“It’s very complex”: Professionals’ work with domestic violence (DV): Report – FGI and interviews 2022

Authors

Ingunn Studsrød; Ragnhild Gjerstad Sørensen; Brita Gjerstad; Patrycja Sosnowska-Buxton ; Kathrine Skoland

Keywords:

focus group interviews, Domestic violence, interprofessional collaboration, The Istanbul Convention, Violence in close relationships, partnervold

Synopsis

This study explores Norwegian professionals' experiences of working within partner violence (PV) prevention area, including, cross-sectoral and interdisciplinary cooperation as well as possible successful strategies and measures in this area. This report is one of the deliverables of the “Integrated System of Domestic Violence Prevention” (ISDVP) project and of the agreement with The State Treasury, the Institute of Justice in Warsaw, Poland. This study contributes to research on professionals’ experiences of interprofessional collaboration in the domestic violence prevention area – a similar study was conducted in Poland.  To facilitate an interdisciplinary and interagency group discussion, five focus groups (with 19 participants) were conducted. The analysis reveals that there is inter- and intra-sectoral collaboration in the domestic violence prevention area. There are marked challenges but also notable success stories. The participants talked about several barriers to cross-sectoral collaborations, such as i) professional requirements of confidentiality, mandate, and/or duty to report, especially in the domestic violence prevention stages; ii) the complexity and plethora of practical and organizational measures and initiatives as well as who does what and when, particularly when helping a client navigate through the system; and iii) the difficulty in defining as well as uncovering domestic violence because it can be understood differently by various parties, especially from a cross-cultural perspective and gender stereotypes. In terms of effective management of multisectoral collaboration, the participants mentioned i) several tools and models, e.g., SARA and Flexid, and ii) organization of emergency shelters; and iii) networking. Besides, the participants reported a need for a nuanced and multifocal approach to domestic violence prevention, including addressing the specificities of different vulnerable groups such as the elderly and the LGBQT+ community. They also talked about the importance of initiatives aimed at removing the stigma and taboo around domestic violence, also through targeting higher education establishments.

Author Biographies

Ingunn Studsrød

Professor
Department of Social Studies
University of Stavanger
ingunn.studsrod@uis.no

Ragnhild Gjerstad Sørensen

Researcher
NORCE (Norwegian Research Centre)
Department of Health and Social Sciences
irer@norceresearch.no

Brita Gjerstad

Associate professor
Department of Social Studies
University of Stavanger
brita.gjerstad@uis.no

Patrycja Sosnowska-Buxton

Postdoctoral fellow
Department of Social Studies
University of Stavanger
patrycja.buxton@uis.no

Kathrine Skoland

Associate professor
Department of Social Studies
University of Stavanger
kathrine.skoland@uis.no

References

Andersen, S. & Lorås, L. (2019). Den historiske utviklingen av familieterapien som fagfelt [The historical development of family therapy as a field] (VID report 2019/4). VID vitenskapelige høgskole. Retrieved from https://www.regjeringen.no/contentassets/60b7d738df7d4d54a0e8c535cdca2ab3/no/sved/01.pdf

Baseline report by the Government of Norway. (2020). Report submitted by Norway pursuant to Article 68, paragraph 1 of the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Baseline Report). Retrieved from https://www.ldo.no/globalassets/_ldo_2019/_bilder-til-nye-nettsider/jenter/norway-to-grevio.pdf

Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative research in psychology, 3(2), 77-101.

https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa

Child Welfare Act [Barnevernloven]. (1992). Lov om barneverntjenester [Act relating to Child Welfare Services]. (LOV-2021-06-18-1). Retrieved from https://lovdata.no/dokument/NL/lov/1992-07-17-100

Council of Europe (2011). Convention on preventing and combatting violence against women and domestic violence Council of Europe, Treaty No. 210, Retrieved from https://rm.coe.int/168008482e

Crisis Senter Act (Krisesenterloven) (2009). Lov om kommunale krisesentertilbod [Act relating to the municipal crisis center]. LOV-2009-06-19-44. Retrieved from https://lovdata.no/dokument/NL/lov/2009-06-19-44

Family Counselling Act (Familievernkontorloven) (1997). Lov om familievernkontorer [Act relating to the Family Counselling services]. LOV- 1997- 06-19-62. Retrieved from https://lovdata.no/dokument/NL/lov/1997-06-19-62

Lunke, E. B. & Johnsson, E. (2019). Tilgjengelig familievern. En analyse av befolkningens tilgang til Familieverntjenesten. [Available family services. An analysis of the resident's access to the Family Counselling Services] (Report 1714/2019). Transportøkonomisk Institutt.

Mediation Service Act (2014). Lov om Konfliktrådsbehandling [Act relating to Mediation]. LOV- 1997- 06-19-62. Retrieved from https://lovdata.no/dokument/NL/lov/2014-06-20-49

Moen, L. H., Bergman, S., & Øverlien, C. (2018). Forebyggende tiltak mot vold i nære relasjoner. Kartlegging av kunnskap for veien videre [Preventive measures against violence in close relationships. Mapping of knowledge for the way forward]. (Report 2/2018). Nasjonalt kunnskapssenter om vold og traumatisk stress. Retrieved from https://www.nkvts.no/content/uploads/2018/06/Rapport_2-18_Forebyggende-tiltak.pdf

Molden, T. H., Ulset, G., & Røe, M. (2019). Kvalitet i familievernet: Ansattes vurderinger av betingelser for et faglig godt tjenestetilbud [Quality in family protection: Employees' assessments of conditions for a professionally good service offer]. (Report). NTNU Samfunnsforskning.

NESH. (2016). Guidelines for research ethics in the social sciences, humanities, law and theology. Retrieved from https://www.etikkom.no/globalassets/documents/english-publications/60127_fek_guidelines_nesh_digital_corr.pdf

Police Act [Politiloven]. (1995). Lov om politietr [Act relating to the Police]. Retrieved from https://lovdata.no/dokument/NL/lov/1995-08-04-53

Prop 12S. (2016 -2017). Opptrappingsplan mot vold og overgrep [Escalation plan against violence and abuse] (2017-2021). Barne- og likestillingsdepartementet [Ministry of children and equality]. Retrieved from https://www.regjeringen.no/contentassets/f53d8d6717d84613b9f0fc87deab516f/no/pdfs/prp201620170012000dddpdfs.pdf

Røsdal, T., Madsen, A., Å., Næss, T., & Larsen E., H. (2019). Kompetanse om vold og overgrep i nære relasjoner: innledende kartlegging av føringer, opplæringsstrukturer og kompetansebehov. [Competence about violence and abuse in close relationships: initial mapping of guidelines, training structures and competence needs] Oslo: NIFU (Report 2019:26). Retrieved from https://nifu.brage.unit.no/nifu-xmlui/handle/11250/2649896

Silverman, D. (2008). Interpreting qualitative data: methods for analyzing talk, text and interaction (3rd ed.). SAGE.

Statistics Norway (2021). https://www.ssb.no/en

https://doi.org/10.1787/1abc4a14-en

Willumsen, E., & Ødegård, A. (Eds.). (2016). Tverrprofesjonelt samarbeid: Et samfunnsoppdrag (2nd ed.). Oslo: Universitetsforlaget.

Cover image

Downloads

Published

November 8, 2022

Online ISSN

2387-6662

License

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.