Globally, an estimated one in four women have experienced intimate partner violence (IPV) in their lifetimes. IPV has enormous physical, mental, and social consequences across ecological levels of human experience. These consequences extend to the children of adult women survivors of IPV and are worsened by intersecting experiences of racism, classism, sexism, and xenophobia. Service systems purporting to help, such as child protective services (CPS) and health service systems, can either create additional harm for women and their children or offer services that women may have difficulty accessing due to cost, isolation, and other factors. These harms can be especially pronounced among (a) Black women who have used drugs, who have children, and who are in community supervision programs (CSPs) in the U.S. and (b) Syrian refugee women with children living outside camps in Jordan. These populations of women face particular challenges getting basic needs met while navigating safety for themselves and their children – both due to IPV and from systems themselves (e.g., risk of losing custody of their children, sociocultural risk of interference in family life). Yet, limited research exists on the relationship between experiencing IPV and service involvement within these two populations. The following dissertation aims to address these research gaps in three papers, using descriptive and bivariate data as well as logistic regression analyses of E-WORTH and Women ASPIRE studies, as informed by ecological theory. The first paper (E-WORTH), guided by ecological theory, aims to determine the prevalence of and test hypothesized associations between psychological, physical, and sexual IPV and CPS involvement among Black women who have used drugs, who ever had children, and who are in CSPs in New York City (N=247). I hypothesized that women who ever had children, were in CSPs, and had ever experienced psychological, physical, and/or sexual IPV by male partners would have higher odds of being involved with CPS in their lifetime than women who ever had children, were in CSPs, and had not experienced IPV by male partners. Using self-reported data from Black women who have used drugs and were recruited from CSPs in New York City, I found that 70.85% of women who ever had children and who were in CSPs reported ever experiencing psychological IPV by a male partner, 70.04% reported ever experiencing physical IPV by a male partner, 48.58% reported ever experiencing sexual IPV by a male partner, and 40.89% reported ever experiencing psychological, physical, and sexual IPV by a male partner. Further, I found that 55.87% of women reported ever having had an open case with CPS. Multivariable logistic regression analyses revealed that women who had experienced lifetime sexual IPV had significantly higher odds of ever being involved with CPS than women in the study who had never experienced sexual IPV (OR: 1.81; 95% CI: 1.09, 3.01). Similarly, women who experienced multiple forms of IPV (psychological, physical, and sexual) also had significantly higher odds of being involved with CPS (OR: 1.81; 95% CI: 1.07, 3.04). However, these associations did not hold in adjusted models. Paper 2 (Women ASPIRE) aims to (1) compare the prevalence of mental health symptomology (anxiety, depression, and PTSD) among Syrian refugee women with children under age 18 living outside camps in Jordan who have and who have not experienced physical and/or sexual IPV in the past year; and (2) examine the relationship between IPV and mental health symptomology among Syrian refugee women with children living outside camps in Jordan. Based on ecological theory as my conceptual framework, I hypothesized that Syrian refugee women with children who had experienced IPV in the past year would have significantly higher odds of meeting screening criteria for anxiety, depression, and PTSD as compared to Syrian refugee women with children who had not experienced IPV in the past year. I found high rates of IPV, anxiety, depression, and PTSD among women in the sample (N=412). Furthermore, using multivariable logistic regression models from the Women ASPIRE dataset, I found that women with children who had experienced physical and/or sexual IPV in the past year had significantly higher odds of meeting screening criteria for all three mental health conditions – anxiety (aOR: 3.68, CI: 2.28-5.94, p<0.001), depression (aOR: 3.03, CI: 1.83-4.99, p<0.001), and PTSD (aOR: 6.94, CI: 3.75-12.84, p<0.001) – than women with children who had not experienced IPV in the past year. Despite these findings, at least one-fifth of women with children reported an unmet need for mental health or protective services, and less than one-third of women were aware of the availability of these services in their local communities. The third paper (Women ASPIRE) aims to (a) examine the prevalence of physical and sexual IPV among health service-seeking Syrian refugee women with children in non-camp settings in Jordan and (b) compare the differences in health service use between women with children who had and who had not experienced IPV (N=412). Informed by experiences across levels of ecological theory, I hypothesized that women with children who had ever experienced IPV would have lower odds of using each type of health service (i.e., general, specialist, reproductive, mental health, and emergency health services) – and would have higher odds of using limited numbers of services – than women with children who had never experienced IPV. I tested my hypothesis