I'm writing a book that is partly just a horror story about a girl who gets stuck with a psychopath after her abusive husband gets in a coma, but is also partly about the abusive relationship itself. I want to show readers what it is like to be in a relationship like that, and why so many people who find themselves in one don't leave the person they're with despite the situation. I already have a good idea of her motivations and such, but I still feel like I'm not knowledgeable enough to really delve into the issue. I have searched for articles and documentaries about it, but I'm a terrible researcher, so all I've found have been stuff that just talks about how horrible it is, rather than the psychological reasons behind ending up in, and staying, in such a relationship. If any of you guys have any suggestions on articles or documentaries, or perhaps even better: ways in which I should go about researching it, then that would be great!
You could go on a scholarly database, or use Google Scholar to look for psychology articles. My wife is a psychologist and I know for a fact there is countless peer-reviewed articles and even books on that particular subject. GALE Virtual Library and EBSCO Host are both great databases.
As Spencer said, there are plenty of academic articles and books on the subject. You may find those useful depending on your background and what exactly you are trying to learn. However, I think you'll get more out of the the briefs/guides published by various advocacy and public health organizations.
You say articles and documentaries---what about books? Edited to add: I've seen a number of recommendations for Lundy Bancroft's books. I haven't read any myself.
Sure, I mean anything goes really. I just find that books on various subjects tend to take longer to actually get to the issue, whereas documentaries and articles tend to delve right in.
Oh wow. I just checked out the author you suggested, and he seems to have a book about every major thing I need help on! Thank you for that suggestion! Much appreciated!
Hey @U.G. Ridley. I'm in a similar place to you with regards to my character being in an abusive relationship. I was lucky in that the inspiration hit me when I was still studying at uni, so I had access to hundreds of academic books and articles on the subject and I made full use of them in my summer breaks. Those may be difficult for you to access but I can't recommend sources like that enough. As for other media, I watched a tv drama called 'Murdered by my Boyfriend', which I believe is available to view online. (Trailer : ). It is based on a true story, very heavy disturbing content which is to be expected. Also a documentary called 'Love You to Death: A Year of Domestic Violence' which was again extremely disturbing, but interesting for understanding why people stay with their abusers. One woman even reported feeling guilty when she faced her partner in the court room, as she perceived it as her own fault that he was in trouble with the law. I can try and delve through some of my notes I made from my unis library books if there's any specific thing you would like to know. Hope that's at least a start for you. One thing I've learned is that you can never research enough when it comes to topics of this nature.
I volunteer several times a week on an anti-abuse hotline and spend a lot of time working with abuse victims of all types. I've also researched the subject extensively. You can PM me anything you'd like.
Also, you might want to watch a video of an older movie that starred Farah Fawcett called "The Burning Bed". It really helped to bring the problem of domestic abuse in America into the public eye.
Some relations act like trap or deep black hole and it's difficult to get out , the details are mentioned on propaperwritings.com
Private Violence on Netflix is a documentary about several abusive relationships. It's truly eye opening, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
I might've lied... It may be on HBO, not Netflix. It's been a few months since I watched it, so I can't remember. Sowwy.