Bakgrund: Distriktssköterskor på BVC möter ibland våldutsatta kvinnor och deras barn i sitt arbete. Följder av våld i nära relationer kan vara försämrad psykosocial hälsa både hos kvinnor och barn. Att tidigt upptäcka och hjälpa en sådan kvinna och hennes barn är ett viktigt uppdrag som distriktssköterskan har på BVC. Syftet med studien var att undersöka distriktssköterskornas upplevelser av möten med våldutsatta kvinnor och deras barn på BVC samt ta reda på vad som saknas kunskaps- och metodmässigt i deras arbete när det gäller att hjälpa denna patientkategori. Metod: Sju distriktssköterskor på BVC intervjuades och kvalitativ innehållsanalys användes för att analysera data. Resultat: Intervjuinnehållet delades i fyra huvudkategorier och sexton underkategorier. Huvudkategorierna var följande: Upplevelser av möten med våldutsatta kvinnor och deras barn, Tillvägagångssätt vid mötet med våldutsatta kvinnor med barn, Upplevelser av möten med barn till den våldutsatta kvinnan på BVC, Förslag på förbättringar inom arbetet med våldutsatta kvinnor och deras barn. Slutsats: Tydliga riktlinjer och metoder för screening för våldutsatthet behövs på BVC. Fördjupad utbildning inom olika kulturer och om våld i nära relationer är nödvändiga för ett mer effektivt och förebyggande arbete med våldutsatta kvinnor och deras barn på BVC. Mer tid och förståelse från ledningen är viktiga aspekter när det gäller att hjälpa våldutsatta kvinnor och deras barn. Nyckelord: Distriktssköterska, sjuksköterska, våldutsatta kvinnor, våld i nära relationer, BVC, kultur. / Background: Public health nurses working at child health clinics sometimes meet abused women and their children in their work. Consequences of domestic violence can be impaired psychosocial health in both women and children. To identify and help such a woman and her children early is an important mission that a public health nurse has at child health care. The  Aim of this study was to investigate the public health nurses' experiences of meetings with abused women and their children at child health care and what knowledge and methods are lacking in terms of their work in terms of helping this group.Method: Semi structured interviews with seven public health nurses at child health care were carried out and qualitative content analysis was used to analyze data. Results: The content of the interviews were divided into four main categories and sixteen sub-categories. The main categories were: Public health nurses’ experiences of meetings with abused women and their children, Approach the meeting with abused women and their children, Experiences of meetings with children of the abused woman at child health care, Suggestions for improvements in work with abused women and their children.Conclusion: Explicit guidelines and methods for screening for violence exposure needed within child health care. Deeper knowledge about different cultures, and domestic violence is necessary for a more effective and preventive work with abused women and their children. More time and understanding from management are important aspects when it comes to helping domestically violated women and their children. Keywords: District nurse, nurse, domestically violated women, IPV (intimate partner violence), child health care, culture.

