Still walking on egg shells: women's lived experience of staying with their partners who have completed abusive men's treatment groups

Woman abuse is a serious problem in our society and our ready acceptance of men's treatment groups as a solution to woman abuse maybe short-sighted. Outcome investigations of abusive men's treatment groups have failed to include women's experience as a measure of treatment success and often disparity exists on whether success has been achieved. Many studies examine only physical abuse and fail to acknowledge the role of psychological abuse in relationships. The goal of this study was to listen to the voices of those women who have stayed with their partners after the men have completed group treatment and to understand their day-to-day experience of living with the 'treated' man. This feminist-oriented descriptive phenomenological study investigates five women, using face-to-face interview techniques. Descriptive information was generated from audio taped interviews. A metaphor emerged as the core phenomenon which participants described as 'still walking on eggshells'. This described the experience of living with their partners, post-group, and defined the essential element of the post-group experience. Within this core phenomenon, five themes were identified: safety, women's work of staying in the relationship, partner's use of power and control, concern for children and the role of the 'system' . These descriptions of the essence of the post-group relationship allow us to hear from the women who experience the daily reality of "still walking on egg shells", a perspective often unheard and therefore unacknowledged. These perspectives indicate a need to review our current treatment options for abusive men as a means of providing greater safety to women.