The purpose of the United Nations (UN) peace operations is to help states navigate a path towards stability and sustainable peace, yet sexual exploitation and abuse perpetrated by the peacekeepers and other personnel is often an unintended consequence of the missions. Though the UN has employed several victim-centred measures to address the issue, peacebuilding practices often employ a simplistic discourse about the victims that recognizes only certain type of ‘ideal’ victims. It risks disregarding the different conceptualisations of justice that victims have, along with their individual wants and needs. Leaning on van Dijk’s view on social power that deems institutions as locations producing dominant discourses and influencing people’s minds, it is crucial to study which discourses the UN engages with. Thus, through a methodological combination of critical discourse analysis and policy analysis, this study scrutinizes the discourses about the victims present in the resolutions and training materials that specifically apply a victim-centred approach. The findings indicate that the discourses entail characteristics of both ideal and complex political victim discourses, and that above all, the UN positions itself as the saviour of the victims. As this discourse is likely to continue reproducing power imbalances that place victims into a dependant position, this study emphasises a serious need for re-evaluation of the UN’s own discursive positioning.

Whereas reconciliation in Cambodia has mostly received academic attention in terms ofanalyzing state-institutions, this thesis explores the role of civil society actors. Of particularinterest is the impact, grass-root efforts can have on promoting an inclusive group identitythrough educational means. This will be researched through the analysis of attitudes towardselements of an inclusive group identity held by pre-service teachers, who were interviewedbefore and after they took part in a so-called genocide education workshop organized by theDocumentation Center of Cambodia. These attitudes will be examined in terms of theirjustifications, and if the workshop influenced their quantity as well as quality. In addition, bytaking into account justifications of attitudes supporting an inclusive group identity, threecommon denominators will be identified that can help strengthening the impact of futureeducational efforts within the framework of reconciliation. Of particular interest in this regardwill be the finding highlighting the relation of functionalist perception of perpetrators thatproofed to be supportive of the interviewees` acceptance of an inclusive group identity.

<p>A mapping process is ongoing in Sweden concerning a phenomenon known as ”honour related violence”. The explanations of “honour related violence” often focus on culture and ethnicity, thus establishing differences between the majority society and offenders and victims. Given that some scholars critique mapping for focusing on predetermined objects, my aim is to study discursive conditions for abused girls, who are constructed as being from within ethnic minorities, in relation to their contact with the Swedish welfare system. The data consists of documents from the Swedish police authority and social services; as well as interviews with abused girls who have been in contact with the Swedish welfare system. I found that public authorities distance themselves from accusations of racism and partiality by using an individualistic repertoire where not only and not all “immigrants” are said to be involved in the problem. Despite this, causes of the problem are only discussed in terms of culture-clashes and lack of integration. Subjectivity is attributed to both offender and victim and the victim is constructed as someone without ability to speak for herself. The girls talk of victimhood as lack of agency but they also give accounts of themselves through emphasis on their subjective experiences. Thereby they question the public authorities’ ability to understand their situation. Through subjectivity it is possible for the girls to both talk as victims and claim a voice of their own.</p>

A mapping process is ongoing in Sweden concerning a phenomenon known as ”honour related violence”. The explanations of “honour related violence” often focus on culture and ethnicity, thus establishing differences between the majority society and offenders and victims. Given that some scholars critique mapping for focusing on predetermined objects, my aim is to study discursive conditions for abused girls, who are constructed as being from within ethnic minorities, in relation to their contact with the Swedish welfare system. The data consists of documents from the Swedish police authority and social services; as well as interviews with abused girls who have been in contact with the Swedish welfare system. I found that public authorities distance themselves from accusations of racism and partiality by using an individualistic repertoire where not only and not all “immigrants” are said to be involved in the problem. Despite this, causes of the problem are only discussed in terms of culture-clashes and lack of integration. Subjectivity is attributed to both offender and victim and the victim is constructed as someone without ability to speak for herself. The girls talk of victimhood as lack of agency but they also give accounts of themselves through emphasis on their subjective experiences. Thereby they question the public authorities’ ability to understand their situation. Through subjectivity it is possible for the girls to both talk as victims and claim a voice of their own.

When it comes to the politics of victimhood, existing academic accounts contend that conservative politics and ideology have largely been defined by a backlash against discourses of victimization. In this respect, North American conservatism is seen as embodying an anti-victimist approach – one where progressive claims of victimhood are represented as the result of an impaired character rather than as the result of systemic cultural and legal discrimination. However, while this literature accurately captures many characteristics of conservative ideology, it risks overlooking the ways that conservative proactively engage with the politics of victimhood and victim arguments. This dissertation offers an examination of the discursive significance of the “victim” in contemporary conservative politics and ideology through an analysis of three realms of conservative politics in Canada: (1) the men’s rights movement, (2) the anti-abortion movement, and (3) the Conservative Party of Canada. Drawing on the results of a large-scale critical discourse analysis and the participant observation of over a dozen conservative events in Canada, this dissertation contends that the debate over the politics of victimhood is not a battle between anti-victim conservative and pro-victim progressives. Rather, contemporary Canadian conservatives are increasingly makers of victim politics – rather than its critics – challenging many academic assumptions made about both conservative ideology and discourse in Canada, as well as the larger politics of victimhood in North America.