Bakgrund: Våld mot kvinnor är ett känt socialt problem världen över och har under 2000-talet ökat med 30 procent. År 2007 anmäldes i Sverige ca 27 000 brott rubricerade som misshandel mot kvinnor och drygt 2/3 av dessa brott utfördes av en bekant gärningsman. Sjuksköterskan har en potentiellt unik och viktig roll i att identifiera och ta hand om kvinnor som söker hjälp gällande våld i parrelationer. Syfte: Att beskriva vilken roll sjuksköterskan har i mötet med den våldsutsatta kvinnan, samt hur sjuksköterskan upplever mötet. Metod: En deskriptiv litteraturstudie där 13 vetenskapliga artiklar har granskats och sammanställts. Resultat: Sjuksköterskans roll går ut på att skapa en trygg miljö och stödja den våldsutsatta kvinnan. Sjuksköterskan bör använda sig av ett professionellt bemötande och skapa en relation där en god kommunikation är möjlig. Sjuksköterskor upplever ofta frustration i mötet med den våldsutsatta kvinnan då det kan vara svårt att skapa en öppen dialog. Sjuksköterskor beskriver även en känsla av maktlöshet, då kvinnan väljer att gå tillbaka till ett våldsamt förhållande. Det är vanligt att sjuksköterskor i mötet med den våldsutsatta kvinnan blir känslomässigt engagerade. Slutsats: Sjuksköterskor saknar kunskap inom screening, bemötande samt omhändertagande av våldsutsatta kvinnor och är i behov av mer utbildning inom ämnet. / Background: Violence against women is a known social problem worldwide and increased by 30 percent in the 2000s'. In 2007, about 27 000 crimes captioned as abuse against women were reported in Sweden and just over 2/3 of these crimes were carried out by a known perpetrator. As a nurse you have a potentially unique and important role in identifying and taking care of women seeking help regarding intimate partner violence. Aim: To describe the role nurses have in the meeting with the abused woman, and how nurses perceive meeting. Method: A descriptive literature review in which 13 scientific papers have been reviewed and compiled. Results: Nursing role is to create a safe environment and support the abused woman. Nurses should use a professional approach and create a relationship where good communication is possible. The nurse often experience frustration in the meeting with the abused woman as it can be difficult to create an open dialogue. Nurses also describe a sense of powerlessness, when the woman chooses to go back to a violent relationship. It is common for nurses, in the meeting with the abused woman, to become emotionally involved. Conclusion: Nurses lack training in screening, treat and care for abused women and need more education in the subject.

Du är ingen riktig man - En kvalitativ studie om hur socialarbetare arbetar med män som utsatts för våld i nära relationer och hur de hanterar föreställningar som finns i samhället om män Författare: Camilla Andersson Bonnevier och Helena Norström Örebro universitet Institutionen för juridik, psykologi och socialt arbete. Socionomprogrammet Socialt arbete 30-60 hp C-uppsats, 15 hp Vt 2012                                                     Sammanfattning Studien handlar om våld mot män i nära relationer och syftet är att undersöka hur föreställningar om män som finns i samhället påverkar socialarbetares tankar och agerande i mötet med våldsutsatta män. En kvalitativ metod har använts och sex intervjuer har utförts. De teoretiska utgångspunkterna är genus, maskulinitet och det hegemoniska perspektivet. Resultatet framhäver att respondenterna är medvetna om de föreställningar som finns i samhället. Detta är något som de måste förhålla sig till i mötet med de utsatta männen. De föreställningar som finns angående män som blir utsatta för våld i nära relationer är även något som kan påverka män, exempelvis genom att skamkänslor uppstår i samband med att männen ska söka professionell hjälp. Vi har även valt att titta på hur socialarbetarna arbetar och vad det är som primärt styr deras arbete. Nyckelord: genus, hegemonisk maskulinitet, offerrollen, socialt arbete, utsatta män och våld i nära relationer / You're not a real man - A qualitative study of how social workers working with men who are victims of violence in intimate relationship and how they deal with beliefs that exist in society about men Author: Camilla Andersson Bonnevier och Helena Norström Örebro University School of Law, Psychology and Social Work Social Work Program Social Work 30-60 points C-essay, 15 points Spring term 2012                                                                               Abstract This study is about violence against men in intimate relationships and the purpose of this essay is to examine how conceptions of men which exists in society affects social workers thoughts and behaviors in the meetings with men who are victims of domestic violence. A qualitative method was used and six interviews were conducted. The theoretical perspectives are gender, masculinity and the hegemonic perspective. The results demonstrate that the respondents are aware of the conceptions that exist in society. This is something that they must relate to in the meeting with exposed men. The conceptions about men, who become a victim of domestic violence in close relationships is also something that can affect men, for example shame can occur when men seek professional help. We have also chosen to look at how social workers work and what it is that primarily govern their work. Key words: gender, hegemonic masculinity, victimization, social work, abused men and intimate partner

