Strategically Stealthy

Abstract

Research on women who divorce their abusive husbands typically draws on the experiences of those who have had contact with formal intimate partner violence (IPV) support services. The experiences of women who have not sought such support remain poorly understood. Drawing upon a series of longitudinal, in-depth interviews with 12 women who did not seek formal IPV services, this work illuminates women’s “strategically stealthy” agency, as they navigate spousal violence, seek human connection and formal support, and eventually file for divorce. This article proposes a revision of the transtheoretical model’s (TTM) preparation stage from 30 days to a flexible time frame of months and even years, which allows a more complex, agentic understanding of IPV survivors’ actions, behaviors, and help-seeking efforts deployed in planning for divorce. By expanding the time frame of TTM’s preparation stage, this work has broad implications for social work practice.