Fri från (efter)våldet? : Om partnervåldsutsatta kvinnors motstånd, uppbrott och stödbehov

Sammanfattning: This dissertation investigates resistance strategies and leaving processes of female survivors of male intimate partner violence (IPV), and sheds light on the importance of support from social workers when survivors try to break free from IPV. It also contributes knowledge on how Swedish social workers in social service support units and women’s shelters (run by NGOs or companies) interpret and handle support needs of survivors. This is investigated through interviews with 17 adult Swedish survivors and 49 Swedish social workers in 13 different organizations, and through observations of social worker meetings and analysis of texts from the organizations. The data is analyzed thematically (Braun & Clarke, 2006, 2022).Responding to Hydén’s (2005) and Rajah and Osborn’s (2022) call for further research on resistance, the dissertation shows how survivors may utilize several resistance strategies to end violence: active opposition, covert resistance, help-seeking, and leaving (cf. Rajah & Osborn, 2022). It also sheds light on what survivors think enable or hinder their resistance and leaving processes, especially the role of social responses. Hester’s (2011) Three Planet Model is used to analyze survivors’ experiences of vast differences in support from social workers on different “planets” post-separation – of positive experiences of support from social workers on the “Domestic violence planet”, but of post-separation violence being enabled on the “Child contact planet”. These results may aid social workers to better align their services with experiences of survivors.The dissertation also sheds light on how knowledge use and working conditions shape social workers’ support on the “Domestic violence planet”. Social workers in all organizations utilized a paradigmatic practice theory (cf. Payne, 2012, 2021) to educate survivors on violence and relieve them of guilt. The paradigmatic practice theory connected to goals of social work aimed at (cognitive, emotional) liberation from violence, rather than structural social change. Furthermore, the results indicate that structural obstacles preventing survivors from leaving their abusers may be handled as individual rather than social problems. Additionally, social workers expressed that survivors need long-term, holistic support when breaking free from IPV, but their discretion as street-level bureaucrats (Lipsky, 2010) to meet these support needs differed. Some (social service support units) offered only counseling, other (shelters) also more “practical” support. Hence, the dissertation indicates that what kind of support survivors are offered may differ, and that support risks becoming a lottery where survivors might not always receive the help they need to break free from violence.