediates between demographic characteristics and negative (symptoms) as well as positive (perceived recovery) war outcomes.

Sense of Differentness in the Construction of Knowledge.

This article contributes to the body of knowledge on qualitative interviewing in as much as it highlights the inherent connection between a sense of differentness among interview partners and processes of knowledge construction, which is the overarching goal of qualitative research. The authors argue that a sense of differentness serves as the starting point for the production of knowledge through exploration and reflection, conflict, negotiation, and argumentation. For heuristic purposes, the authors organize the analysis around four conceptual alternatives regarding agreement or disagreement with respect to the moral stances of interview partners. The authors then examine each of the alternatives in terms of its implications for the knowledge construction process and discuss them with regard to ontological, epistemological, and moral levels of analysis.

Strategies of Distancing from Emotional Experience Making Memories of Domestic Violence

Through autobiographical memory people give meaning to what has happened to them. When people are involved in traumatic events, they are faced with essential and existential questions regarding their identity and relation with others and the world. On the one hand, they have the need to recollect and process those memories; on the other hand, they feel a need to distance themselves and forget or detach from the pain and threat involved in such memories. Data was collected from in-depth interviews of 20 couples involved in domestic violence. Data analysis revealed that the reconstruction of narrative memory serves as a tool for positioning oneself vis-a-vis the violent experience. We describe and analyse the ways by which interviewees regard their emotional processes, values, and identities as vehicles by which they construct the recollection and the narrative of a violent event.

Cooperation and Conflict in Qualitative Research: A Dialectical Approach to Knowledge Production:

Our goal with this article is to present a dialectical approach to examining the interaction between researchers and research participants. A dialectical approach maintains that an apparent contradiction at one level might, in fact, be integrated as a synthesis of the two opposing poles at a higher level of conceptual analysis. We claim that a research approach advocating either pole might limit understanding of the complexity of the phenomenon in question. The interaction between researchers and research participants might be conceived of as creating a continuum ranging from cooperation to conflict. We adopt a dialectical perspective, and propose a whole spectrum of interactive styles between cooperation and conflict. Although some of these interactions might be perceived as a hindrance to knowledge production, we treat them as opportunities for the production of knowledge and the enhancement of interests of the study’s target population.

Awareness of Guilt and Shame in Intimate Violence

The purpose of this article is to examine the role of moral feelings—guilt and shame —in the emergence and aftermath of intimate violence, and the way in which these emotions affect the self and behaviors of those involved. This is a phenomenological study using content analysis of in-depth interviews with 20 male batterers and their female partners. The findings indicate that the extent of authenticity and assumption of responsibility concerning moral feelings will determine whether these will or will not lead to intimate violence. Thus it becomes possible to trace five alternative paths of the relationship between moral feelings and intimate violence. Implications for theorizing and future research about the role of moral feelings in intimate violence are suggested.

Client Aggression Toward Social Workers and Social Services in Israel—A Qualitative Analysis

The aggressive behavior of clients toward employees in service organizations is an alarming phenomenon, which harms employees and damages the organization itself. Employees all over the public sector, especially in social service departments, are continuously exposed to aggressive behavior by clients. The focus of the current study is on understanding the short- and long-term implications of aggressive client behavior on social workers and the organization in which they operate. A qualitative approach was used to understand the perspective of the workers exposed to aggressive client behavior as well as its organizational implications. In-depth interviews were conducted with the 40 participants between February and May, 2009. The participants included district managers, agency managers, supervisors, social workers, and administrators, in 17 agencies all over the country. The study findings identified negative impacts of client aggression on several levels and on several focal areas. On the emotional, cognitive, and behavioral levels, both short-term and long-term consequences can be seen, which affect not only the attacked individual but also resonate throughout the organization. Individual events may diffuse to affect other levels of the service process by role-learning, imitation of behavior, and by noticing that the organization provides incentives for client aggression, while providing disincentives for assertiveness and self-protective actions on the part of workers.