Although there is a recognized need for counseling Muslims and underutilization of mental health services by this population is assumed, research regarding the attitudes of Muslims towards counseling is scarce. This qualitative study explored Muslim women's attitudes towards counseling and utilization of counseling services. The influence of religiosity and religious coping as well as the Muslim women's perception of the Imam-counselor liaison, and the influence of the liaison on counseling-seeking attitudes have been examined. Participants consisted of 10 purposefully selected Muslim women from each of five distinct socio-racial categories, including White, Black, Hispanic, Asian, and Arab. Data collection consisted of semi-structured interviews and the administration of a demographic questionnaire. Data analysis involved phenomenological exploration and hermeneutical interpretations of the participants' meaning. The findings indicated that attitudes towards counseling do not indicate actual use of the services. Rather, utilization of religious coping, availability of family and friend support, accessibility of Muslim counselors and counseling within the Muslim community, and the Imamcounselor liaison have a significant impact on counseling-seeking attitudes of the Muslim women. Additionally, the findings indicated variation of counseling utilization among socioracial groups. All non-U.S.-born Arab, Asian, Hispanic, and Black participants reported no use of professional counseling, whereas U.S.-born White, Black, and Hispanic participants and one non-U.S.-born White participant reported utilization of the services. However, rather than linking ethnicity alone to use of counseling, other factors need to be considered as well. The Imam-counselor liaison seems to hold promise towards closing the gap in delivery and utilization of counseling services by Muslims. The findings generated a greater awareness of the xi importance for the inclusion of religious beliefs and practices in therapeutic conversation with Muslim female clients. It is my hope that the findings will facilitate reflection on current counselor and counselor educator practices, and lead to changes that will enhance service provision to this population. In sum, it is hoped that the revealed pertinent areas will be considered within both the counseling room and the classroom.

Syftet med föreliggande studie var att undersöka poliser inom ingripandeverksamhets (IGV) upplevelser av kvinnans inställning till att medverkai utredningen, baserat på initiala brottsplatsförhör, i partnervåldsärenden.Vidare var syftet även att undersöka hur IGV-poliser upplever att manbör arbeta för att motivera kvinnor till att medverka i utredningen. SjuIGV-poliser intervjuades med en semistrukturerad intervjuguide somsedan analyserades med hjälp av tematisk analys. Med hjälp av analysenidentifierades fyra teman samt åtta subteman. Resultatet påvisade attkvinnors inställning till att medverka i utredningen var negativalternativt ambivalent. Den negativa inställningen berodde till stor del pånormalisering av våldet samt misstro till polis och rättsväsende. Denambivalenta inställningen grundade sig i rädsla för våld samt ovisshetkring exempelvis rättsprocessen. Resultatet till den del av studien somsyftade till att förklara hur poliser upplever att de bör arbeta för attmotivera kvinnor till medverkan i utredningen påvisade att strategiersamt uppträdande är de mest centrala delarna. De strategier som ansågsmest centrala var patrullens uppbyggnad samt avskildhet. Att ha tålamodsamt den förhörsteknik som används under förhöret var de viktigastefaktorerna rörande hur man bör uppträda för att motivera kvinnor attmedverka i utredningen. Normaliseringsprocessen användes för attförsöka förklara kvinnors inställning till att medverka i utredningen. / The aim of this study was to examine police officer’s experiences ofwomen's attitudes towards participating in an investigation, based on theinitial crime scene hearing, in cases regarding domestic violence.Furthermore, the aim was also to investigate how police officer’s thinkthey should work to motivate women to participate in the investigation.Seven police officers were interviewed using a semistructured interviewguide. The results were analyzed using thematic analysis. Four themesand eight sub-themes were identified. The result showed that women'sattitudes toward participating in an investigation was either negative orambivalent. The negative attitude were due to normalization of theviolence and mistrust to the police and the legal system. Theambivalence attitude was caused by fear of repeated victimization anduncertainty concerning for example the legal proceeding. In terms ofhow police officer’s think they should work to motivate women toparticipate in the investigation, showed that strategies and appearancewere the two most central parts. There were two strategies that wereconsidered as most central. These were the structure of the patrol anddetachment. To have patience and how the hearing proceeds were seenas the most important factors regarding how to appear to be able tomotivate women to participate in the investigation. The Normalizationprocess were used as an explanation regarding women's attitudestowards participation in an investigation.

Partendo da una concettualizzazione multidimensionale della povertà, il presente lavoro di ricerca studia l’effetto prodotto dalla partecipazione a programmi di microcredito su specifiche dimensioni di genere: l’empowerment delle donne e la violenza domestica. Il primo capitolo analizza la letteratura empirica sul tema in un’ottica critica, gettando le basi per lo sviluppo dei successivi. La seconda parte esamina la relazione fra partecipazione al microcredito e due distinte dimensioni di empowerment utilizzando un modello ad equazioni strutturali (SEM). Accanto alla partecipazione a tali programmi, considero, quale potenziale causa del processo di empowerment femminile, le attitudini maschili in merito al ruolo svolto dalle donne all’interno e al di fuori del contesto familiare. Dai risultati emerge un’associazione positiva fra microcredito e dimensioni di empowerment considerate, ma l’effetto delle attitudini maschili non è significativo. Infine, nell’ultimo capitolo esamino come la partecipazione al microcredito, congiuntamente ad altri fattori socio-demografici, influenza il subire violenza domestica e le attitudini femminili circa la giustificazione della stessa in determinati contesti. Dall’analisi empirica emerge un’associazione positiva tra microcredito e violenza domestica, mentre il partecipare a tali programmi non produce alcun effetto significativo sulle attitudini femminili in merito alla giustificazione della stessa. / The focus of this dissertation is about the influence of participation in microcredit programs on gendered dimensions of poverty. Specifically, I refer to multidimensional poverty in terms of women’s empowerment and domestic violence. The first chapter reviews the empirical literature on microcredit and poverty in a critical perspective and lays the foundations for the two later chapters. The second part explores the relationship between participation in microcredit programs and two distinct dimensions of women’s empowerment using a structural equation model with categorical observed variables. I consider a set of potential causes of the empowerment dimensions including participation in microcredit programs and men’s attitudes towards women’s role in intra-household relationships and in the social context. Interestingly, the former is positively associated with empowerment while the men’s perception about the women’s role do not produce a significant effect on both empowerment dimensions. The last chapter investigates how participation in microcredit programs along with other socio-demographic factors affect the likelihood to experience physical violence and the likelihood of women’s beating justification in different situations. The most interesting result concerns the influence of microcredit on the outcomes variables: it doesn’t affect women’s beliefs about beating justification but it is positively associated with physical violence.