ABSTRACT

This chapter explores an alternate perspective on responsibility-taking based on the context of an interpersonal relationship. Violence is a social event, in which at least two people interact and thus, taking responsibility and be meaningful within this interpersonal context. The research procedures followed a modification of the four steps of M. J. Arvay’s collaborative narrative inquiry method: setting the stage, co-constructing the research interview, engaging in six collaborative interpretive interviews and transcription processes, and writing the narratives. The women believed that men needed to take responsibility on the basis of their own values and ethics—responsibility-taking could not be done only because it was important to others as a means to reunite with their partners and children. Despite points of similarity, there were also notable differences in men’s and women’s narratives around responsibility taking particularly in meaning in accountability and making amends. The role of making amends has been discussed in terms of recovery, especially in the field of addictions.