Conceptualising Violence in Close Relationships : Discrepancies Between Police Conceptions and the Letter of the Law in Finland

AbstractThe focus in this Finland-based study is on violence in close relationships—a term that partly overlaps with the more commonly used ‘domestic violence’, ‘family violence’ and ‘intimate partner violence’. We demonstrate how police officers’ conceptualisations of such violence differ from how it is defined in relevant legal documents. The data consists of the Government Bill and legal text on the subject issued as part of a legal reform enacted in 2010, and of a qualitative sample of freelist responses from 79 police officers. We examined both sets of data using theory-driven directed content analysis and deriving from prevailing theoretical frameworks reflecting the family- and gende…

A spatial-temporal, intersectional and institutional approach to interpersonal violence

Conflicts in Family Relations, Children's Emotions and Agency

What kind of conflicts and tensions do children experience with other children and adults in the family? Content analysis of 32 thematic interviews with 10- to 13-year-old children revealed that while conflicts often concern daily actions, tasks and routines, they also relate to decision-making and fair treatment or to matters threatening the child's sense of emotional security. Parental conflicts and conflicts in child–parent relationships often arouse negative emotions that lead children to suppress their agency. However, conflicts, particularly those between siblings, may also open up possibilities for negotiation and agency.

Intervening in domestic violence : interprofessional collaboration among social and health care professionals and the police

Encountering domestic violence victims, perpetrators and witnesses in the multiprofessional fields of health and social care and policing includes various challenges. Each professional group perceives domestic violence from its own perspective, linked to its position in the field, core tasks, institutional practices and organizational structures. In this study, we examine interprofessional collaboration among Finnish social and health care professionals and police officers, focusing on the practices and conceptions concerning domestic violence interventions. The data consists of 16 focus group interviews, involving a total of 67 interviewees from social and health care professions and the p…

Problematic Woman-to-Woman Family Relations

Family research has mostly concentrated on relationships between parents and children or between women and men. On the other hand, feminist studies have explained problems within woman-to-woman relationships deriving from patriarchy. This article focuses on problematic adult woman-to-woman family relationships. More specifically, it discusses two women's ambivalent emotions narrated and experienced in their problematic female family relationships. The authors suggest that feminist studies should take into account culturally dominant narratives interlinking female subjectivity and responsibility over the private sphere. Ambivalence arises in situations where individuals encounter contradicto…

Possibilities for Intervention in Domestic Violence: Frame Analysis of Health Care Professionals’ Attitudes

ABSTRACT. Violence is a serious problem, and social and health care providers are in a key position for implementing successful interventions. This qualitative study of 6 focus groups with professionals (n = 30) examines the health care professionals’ ways of framing a domestic violence intervention. Of special interest here is how professionals see their own roles in the process of recognizing and helping victims of domestic violence. By using Erving Goffman's frame analysis, this study identifies several frames that either: a) emphasize the obstacles to intervention and justify nonintervention, or on the contrary, b) question these obstacles and find justifications for intervention. The p…

Tukitoimenpiteet lähisuhdeväkivaltaa kokeneille naisille

Lähisuhdeväkivalta on yhä 2010-luvun Suomessa vakava sosiaalinen, taloudellinen ja inhimillinen ongelma. Yhteiskunnallisia toimenpiteitä lähisuhdeväkivaltaan puuttumiseksi ja auttamisjärjestelmien kehittämiseksi on toteutettu eri sektoreilla viimeisen kahdenkymmenen vuoden aikana runsaasti, mutta edelleenkin lähisuhdeväkivallan uhreille tarjottavista palveluista ja niiden alueellisesta jakautumisesta on vain hajanaista tietoa. Talvella 2012 Sosiaali- ja terveysministeriö antoi Jyväskylän yliopiston sosiaalityön yksikölle toimeksiannoksi toteuttaa selvitys lähisuhdeväkivallan uhreiksi joutuneille naisille tarjottavista palveluista. Selvitys toteutettiin internetpohjaisena kyselynä helmikuuss…

Child–educator disagreements in Finnish early childhood education and care: young children’s possibilities for influence

This study explores young children’s possibilities for influence in situations of child–educator disagreement in Finnish early childhood education and care (ECEC). Data were gathered from observations conducted in four ECEC groups of under three year-olds. A total of 112 child–educator disagreements were analysed qualitatively using reflexive thematic analysis. Children’s influence was rather limited in most disagreements, as these involved the established institutional order as manifested in the rules and norms of daily activities and educators’ control over children’s bodies and material resources. However, disagreements over social rules and the ongoing social situation often allowed chi…

