This study analyses how the need of the abused women is interpreted, renegotiated, and adapted in order to be handled accordingly in the organization of the social services. The general question at issue in the study is to uphold the needs and efforts, the meaning of organization performed by the social workers and the significance of social workers capacity and limitations. The study is founded on qualitative analysis of governmental propositions, interviews with social workers and with woman that has been subjected to violence in close relationships. The social workers interpretation is shown to play a central role in proceeding on that kind of support the abused women receive. Furthermore, the study also explains that the needs expressed by abused women are often complex and there is a huge variation in type of need they express. This study will not give any answer in term of quantitative view, however it will give examples of how different the cases can be and the difference of type of needs expressed by abused women in close relationships.

I avhandlingen analyseras hur våldsutsatta kvinnors behov tolkas, omförhandlas och anpassas för att kunna hanteras inom socialtjänstens organisation. Avhandlingens övergripande frågeställningar fokuserar på insatser och behov, betydelsen av socialtjänstens organisering och betydelsen av socialarbetarnas handlingsutrymme. Avhandlingen baseras på kvalitativa analyser av statliga propositioner, intervjuer med socialarbetare och med kvinnor som varit utsatta för våld i nära relationer. Det teoretiska ramverket bygger bland annat på Frasers (1989) teoretiska perspektiv som tar sin utgångspunkt i samhällets tolkningar av människors/gruppers behov av stöd, nyinstitutionell teori och teorier om gatubyråkrater. Avhandlingen visar att socialarbetares tolkningar är centrala aspekter av förhandlingen om hur våldsutsatta kvinnors behov och rätt till stöd ska förstås. Ett viktigt resultat i avhandlingen är att stödet till våldsutsatta kvinnor blir så pass olika. Avhandlingen ger inga svar i kvantitativa termer på hur olikheten är fördelad, men den ger exempel på hur olikheten tar sig uttryck. I kommuner där specialiseringen innebär att socialarbetarna på socialkontoret i första hand utreder behov och fattar beslut om insatser, måste det också finnas adekvata insatser att besluta om. Saknas det så erbjuds inte heller något stöd. Stödet till kvinnor som utsatts för våld i nära relationer blir också olika eftersom socialarbetare ställer olika krav eller sätter upp olika trösklar för att kvinnor ska få stöd. Avhandlingen visar att både gemensam kunskap och gemensam syn på sociala problem är centralt för att samarbetet inom den specialiserade socialtjänstens ska fungera och i längden också för vilket stöd människor kommer att erbjudas. / This thesis analyses how the needs of abused women are interpreted, renegotiated and adapted for handling within the social services. The overarching research questions concern support and needs, the significance of the social services organisation, and the role of social workers’ own discretion. The material consists of qualitative analyses of government bills, and interviews with social workers as well as with female victims of domestic violence. The theoretical framework includes Fraser's (1989) perspective on society's interpretations of people/groups in need of support, neo-institutional theory and the theory of street level bureaucracy. The thesis shows that social workers’ interpretations are central for how abused women's needs and their right to support will be understood. An important result is the wide variation in the kinds of support offered, deriving from the fact that there appears to be no uniform approach across the municipal social services; social workers in the different offices set up different requirements/thresholds for women to receive support. No answers are given in quantitative terms of how this diversity is distributed, but examples are presented to illustrate the range manifested. In  municipalities where specialisation means that the social workers primarily investigate needs and make formal decisions about measures to be taken, there must also be adequate interventions in place to decide upon and distribute. The thesis shows that both mutual knowledge and mutual understanding of social problems are central for the cooperation within in the specialised social services and ultimately for what kind of support people will be offered.