Accounts of interpersonal touch in female victims of intimate partner violence: A qualitative study

Abstract

Crucial for human development and functioning, affectionate touch predicts well-being. However, most research on affectionate touch in romantic relationship is conducted with samples in high quality relationships and relies on quantitative methods. We thus know little to nothing about how touch is experienced in low-quality relationships, namely those characterized by intimate partner violence (IPV). To fill this gap, victims of physical and/or sexual IPV who had received psychological support at one association supporting victims of IPV were invited to participate in the present study. The thematic analysis conducted upon the qualitative data revealed five main themes: (1) the definition of identity by touch, (2) the presence of “undesired” touch, (3) the absence of “desired” touch, (4) the memories and flashbacks triggered by touch, and (5) the self-reconstruction allowed by touch. Analyses are discussed in terms of their link with previous research on affectionate touch and on interpersonal violence. The results suggest that this constitute a meaningful topic of investigation to be further analyzed, as well as a possible therapeutic channel.