The use of violence by women continues to be condemned by society, in fact violence by women signals a breakdown in conventional gender scripts regarding appropriate behaviour for females. Due to persistent beliefs in, and persuasive portrayals of, women as gentle and passive, ultimately non-aggressive and non-violent, women who behave violently present us with a paradox. As a result, women, it would appear, have been systematically excluded from studies of violence, particularly so within the British context, where in-depth qualitative research is lacking. Indeed what little we do know about women's violence is often expressed in a largely sexist and reductionist language - characteristic of many mainstream discourses, which hitherto present the violent woman as either a 'mad', 'bad' or victimised woman, concomitantly denying women agency and autonomy for their actions.
It is against this backdrop of limited knowledge regarding the violent
behaviour of females that my research has taken place. Using in-depth 'life-story'
interviews this research aimed to uncover women's everyday experiences with, and the contexts within which, women's violence takes place. By drawing upon the personal narratives of seven women, gathered from a variety of social contexts, this study documents the meanings, interpretations and understandings women ascribe to their own violent behaviour.
The overall aim of this thesis is to replace second-hand depersonalised nan·atives (of violent women) with the subjective viewpoints and human lived experiences of women themselves.