The aim of this study was to highlight and analyze how the understanding of elder abuse is phrased, enunciated and socially constructed by unit managers and care personnel in elderly care. Despite being globally recognized as a social problem, elder abuse is an under-researched field. The data collection consists of eight qualitative and semistructured interviews with unit manager and care personnel in swedish elderly care. The study has been analyzed by applying a theoretical framework consisting of social constructivism, ageism and role concepts. The results of the study shows that unit manager and care personnel has the tools and ambition to notice and perceive elder abuse. The results also shows that the lack of an coherent definition of elder abuse has an influence in how the phenomenon is constructed by care personnel.

Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur kvinnor som blivit utsatta för våld av män i nära relationer beskriver sina erfarenheter och hur det kan förklara svårigheten att lämna den våldsamma relationen. Datamaterialet består av fyra kvinnors självbiografier som analyserats utifrån tematisk analysmetod. Resultatet visar på att mäns våld i nära relationer är en komplex problematik som kan ses utifrån olika perspektiv och påverkas av olika faktorer. Det framgick att den våldsform som samtliga kvinnor blev utsatt för var psykiskt våld men det framkom även att det psykiska våldet kombinerades med någon annan form av våld och att de olika våldsformerna förstärkte varandra. Merparten av kvinnorna gav uttryck för beskrivningar som är förenlig med normaliseringsprocessen men resultatet av analysen påvisade att det inte alltid behöver vara så. Det känslomässiga bandet som skapas i relationens inledning har en betydande faktor genom hela relationen och är en förklaring till varför kvinnan stannar kvar i relationen. Utifrån kvinnornas beskrivningar av det upplevda våldet kan mäns våld mot kvinnor i nära relationer tolkas som ett uttryck för makt, kontroll och dominans över kvinnan. / The purpose of this study is to investigate how women who have been subjected to violence by men in close relationships describe their experiences and how it can explain the difficulty of leaving the violent relationships. The data material consists of four women's autobiographies that has been analyzed based on a thematic method of analysis. The result shows that men's violence in close relationships is a complex problem that can be seen from different perspectives and influenced by various factors. It emerged that the form of violence that all women were exposed to was psychological violence, but it also emerged that the psychological violence was combined with some other form of violence and that the various forms of violence reinforced each other. Most of the women expressed descriptions that are compatible with the normalization process, but the results of the analysis showed that this does not always have to be the case. The emotional bond that is created in the beginning of the relationship has a significant factor throughout the relationship and is an explanation for why the woman stays in the relationship. Based on women's descriptions of perceived violence, men's violence against women in close relationships can be interpreted as an expression of power, control and dominance over the woman.

The aim of this study was to investigate how the best interest of the child was considered and reasoned with in cases where one parent has been using violence against the other parent and child has been exposed to this. The focus of our study was to see how the different units in social services cooperate for the best interest of the child and also how they reason their own assessment in these cases. The empirical data of this study consists of 8 qualitative interviews with social workers in family law or child protection services. We have chosen to base our study with three scientific theories, which are: collaboration theory, interorganizational organization theory and the theory of professions. The outcome of this study has been coded and themed in diverse steps to pinpoint the fundamental categories. These categories are: factors of importance in collaboration and factors that affect what is considered to be the best interest of the child. Based on our results and the empirical data studied, we have drawn a conclusion that there are many different and complex factors that can influence the decision making of a child's contact with an abusive parent. The interpretation and collaboration can be influenced by different factors such as the goals and purpose of the unit. It can be stated through our study that there is a positive view of collaboration between family law and child protection services. However, it can also be stated that the collaboration does not occur to the same extent as one would have liked within the units and that this could be due to various factors. We have also noticed that there has not been a lot of research on our topic regarding the interaction between family law and child protection services, especially regarding cases of violence. There is a need for more research regarding an internal collaboration within the social services that can be implemented as there are shortcomings in practice that have emerged in our study. We believe that the social workers in the social services and the families in question would have benefited from a more comprehensive research on how to interact with each other for the best interests of the child.

