Abstract: This qualitative case study explores one
American Indian (AI) woman’s experience of intimate
partner violence and the subsequent murder of her
abusive partner. The lens of complex personhood
(Gordon, 1997) has been applied as a method for
understanding “Annie’s” multiple identities of AI woman,
victim of intimate partner violence, mother, and
convicted felon. The aim of the current case study was
to uncover implicit and explicit meanings embedded
in the experiences of moving from a victim of IPV to
an off ender by applying a framework of hermeneutic
phenomenology as the methodology. Three relational
themes emerged from the interview data: “Getting out
of Hand,” “They’re in my Footstep all the Way Now,” and
“What’s a Miranda Right”? Lastly, this article begins an
exploration into the complex link between victimization
and off ending as it applies to one battered woman.