using binary logistic regression models and an independent samples t-test. I found that nearly 60% of Syrian refugee women with children living outside camps in Jordan had ever experienced physical and/or sexual IPV by their current or most recent husband. Contrary to my hypotheses, I found that women with children who had ever experienced IPV had over three times the odds of using mental health services and were significantly more likely to use a greater variety of health services (including mental health services) than women who had not experienced IPV (aOR: 3.10, 95% CI: 1.92-5.00, p<0.001; mean 3.26 vs. 2.84 types of services respectively, t [410] = 03.71, p<0.001). Findings affirm that IPV is a serious public health issue among the affected populations and that access to needed services remains crucial to affected populations. Results fill gaps in existing literature by confirming that women with children in each study population have high odds of system involvement, particularly with CPS and mental health service systems, thereby offering social workers within those systems opportunities to intervene effectively. Thus, this dissertation can help social work practitioners and clinicians offer more responsive, accessible, and relevant services to clients within the study populations. Policymakers and administrators can fund development and testing of interventions across multiple ecological levels to promote the safety, health, and well-being of women and their children. Researchers can build on these findings through quantitative and qualitative studies on intervention effectiveness and accessibility among women engaged with system.

The work for female empowerment is prominent on the Unguja island of Zanzibar. Governmental support and local and international organizations are investing in women to achieve gender equality. The government of Tanzania has added changes to the law to protect women and prevent gender-based violence, as well as strategic measures to assist the stakeholders of the Zanzibarian society. Simultaneously, the reports of gender-based violence (GBV) are increasing on the islands according to the Zanzibar Female Lawyer Association. The study explores the measures taken by the government to eliminate violence against women with a focus on the role of the man in these structural social and legal changes. The study also shows the challenges that the added laws have faced in practice, and the balance between culture and legal system in a society, when a change is to take place.

Syftet med studien är att få en förståelse för socialarbetares arbete med våldsutövare samt hur de beskriver och bemöter våldsutövare som målgrupp. Studien utgår från en kvalitativ inriktning där semistrukturerade intervjuer genomfördes för att kunna besvara forskningens syfte. Det insamlade datamaterialet analyserades tematiskt och identifierade följande teman; våldsutövarens förutsättningar till förändring, utvecklingsområden i arbetet med våldsutövare, kartläggning av arbete med våldsutövare, nätverksarbete och riskfaktorer hos våldsutövaren. Resultatet analyserades i samband med tio vetenskapliga artiklar och fyra teoretiska ramverk; makt, handlingsutrymme, mentalisering och stigma. Det framträdande resultatet pekar på att våldsutövare uppvisar en bristande insikt och självreglering av känslor till våldet och att socialarbetarens bemötande blir väsentlig och avgörande för behandlingsarbetets utveckling. Utgångspunkten i arbetet grundar sig i våldsutövares enskilda problematiker som behöver beaktas där socialarbetaren anpassar arbetsmetoden efter den genom sina kunskaper och kompetenser. Utöver det har arbetet ett stort fokus på partnerkontakten med den våldsutsatta för att motivera och uppmuntra till stöd under våldsutövarens behandling. Det framgår även att socialarbetare samverkar med andra verksamheter som kan påträffa våldsutövare men att det behöver vidareutvecklas för att möjliggöra ett utökat kunskapsutbyte och uppfångande av våldsutövare. Vidare påvisar resultatet att tidigare utsatthet i barndomen är ett företrädande mönster hos flera våldsutövare. / The purpose of this study is to gain an understanding of social workers intervention programs and how they approach perpetrators of intimate partner violence. The study is based on a qualitative methodology using semi-structured interviews to answer the studies aim. The data gathered through interviews were thematically analysed where the following themes emerged; perpetrators prerequisites for change, intervention programs development areas, mapping the treatment, networking and the perpetrators risk factors. The results were analyzed by scientific articles and theoretical frameworks: power, room for maneuver, mentalization and stigma. Our findings from the data indicate that perpetrators have a lack of insight and emotional management to violence where the social workers approach becomes essential for perpetrators progress. The interventions programs foundation is based on the perpetrators individual problem areas where the social worker adapts the treatment utilizing their own knowledge and expertise. Intervention treatment places a large emphasis on partner contact to motivate and support them during the perpetrators treatment. There is a cooperation with other authorities that needs further development to enable an increased exchange of knowledge and extended reach of perpetrators. The results also show that previous exposure in childhood is a predominant pattern to perpetrators alongside other problems.

