“Use the language they use:” How Institutional Actors Understand and Use “Victim” and “Survivor”

• In Event: Sociology of Sex and Gender Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 15. Violence: Framing, Interpretation, and Advocacy

Abstract

The terms “victim” and “survivor” are enduring fixtures in the lexicon of domestic and sexual violence. Although “survivor” is still regarded as an imperfect alternative to “victim,” it is increasingly adopted for its positive associations with empowerment. However, whereas other work has theorized from the “ground-up,” this study theorizes from the other direction, drawing on in-depth interviews with an array of institutional actors: people responsible for coordinating and developing policies for people facing domestic violence and housing insecurity. Interview data trouble the assumed acceptance of the survivor term – highlighting its mutability and how organizational actors respond to lived experienced. This paper shows that institutional actors have a relational understanding of the terms, as they look to the cues and preferences of victims and survivors to inform their own language use.

Author

• Madeline Yu Carrola, The Ohio State University