Aims: Recently, empirical literature exploring cognitive characteristics of intimate partner violence offenders has received considerable attention with both theory and practice historically focusing on victims of the abuse. Qualitative exploration has proposed implicit theories (ITs), that is distinct sets of schemas that offenders hold in relation to themselves, the world and others. In relation to cognition in intimate partner violence offenders, this thesis had two aims: to systematically analyse qualitative literature exploring cognition in intimate partner violence offenders and to implement interpretative phenomenological analysis to explore cognition in intimate partner violence sex offenders. Methods: Aims are addressed separately in two journal articles. A systematic review of qualitative literature exploring cognition in intimate partner violence offenders is presented in journal article 1. Journal article 2 utilises interpretative phenomenological analysis to explore cognition in 11 intimate partner sex offenders. Results: In relation to journal article 1, systematic searches of bibliographic databases in addition to hand-searches of various articles in the domain of intimate partner violence were conducted to identify eight empirical papers qualitatively exploring cognition in intimate partner violence offenders. Synthesis of the papers resulted in 10 themes being extrapolated thought to be representative of cognition in intimate partner violence males: “violence is normal”; “policing partner”; “women are provoking” “need for control”; “grievance/revenge”; “external factors responsible”; “rejection/abandonment”; “minimisation/denial”; “entitlement” and “remorse”. Journal article two utilised interpretative phenomenological analysis of 11 transcripts of IPV offenders. This revealed five superordinate and 14 subthemes which are proposed as implicit theories present in this specific offender group. These are: “violence is acceptable”; “grievance/revenge”; “dangerous world”; “need for control”; “real man”; “entitlement/women are objects”; “male sex drive/policing partner”; “women are provoking”; “rejection/abandonment”; “women are supportive”; “uncontrollability”; “nature of harm”; “the new me” and “I‟m not like them”. Conclusions: Cognitions identified from the systematic review are discussed in addition to limitations of the synthesis and clinical and empirical utility. The implicit theories identified in journal article 2 are discussed in relation to other offending behaviour groups in addition to their clinical implications in the development of effective interventions and risk assessment tools.

Bakgrund: Våld i nära relation är ett samhällsproblem. Genom att utföra screening kan vårdpersonalen identifiera och stödja kvinnor som utsatts för våld, vilket är viktigt för att kunna erbjuda adekvat vård och främja en god hälsa. Syfte: Syftet med litteraturöversikten är att kartlägga kvinnliga patienters upplevelser av att vårdpersonal frågar om våld i nära relation. Metod: Litteratursökning gjordes i databaserna PubMed och CINAHL. Efter kvalitetsgranskning kvarstod 15 artiklar, varav 14 med kvalitativ ansats och en med mixad metod som därefter analyserats. Resultat: Kvinnor upplevde att det var positivt att bli tillfrågade då de inte ansåg att de var kapabla till att be om hjälp. Det ansågs viktigt att vårdpersonalen hade rätt kompetens. Att vårdpersonal frågade regelbundet, på en säker plats samt erbjöd information och rådgivning var viktigt. Det var också viktigt hur vårdpersonal ställde frågan, deras beteende, samt om de verkade intresserade. Kvinnor kunde dock uppleva att bli tillfrågade upplevdes som ett hot mot deras säkerhet. Brist på information ansågs som ett hinder för att få hjälp. Slutsats: Det finns en efterfrågan hos kvinnor att vårdpersonal måste kunna tillgodose deras behov av information och ha kompetens inom ämnet, samt att kvinnorna vill uppleva att de är säkra om de berättar om våldsutsatthet. Ytterligare forskning behövs för att utreda vilka förhållanden som är optimala för att kvinnor ska vilja anförtro sig åt vårdpersonalen. / Background: Intimate partner violence is a public health problem. By performing screening, health care professionals are able to identify and support women who have been exposed to intimate partner violence. This is important in order to provide women with health care that is appropriate for their needs. Aim: The aim is to survey patient's experiences of health professionals asking about intimate partner violence. Method: Systematic searches were performed in the databases: PubMed and CINAHL. After the qualitative review, 15 articles were chosen, fourteen of which were qualitative studies and one of mixed method for analyzing. Findings: Women felt it was good to be asked about intimate partner violence as they were not able to ask for help themselves. It was considered important that the health care professionals had the knowledge and qualification to ask about it. It was also important that health care professionals asked regularly, in a safe place and offered information and advice when needed. It was also important how health professionals posed the question, and how they acted while doing it. Women, however, could experience to be asked as a threat to their safety. Lack of information was also seen as an obstacle for help. Conclusions: According to women, health care professionals must be able to meet their needs for information and have expertise in the subject. Women also want to feel safe when disclosing about intimate partner violence. Further research in the topic is encouraged. This is needed to probe favorable conditions for asking women about intimate partner violence.