Studien syftar till att, med stöd av ett genusperspektiv, undersöka hur manligt respektive kvinnligt fysiskt våld och våldsutsatthet inom heterosexuella nära relationer framställs på internetforumet Familjeliv. Studien består av en kvalitativ konstruktivistisk ansats och innefattar 6 aktiva kommentarstrådar vilka startats mellan åren 2015 - 2022. Det empiriska underlaget har analyserats genom tematisk analys och resultatet har tolkats med stöd av Hirdmans genussystem och Connells maskulinitetsteoretiska begrepp hegemoni och medlöperi. Studien visar på ett flertal resultat där uttrycken för manliga respektive kvinnliga förövare samt manliga respektive kvinnliga våldsutsatta skiljer sig åt. Ett övergripande tema utgår ifrån ett uttryck om att män slår och förväntas slå igen, samt att kvinnor inte slår och att deras slag ifrågasätts. Män framställs som hotfulla och skildras utöva våld på grund av sociala omständigheter medan kvinnor framställs som irrationella och våldet utövas av biologiska och patologiska skäl. Även råden till våldsutsatta män och kvinnor skiljer sig mellan könen där tydliga könsroller kommer till uttryck / The study aims to, with the support of a gender perspective, examine how male and female physical violence and exposure to violence within heterosexual close relationships are portrayed on the internet forum Familjeliv. The study consists of a qualitative constructivist approach and includes 6 active comment threads started between the years of 2015 - 2022. The empirical basis has been analyzed through thematic analysis and the results have been interpreted with the support of Hirdman's gender system and Connell's concept of hegemony and complicity. The study shows several results where the expressions for male and female perpetrators and male and female victims of violence differ. An overarching theme is based on an expression that men hit and are expected to hit again, and that women do not hit and that their violence is questioned. Men are portrayed as threatening and depicted as perpetrating violence due to social circumstances, while women are portrayed as irrational and the violence is perpetrated for biological and pathological reasons. The advice given to men and women exposed to violence differs between the sexes, where the advice demonstrates clear gender roles

Tillgängligheten av pornografi (porr) har ökat, inte minst på grund av internet. Studier visar att de flesta svenska män tittar då och då på porr, men att det finns också en stor del som tittar mycket mer. De som är högkonsumenter är de som tittar mer eller mindre dagligen och den här gruppen har visat sig må sämre och vissa fall har svårt att sluta titta. I den offentliga debatten har även porrkonsumtion problematiserats då den anses stärka negativa attityder mot kvinnor och bidra till ett förskönande av våld mot kvinnor. Den här kvalitativa studien, består av djupintervjuer med sju deltagare som är dömda för någon form av brott i nära relation. Den har som syfte att undersöka hur män som dömts för sexualbrott eller våld i nära relation påverkats av att ha tittat på porr. Resultatet visar att det bland deltagarna finns en tydlig koppling mellan porrkonsumtion och våld samt att porr motverkar en positiv sexuell hälsa. Porrkonsumtionen har resulterat i att deltagarna har fått svårigheter med relationer samt att de har använt sig av maladaptiva copingstrategier för att hantera obehag. Porr har utvecklat deltagarnas egna sexuella skript till att tillåta en gränsförskjutning för vad som uppfattas vara sund sexualitet. Gränsförskjutningen har genererat en upptagenhet av sex och porr samt att deltagarna har begått gränsöverskridande sexuella handlingar som har inneburit stora negativa konsekvenser för dem själva. / The availability of pornography (porn) have increased, not least because of the internet. Studies have shown that most swedish men watch porn occasionally, but there is also them who are watching much more. They are extensive consumers with more or less daily consumption and this group has been shown to fell worse and, in most cases, have difficulty stopping viewing. In the public debate, porn consumption has been problematized as it is considered to strengthen negative attitudes towards women and it contribute to glorifies violence towards women. This qualitative study with in-depths interview with seven participants, convicted of some sort of violence in intimate relationships, with the purpose to examine how these men are affected by the viewing of porn. The result shows that there is a clear connection between the consumption of porn and violence and that porn affect the sexual health in a negative way. Porn consumtion have affected the participant´s relationsships negativetly and porn is used in a maladaptive way to cope with discomfort. Porn have developed the participant´s sexual scripts to allow a boundary shift of what is considered healthy sexuality. The boundary shift has generated a preoccupation and the participants have commited cross-border in their sexual behaviours with negative consequences.