This research focuses on unaccompanied or separated adolescent girls who have survived gender-based violence and have sought asylum in Greece. It seeks to explore the interpretations and identities that asylum and psychosocial professionals assign to the girls and to research whether and how the process of the asylum interview may shape the narrative of violence and victimhood of the girls and predefine their self-representation.  The research draws from different theoretical frameworks in exploring the power of the state as reflected in the official discourses on vulnerability and the legal processes of granting asylum; the stereotypical ideations of victimhood and the gendered character it often entails; the intersection of gender, age, migration, and the lived experience of violence.  Two methodological approaches are implemented; semi-structured interviews conducted with five professionals and autoethnography. The data from the interviews were thematically codified and analyzed, while the autoethnographic data fed the construction of two case studies. The recurring themes identified commonly shape a set of concluding remarks and make apparent the need for further research in the field.

No description available.

The aim of this study was to examine the perceptions within social services regarding men who are victims of domestic violence based on how gender, sexuality, masculinity and victimhood was constructed in the social workers' statements. Eight qualitative interviews were conducted with nine social workers who work within the social services and meet people who are victims of domestic violence. A social constructionist scientific approach has permeated the study and theories of gender, heteronormativity, masculinity and the ideal victim has served as the study’s theoretical views. The results of the study showed that some of the social workers ascribed men specific characteristics such as strength and fearlessness. This showed how gender and masculinity was constructed in the social workers' statements. Furthermore, the results showed that their statements often based on a heterosexual norm and on the assumption that the woman was the victim and the man the perpetrator of domestic violence. Thus, sexuality and victimization were constructed in relation to gender. This showed that the social workers had certain perceptions regarding vulnerable men, meaning that men often were made ​​invisible as victims of domestic violence in the social workers' statements. At the same time, this may be because of the fact that the social workers mostly or exclusively have met women who are exposed to violence by their male partner. In addition to this, all social workers expressed an openness and awareness that even men are victims of domestic violence in same-sex and different-sex relationships. / Syftet med denna studie har varit att undersöka vilka föreställningar som finns inom socialtjänsten om män som utsätts för våld i nära relation utifrån hur kön, sexualitet, maskulinitet och offerskap konstrueras i socialarbetares uttalanden. Åtta kvalitativa intervjuer har genomförts med nio socialarbetare som är verksamma inom socialtjänsten och möter personer som utsätts för våld i nära relation. Ett socialkonstruktionistiskt vetenskapligt synsätt har genomsyrat studien och teorier om genus, heteronormativitet, maskulinitet och det idealiska offret har tjänat som studiens teoretiska utgångspunkter. Studiens resultat visade att en del av socialarbetarna tillskrev män specifika egenskaper, såsom styrka och orädsla. På så sätt konstruerades kön och maskulinitet i socialarbetarnas uttalanden. Vidare visade resultatet att socialarbetarna ofta talade utifrån heteronormen och utifrån kvinnan som offer och mannen som förövare av relationsvåld. Detta visade hur sexualitet och offerskap konstruerades kopplat till kön. Socialarbetarna hade således vissa föreställningar om utsatta män, innebärande att män ofta osynliggjordes som offer för relationsvåld i socialarbetarnas uttalanden. Detta kan tänkas bero på att socialarbetarna mestadels eller uteslutande hade mött kvinnor som utsätts för våld av sin manliga partner. Samtliga socialarbetare gav dessutom uttryck för en öppenhet och medvetenhet om att även män utsätts för relationsvåld i samkönade och olikkönade relationer.

This thesis explores how the Swedish legal system, specifically the police and district courts, understand and construct cases of human trafficking for sexual purposes and procuring with under-age victims. It draws on police investigative interviews and court decisions in 22 pronounced district court sentences, involving 36 female youths. Theoretically the thesis primarily builds on social constructionism and the sociology of childhood. Methodologically it builds on coding of forensic interviews, narrative analysis and discourse analysis. Study I explores the informativeness of 24 of the 36 adolescents when interviewed by the police. It shows that the adolescents were informative yet evasive, specifically when asked open questions. Experiences of violence and force as well as interviews conducted soon after the police intervention further contributed to evasiveness. Also evasiveness seemed intimately connected to circumstances in each unique case. Study II scrutinises the image of the ideal trafficking victim by asking how the issue of responsibility is handled when police interviews turn to prostitution. It also analyses which interactive and narrative conditions, related to agency and stake, apply for talk in this specific institutional setting. The findings suggest that in order to sort out the ‘real’ victims, the interrogator needs to pull apart the two categories ‘victim’ and ‘prostitute’ even if there may be problems with this clear-cut distinction since the categories tend to blend together. Further, in this institutional setting to talk about sex can be problematic as it may undermine the victim narrative instead creating a subject with interests. Study III explores how Swedish district courts assess the credibility of alleged victims of human trafficking for sexual purposes and the reliability of their testimonies. The findings indicate that the judges base their assessments on the Swedish Supreme Courts’ criteria of how to understand reliability and credibility but they seemed also to be influenced by extra-legal factors relating to victims’ behaviour. Further, the findings imply that the judges used the Supreme Court’s criteria to argue both for and against credibility. By so doing, their arguments supported the decision reached irrespective of how the adolescents reported or what impression they made. In brief this thesis can be said to point to a legal dilemma when law on paper is applied in practice as each unique adolescent must be recognized by the authorities as fitting the administrative category ‘victim’. When put into practice, categories are rarely neat and clear hence such categorizing becomes a phenomenon negotiated in interaction. Also, this legal context sets up limits and possibilities for the adolescents’ agency and this too can be said to have a bearing on if she is, or is not, constructed as a victim. In short, this thesis shows certain conditions of victimhood. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following paper was unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 3: Submitted.</p><p>Forskningsfinansiär: Brottsoffermyndigheten genom Brottsofferfonden.</p> / Människohandel/koppleri med barn och unga för sexuella ändamål Vad går att lära av rättsväsendet och brottsoffrens erfarenheter?

