“Family Violence”: The Language of Legitimacy

Abstract

Examinations of social movements have typically overlooked the organizational context of social-movement agencies as well as the role of agency employees in shaping the larger movement. This study explored meso-and micro-level forces that affect the battered women’s movement, as found in one particular women’s shelter. The findings suggest that although the larger social movement may encourage the examination of battering from a systemic perspective, shelter workers adopt a more narrow, psychological interpretation. Shelter workers adopt this perspective because of the socialization that occurs within the shelter context itself, which employees then replicate to be seen as competent.