Prior studies have shown that individuals with disabilities, especially those with communication disabilities, are at higher risk for being exposed to domestic violence. The Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare recommend the municipal social services to use Augmentative Alternative Communication (AAC) as a means to facilitate communication with such individuals. Further, it is recommended that the social services use a standardized instrument called FREDA-risk assessment to ask clients about domestic violence. However, little is known about the use of those instruments among LSS administrators who handle service and support for individuals with disabilities, who may also have communication disabilities. The aim of this study was to investigate the use of FREDA- risk assessment and AAC among LSS administrators, and to explore whether the use of AAC affects the use of FREDA-risk assessment. In order to do so, a digital survey was conducted, in which 366 respondents spread over 144 municipalities participated. The results show that both instruments are not use at their full potential and that the use of AAC could facilitate the use of FREDA- risk assessment. Implications for social work practice and further research are discussed.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about several restrictions throughout society which has limited people's outdoor activities and forced individuals to stay home. These circumstances have possibly had an impact on the prevalence of domestic violence and other types of assault. This paper uses police crime data from the first six months of 2020 to analyse if any changes in domestic violence can be attributed to the implementation of COVID-19 restrictions in Sweden. Using the LUPP method, developed by The Swedish Council for Crime Prevention (BRÅ), this paper investigates weekly changes in crime compared to the same period in 2019 while additionally studying the prevalence of different types of relationships between the victim and offender. Results indicate that partner violence for men has doubled in relation to all assault crimes, and that partner violence for women has also increased substantially, accounting for 46 % of total assault crimes in the observed period. Abuse by family members, other acquaintances, and unknown persons have seemingly gone down in 2020, compared to the same period in 2019. A concluding regression analysis reveals weak to moderate correlations between changes in domestic violence- and non-domestic violence crimes and COVID-19 restrictions, even when changes in seasonality is accounted for. While the increase in domestic violence crimes does not directly coincide with the emergence of COVID-19, results indicate that the implemented restrictions have played an important role in maintaining heightened levels throughout the observed period. Future research is advised to continue testing for correlations to COVID-19 restrictions, while also considering other variables which could be related to domestic violence, such as increased alcohol consumption at home, family isolation, and economic stress.

Aim: The aim of this study was to broaden the understanding of the role of communitygroups in the prevention of intimate partner violence (IPV) in Bolivia. Therefore, this work assessed the connection between community group membership and the justification ofphysical IPV among women in Bolivia. IPV justification was chosen as an outcome, as it is strongly correlated to IPV experience. Methods: Data from a quantitative survey by the World Values Survey involving 988 womenin Bolivia was used for the analysis. To assess possible confounders, bivariate analysis was conducted. Logistic regression analysis between women’s community group membership andtheir justification of physical IPV has been performed. Results: The results indicate that 19.6% of women in Bolivia partly or always justify IPV.There has not been a significant association between community group membership and IPVjustification. The factors that were significantly associated to IPV justification in the final model were age and educational level of the women. Women aged 50 + had lower odds ofjustifying physical IPV than women aged 18-29 (OR 0.59, 95% CI: 0.35-0.97, p= <0.05). Similarly, women in the highest educational group had lower odds of justifying IPVcompared to women in the lowest educational group (OR 0.63, 95% CI: 0.41-0.98, p= <0.05). Conclusion: The association between community group membership and IPV justification inthis study was insignificant. This could be due to limitations in the study design. Futureresearch in the area should conduct studies with focus on different types of community groups singularly.

Våld i nära relationer är ett stort samhällsproblem, i synnerhet mäns våld mot kvinnor. Vad som inte får glömmas är att våld i nära relationer inte är begränsat till heterosexuella relationer, utan även förekommer i samkönade. Syftet med denna uppsats är att genom en kvalitativ undersökning, öka kunskapen om och hur sjuksköterskor på en akutmottagning tillämpar Socialstyrelsens föreskrifter och allmänna råd om våld i nära relationer (SOSFS 2014:4). Av särskilt intresse är att undersöka om skillnader finns i bemötandet av heterosexuella och HBTQ-personer. Vår studie är således en fallstudie och bygger på en vinjett undersökning, kombinerat med semistrukturerade intervjuer. Studien genomfördes med fyra informanter, vilka är anställda sjuksköterskor på en akutmottagningen. Resultatet av studien tyder på att sjuksköterskor på akutmottagningen inte korrekt följer Socialstyrelsens föreskrifter och allmänna råd, vad gäller våld i nära relationer. Resultatet tyder även på att sjuksköterskorna är präglade av den heteronorm som råder i samhället, vilket innebär att de inledningsvis eller helt misstar samkönade relationer för att vara vänskapsrelationer. / Intimate partner violence is a major societal problem, especially mens violence against women. What should not be forgotten is that intimate partner violence is not limited to heterosexual relationships, but also occurs in same-gender relationships. The purpose of this essay is to increase knowledge about and how nurses, in an emergency department, apply the National Board of Health and Welfare's regulations and general advice on intimate partner violence through a qualitative study (SOSFS 2014: 4). Of particular interest is to investigate whether there are differences in the treatment of heterosexuals and LGBTQ people. Our essay is a case study and is based on a vignette survey, combined with semi-structured interviews. The study was conducted with four informants, who are employed nurses at an emergency department. The results of the study indicate that nurses at the emergency department do not correctly follow the National Board of Health and Welfare's regulations and general advice regarding intimate partner violence. The results also indicate that the nurses are characterized by the heteronormative that prevails in society, which means that they initially or completely mistake same-gender relationships to be friendships.