Globala undersökningar visar att en av tre kvinnor har någon gång upplevt våld i nära relation under sin livstid. Våld i nära relation inkluderar fysiskt, psykiskt och sexuellt våld eller tvång samt frihetsinskränkningar. Våld i nära relation är inte bara ett problem för den enskilda kvinnan, utan även för samhället. Det är tydligt att många kvinnor drabbas, och hälso- och sjukvården har en viktig roll i upptäckt, behandling och stöd till kvinnan. / Global investigations show that one in three women has experienced intimate partner violence at some point during her lifetime. Intimate partner violence includes physical, psychological and sexual violence or coercion as well as limitations of freedom. Intimate partner violence is a societal issue as well as one for the woman exposed. It is clear that many women are affected, and that healthcare and it´s providers share an important role in disclosure, treatment and support for the women.

The present study investigated why communities differing in culture and resources are willing and able to implement gun confiscation as part of a protective order. Specifically, this study explored whether the perceived risk of intimate partner homicide and gun violence, benefits to engaging in gun confiscation, barriers to gun confiscation, community norms about guns, and community readiness to implement gun confiscation: (a) differ in urban and rural communities, (b) are perceived differently by victim service and justice system key professionals within urban and rural communities, and (c) are related to if a community is able and willing to consistently implement procedures that mandate gun confiscation of abusers as part of a protective order. Interviews, guided by an adapted guiding conceptual framework, were conducted with key professionals (N = 133) who work both in victim services and the justice system from a targeted urban community and four Appalachian communities in Kentucky. First, implementing gun confiscation procedures to disarm abusers in rural communities does not seem likely or feasible compared to the urban community given the lower perceived risk-benefit of gun confiscation, importance of gun culture, and limited resources in the selected rural communities. Second, urban justice system professionals, in comparison to urban victim service professionals, reported fewer barriers to enforcing the gun confiscation policy and were more likely to downplay law enforcement limitations in the community and attribute the ineffectiveness of the gun confiscation policy to reasons outside their control. Third, the perceived risk of intimate partner gun violence was associated with consistently implementing in gun confiscation at the emergency protective order (short-term) level, and the perceived community approval of the policy was associated with engaging in consistent gun confiscation at the domestic violence order (longer-term) level. Fourth, both urban and rural professionals pointed out potential unintended negative consequences to implementing the gun confiscation policy, such as violation of second amendment rights and increased danger for victims who seek protective orders. The results have implications for developing more effective strategies for increasing a community’s ability and motivation to enforce gun policy that keep guns out of the hands of dangerous abusers.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a critical public health problem that has a broad range of negative consequences on not only the individuals in the relationship but also on their children. Although Latino adolescents experience dating violence at a higher rate than White adolescents, little research has investigated the risk and protective factors associated with this group. Witnessing domestic violence has been associated to an increased risk in experiencing dating violence as adolescents. The pattern of IPV exposed youth to later experience violent relationships has been described as the intergenerational transmission of violence (ITV). Although youth exposed to IPV are at an increased risk for experiencing and perpetrating violence in their own relationships, not all do. This dissertation moves research on ITV beyond a deficit focus by using a resilience framework to investigate parenting relationships as protective factors for dating violence. A subsample of data Latino adolescents and their mothers’ were analyzed from a larger Welfare, Children, and Families (WCF) study. This study extends previous cross-sectional research by using longitudinal data to assess risk and protective factors when youth were 10-14 years old and its relationship to their own use of violence seven years later. Latent class analysis was conducted to understand the contextual and cultural factors related to the development of adolescent dating violence: acculturation, gender, and positive parent-child relationships were examined as influencing ITV. Three classes emerged that indicate unique combinations of risk and resilience. Two of these classes predicted differential associations with adolescent dating violence. A class indicating moderate-risk/low-protection and mothers with high acculturation was significantly related to increased odds of adolescents experiencing dating violence, both as victims and as perpetrators. A class indicating low-risk/high-protection and mothers with low acculturation significantly predicted increased odds of perpetrating dating violence but no significant relationship was found with victimization. Findings suggest that holistic family based approach to dating violence and adult domestic violence may be most effective for Latino adolescents and their IPV exposed mothers.

Domestic violence (DV) affects communities across a variety of nations and cultures, at significant physical, psychological, and economic costs to families. In the United States Latino families affected by DV often face unique challenges influenced by changing ecologies and personal as well as political histories. Peer-led workshops are one way for communities to disseminate information about social issues like DV in a culturally relevant manner, and they have the potential to promote capacity for addressing DV within communities. The impact of peer-led DV was examined using an embedded mixed-method design, where participant feedback collected throughout the study served to enhance the nonequivalent control group survey portion of the study. It was hypothesized that sense of community would moderate the relationship between workshop participation and capacity measures of knowledge, communication, and identification with Latina community leaders. Data screening and linear regression found no effects of workshop participation for knowledge and communication. A linear regression supported the hypothesized workshop by sense of community interaction effect, where individuals with higher sense of community were more likely to connect with workshop leaders in the workshop condition. Themes that emerged from the analysis of qualitative data from individual questionnaires, researcher notes, and a group interview were: (1) connection to the larger community organization, (2) family communication about domestic violence, (3) interest in support for Latino youth and (4) community leader’s testimonies of their own experiences of violence. Together, quantitative and qualitative findings lend weight to the notion that peer interventionists can establish meaningful connections and trust with community members based on their own lived experiences. Further research is needed to link this strength in a peer-led DV program to gains in capacity domains like knowledge. Overall, the results of this study extend research on cultural specific DV community programs and provide recommendations for community organizations seeking to evaluate community-based programs.