While previous research has explored women’s experiences of intimate partner violence (IPV), their help-seeking experiences and the barriers they encounter when seeking support, little research has explored the perspectives of women with disabilities regarding helpful IPV prevention, intervention and healing strategies. My qualitative research project sought to address two research questions: what have women with disabilities experienced when accessing support (from family, friends, and services) for IPV; and what do women with disabilities say would be helpful in the prevention or intervention of intimate partner violence. I undertook a secondary analysis of six interviews of women with disabilities who had been interviewed as part of a larger research study. My thematic analysis revealed many themes including experiences with sources of support—such as family, friends, counselling, and shelters—and strategies for prevention, including education and awareness; support system; affordable childcare and transportation; and self-care, spirituality, community, and social change. Barriers to support I identified include lack of education and awareness, lack of resources, lack of services, community size and dynamics, and potentially exclusive admission criteria. My intersectional analysis revealed the ways in which women’s social locations—such as their gender, cultural background, socio-economic situation, religion, disability and relationship status—influenced and shaped their help-seeking behaviours and their access to support systems. Several recommendations to address gaps in service provision are provided.

Despite the increased social recognition, law and policy changes within the criminal justice system, and the widespread use of court mandated batterer intervention programs (BIPs) domestic violence continues to be a persistent problem. The lack of significant decline in incidence rates along with a growing body of empirical evidence that indicates BIPs are, at best, only moderately effective raises serious concern. Effective policies and programs are based upon empirically tested theory. The assertion "the batterer's motive is power and control" has become fundamental to almost all of our currently used and accepted mainstream theoretical explanations regarding domestic violence. However, the domestic violence literature has not yet advanced any specific conceptualizations of power as a construct, it has not produced a theoretical model of power that articulates why or how power specifically acts as a motive for a batterer, and it has never empirically tested this fundamental assertion. The purpose of this research is to address this gap by focusing on the role of power in domestic violence theory and offer a more complete conceptualization and precise operationalization of power. The main goal of this study was to advance our current understanding of an individual's sense of power and control as a motive for using coercive control tactics, such as psychological and physical abuse tactics against an intimate partner. Therefore, the primary objective of this study was to develop and assess the measurability of the construct "internal power". Specifically, it defined, conceptualized, and operationalized internal power. Then a Pearson's product-moment correlation coefficient was examined and a principal components factor analysis was conducted to investigate the dimensionality and underlying factor structure of internal power. Findings indicated empirical support for the proposed measure of internal power, allowing its relationship to an individual's use of psychological and physical abuse tactics to be empirically assessed. Results of a t-test and examination of a Pearson's product-moment correlation coefficient indicated that internal power is inversely related to an individual's use of psychological and physical abuse tactics. Findings indicate that both the measure for internal power and its potential relationship to an individual's use of psychological and physical abuse tactics warrants further exploration and development.

Despite the large number of children and siblings who are exposed to domestic violence, relatively few studies have examined sibling influences on the psychosocial effects of exposure to domestic violence. The aim of this study was to explore the opinions of experienced child and family clinicians on whether, and how, the presence of siblings moderates children’s experiences of domestic violence and any subsequent effects on their development and wellbeing. This study employed an Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis to analyse interviews with five clinicians. Analysis of the interviews revealed six superordinate themes; one sibling taking on a protective and parental role; polarisation of sibling relationships; factors influencing sibling relationships; the impact on the sibling taking on a parenting or protective role; impact on the sibling being protected; and the importance of individual family context. Overall, the findings from the interviews with the clinicians suggest that in families where children are exposed to domestic violence one child tends to take on a parental role and also attempts to protect their siblings from the violence. These results also emphasise the importance of formulation in understanding the influence of sibling relationships on the psychosocial effects of domestic violence, as there are many different factors which need to be considered. Some implications for clinical practice are discussed and potential future research directions are outlined.

