Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology.

This qualitative study investigates the emotional abuse that occurs without physical abuse in the context of heterosexual, committed couple relationships. The thesis examines the ways in which men abuse women and the impact this has had on seven women's lives. The author of the study takes a feminist approach and uses the memory-work technique. Findings from the study identify that the women believe that their partners saw themselves as superior to the women and set the standards at home, thereby forcing, expecting, or manipulating women to take a subordinate position in the relationship. The covertness of the abuse appeared to have an impact on each woman's self-esteem. The author looks at three forms of control: control by domination, passive control, and manipulative control. The author suggests that this study may help to extend knowledge of emotional abuse by showing that social practices that are accepted as the norm can obscure the emotional abusiveness of gendered practices.--AUTHOR'S ABSTRACT

nz