This study examines programs and services designed to ameliorate and prevent intimate partner violence (IPV) and sexual violence (SV) among women with a history of child sexual abuse (CSA) under the Violence Against Women Act and the Department of Justice Reauthorization Act, 2005. Fifty-seven (57) survey participants at the 30th National Symposium on Child Abuse Conference were selected for the study utilizing non-probability convenience sampling. The survey participants comprised of workers or volunteers in all aspects of child maltreatment. In sum, 55 (or 100%) of the participants revealed that they agreed that there is a critical need for more program and services designed to ameliorate and prevent IPV, DV and SV among women with a history of CSA.

The aim of this study was to explore the situation of immigrant women with temporary residence permit who face intimate partner violence and are living in Mid-Sweden. The study had a qualitative approach and four professionals with experience in meeting this group were interviewed using semi-structured questions. The sample consisted of respondents from social services, a women’s shelter, a NGO and a law firm. Findings show that due to controlling behavior by their partners the women are often isolated from society. Economical violence is explained as frequently occurring. Furthermore, the findings show that having a temporary residence permit makes it difficult to leave the abusive relationship, since it is connected to the risk of deportation. According to the respondents the women experience fear and worries related to their legal status. Moreover, the help available for them include supporting conversations, protected living and legal guidance. The findings indicate that for the women’s situation to be improved they need to gain information on their rights.

Kvinnomisshandel är idag ett komplicerat och tabubelagt folkhälsoproblem. 38 % av kvinnor runt om i världen har någon gång blivit utsatta för misshandel i en nära relation. Syftet med studien var att beskriva sjuksköterskors upplevelser av att möta kvinnor utsatta för misshandel av män i en nära relation. Studien genomfördes som en litteraturstudie där tio kvalitativa artiklar och en artikel med mixad metod användes i resultatet. Resultatet presenteras i fyra kategorier: Kvinnomisshandel – ett tabubelagt ämne bland vårdpersonal, Att axla sin professionella roll i mötet med misshandlade kvinnor, Kunskapens betydelse för omvårdnad och Organisationens påverkan på omvårdnad. Resultatet visade att sjuksköterskor upplevde en saknad av relevant utbildning i hur och när frågan om misshandel skulle komma på tal för att inte förolämpa och stöta bort kvinnorna. Sjuksköterskorna påpekade även att behovet av ett utökat samarbete med andra professioner skulle kunna vara till hjälp vid möten med kvinnor utsatta för misshandel i en nära relation. Det påpekades att sjuksköterskorna upplevde det som svårt att axla sin professionella roll och ge kvinnorna den hjälpen de behövde få. Inom sjukvården har sjuksköterskorna en viktig och framträdande roll i att hjälpa kvinnor utsatta för misshandel i en nära relation. / The dilemma of battered women is today a complex and taboo public health problem, 38 % of women around the world has at some point been exposed to intimate partner violence. The aim was to describe nurses experiences of encounter women exposed to intimate partner violence by men. The study was conducted as a literature study where ten qualitative scientific articles and one mixed method scientific article were selected. The result culminated in four categories: Battered women – a taboo subject among health care workers, Shouldering the professional role in the encounter with battered women, The importance of knowledge in nursing care and The organization's impact on the nursing care. Nurses´ experienced a lack of relevant education in how and when to ask women about intimate partner violence without insult and repelling the women. Nurses pointed out that the need for extended collaboration with other professions would be of great assistance in meeting women exposed to intimate partner violence. Nurses observed that it was difficult to shouldering their professional role and provide the assistance that the women needed to receive. The result showed that nurses have an important and prominent role in assisting women exposed to intimate partner violence.

This dissertation examines the influence of competing risks in shaping individuals' choices about potential intimate relationships. According to Ulrich Beck's "risk society" theory, the individualization of social risks has direct and measurable consequences for the ways people organize and evaluate potential intimate relationships (Beck & Beck-Gernsheim, 1995, 2002, 2004; Giddens, 1994; Lupton, 2006). This study investigates the ways in which subjective or identity-related risks hypothesized by scholars of late modernity shape the perception and the actual risk of dating violence. Empirical research on dating violence identifies many objective “risk factors” related to a person’s chances of experiencing intimate partner violence; however studies investigating perceptions of dating risk from the subject’s perspective sometimes reveal more personal concerns and priorities. To date, no intimate partner violence research explicitly utilizes a conceptualization of risk informed by risk society theories. The present study explores the potential for utilizing risk society concepts in explaining the relationships between perceptions of instrumental risks and identity-related risks, and how these risk perceptions may impact involvement in dating violence.