Battered Woman and Shelters

Donileen R. Loseke is Assistant Professor of Sociology in the Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Social Work at Skidmore College.

"The book brings a fresh and needed perspective to an issue that is too often treated in the simplistic fashion of a television movie. There are no persons wearing 'white' and 'black' hats in this book. Rather, the book focuses on the practical dilemmas and circumstances faced by shelter workers in fulfilling their professional obligations. Loseke offers us a way of seeing shelter work as it is. In doing so, she raises issues that some readers may find discomforting because they clash with their television movie visions of battered women and shelter workers. What Loseke offers is a vision of battered women and shelter workers as human beings and practical actors who use available cultural resources to understand and manage the troubles of everyday life. This is a thoughtful and sophisticated approach to an important social issue." — Gale Miller, Marquette University

• Acknowledgments IntroductionSOCIAL PROBLEMS WORK AND THE STUDY OF WIFE ABUSE 1. COLLECTIVE PREPRESENTATIONS The Collective Representation of Wife AbuseThe Collective Representation of the Battered WomanThe Collective Representation of SheltersSummary 2. SCHEMES OF INTERPRETATION AND PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE Social Problems and Moral StancesInterpretive Schemes and Practical ExperienceSummary 3. COLLECTIVE REPRESENTATIONS AND THE FORMAL ORGANIZATION OF SHELTER WORK Collective Representations and the Organization of South CoastCollective Representations, Administrators, and Workers at South CoastCollective Representations and Organizational Decision-MakingSummary 4. IDENTIFYING THE BATTERED WOMAN The Practicalities of Client SelectionThe Practicalities of IdentificationCategorizations and JustificationsCommonsense Interpretations, Categorizations, and JustificationsSummary 5. TRANSFORMING CLIENTS Interpretive Schemes, Organizational Structure, and Identity TransformationConstructing the Battered WomanSupporting the Battered WomanThe Activities of SupportSummary 6. MAKING SENSE OF SHELTER WORK Troubles and DisappointmentsMaking Sense of Interpersonal TroublesPractical Sensemaking and Failures to Neutralize TroublesMaking Sense of SuccessSummary 7. SOCIAL PROBLEMS WORK AND THE REPRODUCTION OF PUBLIC PROBLEMS AppendixDATA AND DATA COLLECTION AT SOUTH COAST Notes References Index