Bakgrund: Våld i nära relationer innebär fysiskt, psykiskt och/eller sexuellt våld. Det anses vara ett stort hälsoproblem som främst drabbar kvinnor och ger fysiska, psykiska och sociala konsekvenser. Hälso- och sjukvården har ett stort ansvar gällande att upptäcka och hjälpa utsatta kvinnor samt förebygga våld i nära relationer, men många kvinnor upplever att de inte fått adekvat stöd och hjälp från hälso- och sjukvården. Syfte: Att belysa faktorer som påverkar sjuksköterskors beredskap inför och agerande vid mötet med kvinnor som misstänks vara eller är utsatta för våld i nära relation. Metod: Allmän litteraturöversikt med analys och sammanställning av tio vetenskapliga artiklar med både kvalitativ och kvantitativ data. Resultat: Faktorer som påverkade beredskap och agerande var dels relaterade till sjuksköterskan som person; attityder och tankar kring sjuksköterskans professionella roll, sjuksköterskans känslor samt personliga och professionella erfarenheter av våld i nära relationer. Dels påverkade också faktorer som var relaterade till sjuksköterskans omgivning och förutsättningar; utbildning och praktiska färdigheter, miljö samt organisation. Slutsats: Fördjupade kunskaper, erfarenhet och en mer öppen, förstående attityd hos sjuksköterskor visade sig kunna vara avgörande för kvaliteten på vården av kvinnor som har blivit utsatta för våld i nära relationer. Klinisk betydelse: Utbildning inom våld i nära relationer skulle kunna utvecklas, attityder diskuteras och handlingsplaner införlivas på ett tydligare sätt i vården. / Background: Intimate partner violence involves physical, psychological and/or sexual violence. It is viewed as a major health problem that mainly affects women and has physical, psychological and social consequences. The health care system has a great responsibility in identifying and helping subjected women and in preventing intimate partner violence, yet many women feel that they do not get adequate support and help from the health care services. Aim: To illuminate factors affecting nurses‟ preparedness for and interaction with women who may be or are subjected to intimate partner violence. Method: General literature review with analysis and synthesis of ten research articles with both qualitative and quantitative data. Results: Factors were partly related to the nurse in person; attitudes and conceptions about the nurses‟ professional role, the nurses‟ feelings, and personal and professional experiences of intimate partner violence. Other factors were related to the nurses‟ environment and conditions; education and practical skills, environment and organization. Conclusion: Enhanced knowledge, experience and more open-minded and understanding attitudes among nurses could be determining for the quality of care of women subjected to intimate partner violence. Clinical significance: Education about intimate partner violence could be developed, attitudes discussed and guidelines implemented in a more explicit manner in healthcare.

The aim of this qualitative study was to explore which inner conceptions about the abused older women the professional social workers had and how they experienced the enconter of an abused old woman in an intimate partner relation. The theoretical background is social construction by Berger and Luckmann. This theory was uset to analyze the transcribed interviews. This study is based on nine interviews with five professionals in social services, three volunteers from the voluntary sector and one social worker who worked in a community based support group for abused older women. The result of this study shows that older women were often abused, by a relative they were dependent on, in their home. The participants describe emotions of insecurity and frustration in their efforts to help the older women. They also described difficulties in creating confidence with the women. The conclusion is that the abused older women don´t always get the support of interventions from the social service agencies.

