TY - JOUR
T1 - Narrative constructions of sexual violence as told by female rape survivors in three populations of the southwestern United States
T2 - Scripts of coercion, scripts of consent
AU - Bletzer, Keith V.
AU - Koss, Mary P.
N1 - Funding Information:
Interview data were collected through the Women’s Life Experience Study (Mary P. Koss, Principal Investigator), funded by a research career development award from the National Institute of Mental Health, grants from the Violence and Traumatic Stress Studies Branch of the National Institute of Mental Health, and the Women’s Health Office. We thank Julie Gurdin for coordinating the project; she conducted the interviews with Anglo women and transcribed several tapes from the Anglo and Cheyenne women. We greatly appreciate constructive comments from three reviewers and the journal editor for improving the analysis; any remaining shortcomings are our responsibility.
PY - 2004/4
Y1 - 2004/4
N2 - There is a growing literature on the narrative construction of rape as sexual violence. This is puzzling, since, in certain contexts, violence may stifle narrative production. Researchers of atrocities, for example, propose that the experience of recurring terror disrupts narrative cohesion in reporting lived trauma. Genocidal horror occurs in the context of communities and ethnic groups. Our rape survival data from women of three populations in the southwestern United States reflect traumas of sexual violence against women, experienced within everyday lives. From interviews with 62 female rape survivors, we (1) identify narrative conventions and linguistic devices to show how these women structure accounts of sexual assault that reflect their cultural background; (2) contrast scripts of coercion and consent; (3) examine how the way in which these women describe the coercive actions of the perpetrator(s) contradicts the assumptions of legal discourse; and (4) discuss the narrative production of several women in abusive relationships and compare it to the narrative production (or lack thereof) of persons who experience state-engineered terror.
AB - There is a growing literature on the narrative construction of rape as sexual violence. This is puzzling, since, in certain contexts, violence may stifle narrative production. Researchers of atrocities, for example, propose that the experience of recurring terror disrupts narrative cohesion in reporting lived trauma. Genocidal horror occurs in the context of communities and ethnic groups. Our rape survival data from women of three populations in the southwestern United States reflect traumas of sexual violence against women, experienced within everyday lives. From interviews with 62 female rape survivors, we (1) identify narrative conventions and linguistic devices to show how these women structure accounts of sexual assault that reflect their cultural background; (2) contrast scripts of coercion and consent; (3) examine how the way in which these women describe the coercive actions of the perpetrator(s) contradicts the assumptions of legal discourse; and (4) discuss the narrative production of several women in abusive relationships and compare it to the narrative production (or lack thereof) of persons who experience state-engineered terror.
KW - Coercion and consent
KW - Rape survival
KW - Southwestern United States (Cheyenne, Mexicana, and Anglo)
KW - Women's narratives
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U2 - 10.1080/01459740490448911
DO - 10.1080/01459740490448911
M3 - Review article
C2 - 15204083
AN - SCOPUS:2542484368
SN - 0145-9740
VL - 23
SP - 113
EP - 156
JO - Medical Anthropology: Cross Cultural Studies in Health and Illness
JF - Medical Anthropology: Cross Cultural Studies in Health and Illness
IS - 2
ER -