Carriers of the troublesome violence – the social services’ support for female victims of domestic violence

ABSTRACT

In Sweden, the social services’ responsibility for abused women has been reinforced and clarified on several occasions since the 1990s. At the same time, the knowledge of their work is undeveloped. This article analyses the social services’ support for female victims of domestic violence with a focus on organisation, based on the concepts of specialisation and specialists. The study consists of qualitative interviews with 16 social workers in 11 municipalities. The study shows great organisational variation between the municipalities, although most have some sort of specialised units or person-bound specialisation. Colleagues, training and external supervision are factors the social workers emphasise as important in working with female victims of violence, a social problem described as both special and difficult. The different forms of organisation and specialisation influence the support the social services offer abused women.

ABSTRAKT

Socialtjänstens ansvar för stöd till våldsutsatta kvinnor har förstärkts och förtydligats under flera tillfällen sedan 1990-talet. Samtidigt är kunskapen om socialtjänstens arbete begränsad. I artikeln analyseras socialtjänstens stöd till våldsutsatta kvinnor med fokus på organisering, utifrån begreppen specialisering och specialister. Studien består av kvalitativa intervjuer med 16 socialarbetare i 11 kommuner. Studien visar stor organisatorisk variation mellan kommunerna, även om de flesta har någon form av specialiserade enheter eller personbunden specialisering. Kollegor, kompetensutveckling och handledning är faktorer som socialarbetarna lyfter fram som viktiga i arbetet med stöd till våldsutsatta kvinnor, ett arbete som beskrivs som både speciellt och svårt. Organiseringen och specialiseringen påverkar det stöd som socialtjänsten erbjuder våldsutsatta kvinnor.

KEYWORDS:

• domestic violence
• social services
• crime victims
• specialisation

NYCKELORD:

• våld i nära relationer
• socialtjänst
• brottsoffer
• specialisering

Notes on contributor

Veronica Ekström is a doctoral student in social work at Linköping University and Ersta Sköndal University College. Her doctoral work concerns the social services and support for female victims of domestic violence. Veronica has been involved in research since 2004. She has, for example, been studying the social services and activation of unemployed people on social assistance, domestic violence and young people suffering from mental illness. Veronica is a trained social worker and has worked in child protection.

Notes

1 External supervision (In Swedish handledning) refers to regular group supervision between social workers within a work group and an external consultant. These consultants work with difficult cases, but also address the mental process the social workers go through. The consultant is normally an experienced social worker or a therapist, who has undergone special training to qualify as a supervisor. See also Bradley and Höjer (2009).