| Summary: | As an exploratory research project, using Flanagan's (1954) Critical Incident
methodology, seven gay male survivors of intimate abuse were interviewed in order to
identify factors that facilitated and/or hindered recovery. Critical incidents were collected
on a timeline in order to examine inter-incident relationships, which provided the basis
for a proposed theory of recovery characteristic of a non-clinical population.
Seventy facilitating incidents were subsequently sorted into 13 categories. Sixtyone
hindering events were similarly sorted into 12 categories. Procedures to establish
category soundness and comprehensiveness suggest that the current category system can
be reliably used, and the categories congruently reflect survivor recovery experiences.
Facilitating categories are primarily organized around the following themes:
Personal resiliency, boundary management, and determination to break negative
relationship patterns. Traumatic re-enactment, perpetrator intrusiveness, and social
stigma are central themes identified in the hindering categories. Implications for theory,
research, and professional practice are also addressed.
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