Объектом исследования являются психологические особенности женщин, подвергшихся насилию. Предметом исследования являются личностные особенности женщин-жертв насилия со стороны партнеров. Магистерская диссертация состоит из введения, двух глав, заключения, списка литературы (68 источников, 6 из них на иностранном языке) и приложения, включающего в себя бланки применявшихся методик. Объем магистерской диссертации 68 страниц, на которых размещены 14 рисунков. Во введении раскрывается актуальность проблемы исследования, разработанность проблематики, ставятся цель и задачи исследования, определяются объект и предмет исследования, формулируются гипотезы, указываются методы и эмпирическая база, а также этапы проведения исследования, научная новизна, теоретическая и практическая значимость работы. Первая глава включает в себя обзор иностранной и отечественной литературы по теме домашнего насилия. Представлены разделы, посвященные исследованию насилия как психологического феномена, проблем его появления во взаимоотношениях партнеров, а также психологических предикторов женщин, ставших жертвами домашнего насилия. Выводы по первой главе представляют собой итоги по изучению теоретического материала. Вторая глава посвящена эмпирической части исследования. В ней представлено описание организации и методов проведенного исследования и результатов, полученных по всем использованным методикам: методика «Уровень субъективного контроля (УСК)» (Е.Ф. Бажин, Е.А. Голынкина, А.М. Эткинд, 1984); методика оценки склонности к виктимному поведению (О.О. Андронникова, 2005); шкала самоуважения Розенберга (М. Розенберг, 1965); методика Дембо-Рубинштейн (Т.В. Дембо, С.Я. Рубинштейн, 1970) в модификации А.М. Прихожан; авторская анкета,направленная на изучение условий в родительской семье, отношению к домашнему насилию, а также определению наличия факта домашнего насилия в жизни испытуемого и его видов. Также в главе представлен анализ результатов исследования. Выводы по главе 2 включают в себя основные результаты эмпирического исследования. В заключении в обобщенном виде изложены результаты теоретической и эмпирической частей работы, а также выводы по выдвинутым гипотезам, обоснована практическая значимость исследования и описаны возможные перспективы дальнейшей разработки данной проблематики. / The object matter of the study is the psychological characteristics of women who have been subjected to violence. The subject of the study is the personal characteristics of women victims of partner violence. The master's thesis consists of an introduction, two chapters, a conclusion, a list of references (68 sources, 6 of them in a foreign language) and an appendix that includes forms of the methods used. The volume of the master's thesis is 68 pages, which contain 14 figures. The introduction reveals the relevance of the research problem, the development of the problematics, the purpose and objectives of the research are set, the object and the subject of research are determined, the basic and additional hypotheses are formulated, the methods and the empirical base are specified, as well as the stages of the research, the scientific novelty, the theoretical and practical significance of the work. The first chapter includes an overview of the domestic and foreign literature on the subject of domestic violence. Sections are presented devoted to the study of violence as a psychological phenomenon, the problems of its appearance in the relationship of partners, as well as psychological predictors of women who have become victims of domestic violence. Conclusions on the first chapter are the results of the study of theoretical material. The second chapter is devoted to the empirical part of the study. It provides a description of the organization and methods of the study and the results obtained using all the methods used: methodology "Level of subjective control (LSC)" (E.F. Bazhin, E.A. Golynkina, A.M. Etkind, 1984); methodology for assessing the propensity for victim behavior (O.O. Andronnikova, 2005); the Rosenberg self-esteem scale (M. Rosenberg, 1965); Dembo-Rubinshtein technique (T.V. Dembo, S.Ya. Rubinshtein, 1970) in the modification of A.M. Prihozhan; author's questionnaire aimed at studying the conditions in the parental family, attitudes towards domestic violence, as well as determining the presence of the fact of domestic violence in the life of the subject and its types. The chapter also presents an analysis of the results of the study. The findings of Chapter 2 are the main results of the empirical study. In conclusion, brief results of the theoretical and empirical parts of the work are presented, as well as conclusions on the hypotheses. The practical significance of the study is substantiated and possible prospects for further development of the problematics are described.