Väkivalta, vallankäyttö ja vahingoittuminen naisten perhesuhteissa

Encountering ethics in studying challenging family relations

This article focuses on ethical considerations in the study of challenging family relations. Our perspective derives from multidisciplinary family studies, including social sciences, psychology and educational sciences. Our concerns include why and how to apply a sensitive approach in studying challenging family relations, and what the key ethical issues are in studies of this kind. We examine questions of multiplicity in family relations, the particularity of vulnerable family relations and the roles of researchers and gatekeepers in the research process. The article is based on a research project where informants were both children and adults, and both qualitative and quantitative data we…

Framing Social Work Discourses of Violence Against Women. Insights From Finland and India

Violence against women (VAW) is a global social problem. In India, its high prevalence is connected to gender inequality, whereas Finland suffers from the so-called Nordic Paradox—that is, the existence of both gender equality and a high prevalence of VAW. This qualitative study employed a critical constructioniist approach and frame analysis to analyze data from interviews with Finnish (n =20) and Mumbai (n =18) social workers. We asked how social workers frame their response to VAW and how ways of framing elucidate institutional practices that facilitate the interventions. Anti-oppressive, juridical, procedural, and collaborational frames revealed institutional practices mirroring how soc…

Domestic Violence Interventions in Social and Health Care Settings: Challenges of Temporary Projects and Short-Term Solutions.

Social welfare service and health care providers are in a key position to implement successful domestic violence (DV) interventions. However, it is known that DV intervention and prevention work is often lacking in coordination and continuity. In addition, the limited resources, hectic work pace, and changing practices negatively affect the development of successful ways to prevent and intervene in DV. This qualitative study involving 11 focus groups, composed of social welfare and health care professionals ( n = 51) in a midsized Finnish hospital, examined the challenges and possibilities within DV interventions and the adoption of good practices produced by a DV intervention development …

"Tytöistä kasvatetaan kiltimpiä, pojista MIEHIÄ" : nuorten naisten suhde aggressioon ja väkivaltaan

Lähisuhdeväkivallan kehystäminen erikoissairaanhoidossa : puuttumisen ja muutoksen mahdollisuudet

Lähisuhdeväkivaltaan puuttuminen terveydenhuollossa on haasteellinen ja kiistanalainen kysymys. Tässä artikkelissa käsittelemme lähisuhdeväkivallan kohtaamisen tapoja erikoissairaanhoidossa. Aineistona on kuusi erikoissairaanhoidon ammattilaisten fokusryhmähaastattelua. Taustateoriana ja menetelmänä käytämme Erving Goffmanin arkielämän vuorovaikutustilanteiden tutkimiseen kehittämää kehysanalyysia. Tarkastelemme, millaiset kehystämisen tavat estävät ja millaiset edistävät väkivallan tunnistamista ja siihen puuttumista. Aineistosta analysoimamme väkivaltaan puuttumattomuutta perustelevat kehykset ovat: 1) medikaalinen, 2) käytännöllinen, 3) individualistinen ja 4) psykologinen. Väkivaltaan p…

Institutional and Affective Practices of Domestic Violence Interventions in Social Work: Malignant Positioning of Victims

This chapter investigates the institutional and affective practices of domestic violence (DV) interventions in Finnish social work. It examines the expression of social workers’ emotions related to intervening in DV and how these expressions result in the positioning of clients. Encountering and intervening in DV is often challenging; ideological presumptions, conceptions, gender-neutral discussions and misrecognition of violence affect institutional arrangements and practices, and the ways in which professionals feel about and respond to violence. We utilise positioning theory to analyse social workers’ focus group interview data (n = 20). We consider (1) how emotions expressed by social w…

Making sense of domestic violence intervention in professional health care

Intervening in domestic violence in the health care and social service settings is a complex and contested issue. In this qualitative, multidisciplinary study, the barriers to but also the possibilities for health care professionals in encountering victims of violence were scrutinised. The focus was on omissions in service structure and practices. The data consisted of six focus group interviews with nurses, physicians, social workers and psychologists in specialist health care (n = 30) conducted in Finland in 2009. The aim was to explore professionals' processes of making sense of violence interventions and the organisational practices of violence interventions. Four types of framing of th…

Children’s Emotions in Educational Settings: Teacher Perceptions from Australia, China, Finland, Japan and Spain

The transition to formal education is a critical transition in children’s lives that has importance for socio-emotional and behavioral functioning. In the transition process, teachers are key players who work intensively with children and their families. This article focuses on teachers’ perceptions of children´s socio-emotional behavior during the transition from preschool to primary school. We collected qualitative teacher interviews from 112 teachers from five different countries—Australia, China, Finland, Japan and Spain. The research questions were: (1) How do teachers in the five countries perceive children’s abilities in expressing and regulating emotions. (2) How are children’s emot…