ABSTRACT This paper explores 35 mothers’ understandings of home after relationship separation, along with barriers and facilitators to creating home post-separation. No previous research has done so. We found that for mothers, like their children, home was complex and multidimensional, and rarely defined just in terms of physical space. Rather, it was a relational concept, with physical space providing the context for relationships with family, neighbourhood and community, to feel safe, and the opportunity to be oneself. More than half the mothers in the study reported experiencing domestic and family violence by their former partners and, for some, this had continued after separation. While the ongoing impacts of domestic and family violence significantly challenged some mothers’ ability to create home, separation and a level of liberation from violence could also mean that they were able to create home for the first time for themselves and their children.

中文翻译：

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分居离婚后母亲对“家”的理解

摘要 本文探讨了 35 位母亲在关系分离后对家庭的理解，以及分离后创造家庭的障碍和促进因素。以前的研究没有这样做。我们发现，对于母亲来说，就像她们的孩子一样，家是复杂和多维的，很少仅根据物理空间来定义。相反，它是一个关系概念，物理空间为与家庭、邻里和社区的关系提供了环境，让人感到安全，并有机会做自己。研究中超过一半的母亲报告说她们曾遭受过前伴侣的家庭暴力，对于一些人来说，这种情况在分居后仍在继续。虽然家庭暴力的持续影响极大地挑战了一些母亲创造家庭的能力，