PhD candidate Morgan Pardue-Kim, PhD student Mariel Pfister, UMBC associate professor Dr. Kerri Evans, and UMB associate professor Dr. Melissa Smith and colleagues publish in Child Abuse & Neglect.
PhD candidate Morgan Pardue-Kim, along with community-based colleagues Celene Garces and E. Martinez, PhD student Mariel Pfister, UMBC associate professor Dr. Kerri Evans, and UMB associate professor Dr. Melissa Smith recently published "'Un lazo que sigue': A survivor-informed, resilience-focused study of intergenerational childhood exposure to intimate partner violence among unaccompanied Central American mothers" in Child Abuse & Neglect.
The study is a secondary data analysis of Morgan's dissertation work, and explores childhood exposure to intimate partner violence (CEIPV) and intergenerational CEIPV (I-CEIPV) among young Central American immigrant mothers who were formerly unaccompanied refugee minors.
Drawing on community-based participatory research and constructivist grounded theory, the qualitative study identifies survivor-generated pathways of risk—including normalization of violence, early unwanted motherhood following sexual assault and trafficking, and structural isolation—as well as resilience through therapy and program supports, safe partners, positive parenting, and rejecting intergenerational patterns. The article offers implications for programs, policies, and research.