Insatserna till våldsutsatta i nära relation utgår tydligare från kvinnor och deras behov i lagen. Hur yrkesverksamma socionomer betraktar våldsutsatta och vem som är offer kan påverka bemötandet av våldsutsatta. Syftet med studien var att undersöka hur skillnader i behov och insatser till våldsutsatta män respektive kvinnor i våld i nära relation [VINR] uppfattas av yrkesverksamma socionomer. Syftet var också att undersöka hur uppfattningarna om våldsutsatta i VINR kan förstås samt påverka våldsutsatta män respektive kvinnor som söker stöd hos socialtjänsten. Vår teoretiska utgångspunkt var begreppen habitualisering, ytliga och täta behovstolkningar samt Fraser modell om samhällsproblem. Studien hade en kvalitativ ansats och utgick från sju intervjuer med yrkesverksamma socionomer. Empirin analyserades genom en kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Resultatet visar att yrkesverksamma inte upplever att det finns skillnader i behov och insatser till våldsutsatta män respektive kvinnor samtidigt som en djupare analys av empirin visar att skillnader faktiskt finns. Erfarenhet och kunskap är viktigt för förståelsen av problemen. Resultatet visade vidare att mörkertalet inom VINR är stort. Hur yrkesverksamma ser på manlighet, kvinnlighet och tillämpandet av könsneutralitet i förhållande till våldsutsatta kan få negativa konsekvenser för våldsutsatta. Slutsatserna av studiens resultat är att det är viktigt att se problemet framför allt ur ett könstypiskt perspektiv för att synliggöra olika behov hos våldsutsatta män respektive kvinnor. Att i högre utsträckning börja se våldet och inte könet kan, menar vi, vara viktigt för att upptäcka VINR. Samtidigt bör könet, med stöd av vårt resultat och tidigare forskning, ges betydelse vid utformningen av insatser. / Interventions to victims of violence in intimate relationship violence [IRV] issues from women and their needs within the law. How professional sociologists sees the victims and who the see as the victim can effect the treatment of the victims. The purpose of this study was to look into how professional sociologists sees interventions and needs of men and women that are victims of IRV. The purpose was also to see how professional sociologists see victims of IRV and how their outlook on the vitctims effect the men and women seeking help from social services. Our theoretical outlook was the concepts habitualization, thin and thick descriptions of needs as well as Frasers model about societal problems. The had a qualitative approach and we interview seven professional sociologists. The empiricism was analyzed with a qualitative content analysis. The result whos that professional sociologists doesn’t experience any differences in interventions and needs between men and women who are victims of IRV. But in a deeper analysis of the result can we see that there are differences. Experience and knowledge are important in the understanding of IRV. The result showed that the hidden statistics in IRV are big. How the professional sociologists see masculinity, feminimity and how they apply gender neutralityin relation to the vitims can have negative effects on the victim. The conclusion of the study is that it’s important to see the problem above all with a gender typcial perspecitve to spot the needs of men and women who are victims of IRV. To spot the violence and not the fender in a higher extent could be important to spot IRV, according to us. Our study and previous research shows that the gender at the same time must be seen to give purpose to the shaping of interventions.

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