ABSTRACT
In 1993 I began researching into mothers’ physical violence towards their children. This chapter was begun some time ago and is part of an ongoing attempt to think through some of the issues that have arisen in the course of this research which primarily appear to concern the relationship and interrelationship of topic, theory and method. It will attempt to interrogate the biographical, theoretical and practical conditions which have enabled and constrained my relationship with the topic and the research method chosen. The ‘fit’ between theory and method will be a particular concern, reflecting both the importance this has begun to assume in my own work but also a wish to contribute to feminist debates in this area.