Violence against women is a problem in all countries in the world, including the small autonomy of the Åland Islands. The violence ranges from psychological threats to femicide. In the Åland Islands the issue has been placed on the agenda of politicians and the authorities, while reports about severe violence against women have been brought to the public. In Åland no scientific research on violence against women has been performed. The overall aim of this dissertation is to gain a deeper insight into how battered women in Åland are cared for by nurses, and how the official organizations have responded to the government policy directives. In this thesis, the first study, a descriptive survey, describes how nurses identify and support battered women. In the second and third studies, the method of grounded theory was used to explore the experiences and perceptions of nurses and battered women of violence against women. In the fourth study a case study approach was used to explore government policies for intimate partner violence. The main findings in this thesis are that battered women used health services to receive help. We found that nurses identified and supported abused women, even though services for these women were inadequate. Nurses were willing to help the women, but they often lacked support. Battered women reported that they received ad hoc help. They were often left alone, dependent on a nearby person to escape, survive, and recover. Another finding was that the Government of the Åland Islands demanded that the official organizations should allocate services to battered women, but the organizations’ response to the directives had some limitations. From a public health perspective, the phenomenon presents an urgent challenge. Overall, the public health community can and should contribute greatly towards the understanding, prevention, and control of violence by applying and adapting already constructed principles, and by implementing strategies. / Våld mot kvinnor är ett problem som förekommer i alla länder I världen inkluderat det lilla autonoma området Åland. Fenomenet kan jämföras med terror. Våld mot kvinnor utövas i former från hot till mord. På Åland har problemet lyfts fram både genom politikers som tjänstemäns agendor, samtidigt som rapporter om allvarligt förekommande våld mot kvinnor rapporterats till allmänhetens kännedom. Våld mot kvinnor har inte studerats genom vetenskaplig forskning på Åland. Huvudsyftet med denna avhandling är att uppnå fördjupade insikter angående hur våldsutsatta kvinnor bemöts av sjukskötare och hur de offentliga organisationerna agerat utifrån regeringens direktiv. I denna avhandling är den första studien en beskrivande undersökning som beskriver hur sjukskötare identifierar och hjälper våldsutsatta kvinnor. Den andra och tredje studien har använtgrounded theory för att studera sjukskötare och våldsutsatta kvinnors erfarenheter och uppfattningar angående våld mot kvinnor. Den fjärde studien en case study studie har undersökt regeringens riktlinjer angående våld mot kvinnor. Huvudfynden i denna avhandling visar att våldsutsatta kvinnor söker hjälp från hälsovården. Vi fann att sjukskötare identifierar och stöder våldsutsatta kvinnor även då servicen var otillräcklig. Sjukskötare var villiga att hjälpa kvinnorna men de saknade ofta själva stöd. Våldsutsatta kvinnor rapporterade att de erbjöds en hjälp som de uppfattade som ad hoc. De var ofta lämnade ensamma helt beroende av en närstående person för att kunna fly, överleva, och återhämta sig. Ett annat fynd var att Ålands landskapsregering hade uppmanat de offentliga organisationerna att erbjuda service till våldsutsatta kvinnor, men organisationernas respons var begränsade. Fenomenet utgör en akut utmaning sett utifrån ett folkhälsoperspektiv. Slutligen, de ansvariga för folkhälsan i samhället kan och borde bidra med förståelse, prevention, och kontroll av våldet genom att tillämpa och anpassa redan konstruerade principer, och genom en implementering av åtgärder.

Of all the countries studied in the large-scale WHO Multi-country Study on Women´s Health and Domestic Violence against Women (2005), Ethiopian women had the highest numbers of acceptance of intimate partner violence. And according to previous research on the subject, Ethiopian women have a high tolerance for and acceptance of the violence they endure. Yet when I interviewed women in Ethiopia (all of whom had been victims of violence) I discovered multiple forms of resistance to - rather than acceptance of - violence. Rather than confirming how women come to accept violence, my study uncovers many ways in which women resist violence, even in contexts where the available means of resistance are extremely limited.The aim of my inductive study is to begin to do justice to these forms of resistance, which are easily overlooked. First, as I argue in the analyses of my interviews with the women, our ability to discern forms of resistance in situations of intimate partner violence requires a more capacious notion of resistance than the one usually employed. Second, as I argue through my engagement with the previous research and the analyses of my interviews with women’s organizations in Ethiopia, the inability to discern multiple and varied forms of resistance leads one to underestimate the degree of non-acceptance and active resistance in situations of intimate partner violence. Thus, while my limited study does not permit general conclusions about violence against women in Ethiopia, I conclude by suggesting that my findings have two important implications for social work, one theoretical and one practical.