Purpose: This qualitative study examined first person accounts of resilient women who as children were exposed to the battering of their mothers. In the past twenty years, research has focused on determining the developmental aftereffects for individuals exposed to parental violence (Edleson, 1999; Graham-Bermann, 1998; O'Keefe, 1994). Identifying risk factors and their consequences has been extremely important because of society's failure to adequately address the experiences of children exposed to domestic violence. However, in doing so, such research has often obscured how individuals interpret their survival and the strengths that led to that survival. Exploring participants' perceptions of what happened to them during times when traumatic events occurred and during their adult lives assists in understanding how resilience can emerge from chaos and pain.

Method: A naturalistic inquiry approach to grounded theory building was employed. The sample was recruited through local newspaper advertisements indicating the intent of the study and a request for participants. Of the 27 respondents, 12 became research participants based on the sampling criteria of purposive sampling and theoretical saturation of the code categories. In-depth interviews were conducted using a semi-structured interview guide consisting of eleven open-ended questions in regard to risk (e.g., duration of violence) and protective (e.g., social support) factors.

Results: Participants were 12 women ranging in age from 22 to 54 years old (M=37.83). The majority of participants were European American (N=9), one was Hispanic, one was Asian, and one was Native American. Characteristics of the batterers' abuse revealed that the majority (N=10) were exposed to the batterer's violence for 13 or more years. The relationship to the batterer included father (N=11) and stepfather (N=1). Data analysis was conducted through using a constant comparative method. The findings of this study provided a set of conceptually meaningful categories for theory development regarding resilience and adult daughters of battered women. The key finding included uncovering the roots of participants' resilient capacities that were forged in resistance to their childhood adversity and its consequences. Specifically, they used a variety of protective strategies to “withstand” or “oppose” a sense of powerlessness due to the batterer's oppression of their mothers and of themselves. Although their acts of resistance may have begun as spontaneous reactions to their mothers' and consequently their own subjugation, they were reshaped into adaptive strategies that were used throughout their lives. Thematic categories included: 1) creating physical and mental escapes; 2) attempting to understand what was going on in the family; 3) building support networks; 3) creating order or control in their lives; 5) developing and executing safety plans; 6) intervening/running interference with the batterer; 7) protecting their mothers and supporting their siblings; and 8) breaking the cycle of violence.

Implications: Implications for social work practice include operating from a theoretical framework that encompasses strategies of resistance in working with adult daughters of battered women; consequently, individuals' survival strengths are addressed as well as the aftereffects of the trauma.