The name of the thesis: Approaches of Selected Institucions to Domestic Violence Allegations during the Divorce Proceedings The author: Bc. Petra Vašinová The tutor: PhDr. Miloslav Čedík Pages, marks: 64, 145 176 Separate attachments: 2 Bibliography includes 71 items Abstract: The diploma thesis deals with issues of allegations of domestic violence in the process of custody proceeding before the divorce as viewed by related institutions. The key research subject covers different procedures of selected workers in a case of an allegation. Based on the initial interviews a question came up if the institutions use inner guidelines to deal with possible situations of clients manipulating workers. The next subject were the workers' opinions of the issues and of the allegation charges and sentences. The theoretical scope of the thesis contains relevant information about divorce, parental conflict, manipulation, ways of solving such problems, consequences, parental alienation syndrome and information about allegation in both Czech and foreign researching. The research method that I used was the Interpretative phenomenological analysis and the data was collected using semi-structured interviews. Open and Selective coding were used to evaluate the data. Based on the above mentioned method it has been found...

The purpose of this study is to investigate social workers' experience in meeting men who are victims of domestic violence by women. Through this study we want to acquire an in-depth understanding of how social norms of gender and masculinity have an impact on domestic violence by women as well as its impact on social workers in their treatment of the abused men. The methodological starting point of this study is based on a hermeneutic qualitative approach where empirical data have been obtained through semi-structured interviews. The interviews were conducted with six social workers who all come in contact with domestic violence through their work. Results from this study show that the norms of gender and masculinity which exist in our society do affect the view of men and manhood and it affects the view on women’s violence and violence in general. It also affects how the social workers treat men who are victims of domestic abuse by women. The result of this is that men feel a lot of shame about being victims of domestic abuse hence making it hard to reach them in efforts to help. Our conclusion is that social workers need to learn more about how norms of gender and masculinity affect what the men are feeling and hence find ways to treat these men without shame interfering in that treatment.

Genom användning av diskursanalys ämnar denna studie besvara följande frågor: ”Hur framställs skillnaderna och likheterna mellan våld i nära relationer och hedersrelaterat våld, och hur betraktas de som olika fenomen?” samt ”Hur kan synen av olika kulturer påverkas genom att definiera våldet på olika sätt?”. För att besvara dessa frågor har 29 tidningsartiklar om våld i nära relationer och 61 artiklar om hedersrelaterat våld som skrivits i svenska dagstidningar mellan åren 2002 och 2021 samlats in. Dessa har sedan analyserats med hjälp av Laclaus och Mouffes diskursanalys. Analysen fokuserar på hur hedersrelaterat våld och våld i nära relationer presenteras i den mediala debatten. Utifrån analysen uppkom två diskurser: ”Det främmande våldet” samt ”Den mediala rapporteringen av distinktionen mellan olika våld”. Diskursanalysen tillhör det socialkonstruktivistiska perspektivet. Majoriteten av den tidigare forskningen berör det feministiska perspektivet. Dessa perspektiv brukas för att försöka förklara om det finns någon skillnad mellan nyhetsrapporteringen av hedersrelaterat våld och våld i nära relationer samt hur detta påverkar synen på icke-svenska kulturer. Studien klargör att det finns en skillnad på rapporteringen av hedersrelaterat våld och våld i nära relationer. Detta bidrar bland annat till att kunna särskilja olika grupper i samhället där etniska minoriteter framställs som främmande och oförmögen att kunna anpassa sig till det svenska samhället. / Through the application of discourse analysis, the purpose of this study is to answer the following questions: “How are the similarities and differences of domestic violence and honour-related violence portrayed, and in what ways are they viewed differently?” and “How can the perception of other cultures be affected by redefining the violence?”. To answer these questions, 29 news articles regarding domestic violence and 61 news articles regarding honour-related violence have been collected and then analysed with the help of Laclau’s and Mouffe’s discourse analysis. The analysis focuses on the way domestic violence and honour-related violence is portrayed in the journalistic space. Through this analysis, two discourses emerged: “The foreign violence” and “The distinction in portrayal of difference types on violence in the sphere of media”. Discourse analysis lies within the realm of social constructivism. Most prior research touches upon the feministic perspective. These perspectives are used in order to explain any difference in the reporting of honour-related violence and domestic violence in the media, and furthermore how it affects the regard of non-Swedish cultures. The study identified that there is a difference in the portrayal of honour-related violence and domestic violence in Swedish media. Ramifications include segregation, leading to the view that ethnic minorities are unable to conform to the structure of Swedish society at large.