Identity veiling: Theorizing identity gap negotiation post-intimate partner violence

Abstract

Within the United States, 1 in 4 women and 1 in 10 men experience intimate partner violence (IPV): psychological aggression, sexual violence, physical violence, and/or stalking from an intimate partner. Although some studies highlight the complexity of post-IPV recovery, the role of communication in post-IPV recovery remains underexplored. This study employs Communication Theory of Identity (CTI) to analyze in-depth interviews with post-IPV adults. Analysis reveals how individuals negotiate post-IPV identity gaps between the personal-personal and personal-relational layers of identity. The forwarded concept of identity veiling explicates how IPV tactics cause the relational layer of identity to eclipse the personal layer in IPV relationships. Therefore, post-IPV recovery involves unveiling the personal layer of identity—communicatively (re)constructing self-image beyond the IPV relationship and the identity gaps it engendered. This study conceptualizes the role of violent communication in the construction of identity gaps and identity gap negotiation.