Den krävande kunskapen : Om svårigheterna att uppnå självupplevd kunskap om våld i nära relationer inom socialtjänsten

Sammanfattning: The Swedish social services have an extensive responsibility for supporting victims andperpetrators of intimate partner violence (IPV) as well as their children. Social serviceworkers therefore need knowledge about IPV. However, previous research has shown that theself perceived competence of such knowledge is lacking among social workers. The purposeof this study is to examine why that is and what perspectives on knowledge about IPV thatare communicated (and not) by one of the central actors of the state governing of knowledge,the National Board of Health and Welfare (Socialstyrelsen). It also explores to what extentcritical perspectives are expressed. This is done by categorizing the content of one of theBoard’s IPV educational materials into three sections of knowledge: theoretical, factual andpractical knowledge. The results are analyzed using Bacchis analytical tool “Whats’s theProblem Represented to Be” (WPR), which shows that factual knowledge is dominant in thematerial while theoretical knowledge is least common. Critical perspectives on IPV, likeanalyses of structural power mechanisms, are hardly noticeable, which is considered as ashortcoming when it comes to understanding IPV. As IPV is a complex issue that can beviewed as troublesome within the social services and provoke emotions and resistance,pedagogical tools specifically adapted to education about IPV can be needed, which is nottaken into consideration in the studied material. The study discusses that a predominance offactual knowledge and a lack of critical perspectives in the educational material can beunderstood as influenced by NPM, focusing on production within prevailing frames ratherthan challenging them in order to enable social change. For knowledge about IPV to beimplemented and deepened within the social services, and thereby the support to IPV victims,perpetrators and their children to be strengthened, this study suggests that criticalperspectives are needed in the learning process, using pedagogical approaches which take thecomplexity of IPV into consideration