'I thought it was normal: adolescents attempts to make sense of their experiences of domestic violence in their families

This paper describes the experience and impact of domestic violence on adolescents using qualitative methodology. It explores the meanings that adolescents give to their experiences and how this may relate to the impact of those experiences.

Five adolescents who were receiving interventions within child and adolescent mental health services were interviewed about their experiences of domestic violence and the interviews were analysed using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA).

The results suggest that adolescents had a range of thoughts and feelings connected to their experiences, and that the impact of the domestic violence may be related to the different meanings that the adolescents gave to their experiences and how they made sense of those experiences.

The results are explored using theories such as Grych and Fincham’s Cognitive-Contextual Model; Watkin’s elaborated Control Theory; and, the work on post-traumatic growth. Research and clinical implications are discussed in the light of the results.