Våldsutövaren - den som kan få våldet att upphöra. En kvalitativ dokumentanalys av kommunala handlingsplaner

Sammanfattning: The Swedish government has a national goal that states all violence against women will cease to exist. This goal is a part of a national strategy that will take place between the years 2017-2026. One of the main focuses of the strategy is to work with the perpetrator to make sure the acts of violence are not repeated. Another main focus is to shed light on societal norms regarding masculinity and how these affect men and boys in a negative way. The aim of this study is to show how eight municipalities portray perpetrators of intimate partner violence, the responsibility they carry and what type of help they can receive. The questions we have answered in regard to the aim of the study are how the perpetrator is portrayed, how the responsibility is divided between affected individuals and society, and what kind of help the perpetrator can receive from society. In order to conduct this study we have gathered strategies regarding intimate partner violence from eight different municipalities in Sweden. We have used the method of document analysis in order to study the strategies and see what common themes we can find among the eight of them. We have analyzed the findings with the help of the theory of hegemonic masculinity and the gender system theory. The study suggests that all of the municipalities portray the perpetrator as a man. The study also suggests that there is no clear answer to who carries the responsibility for the violence. Some strategies say it is society’s problem while others say it is the individual perpetrator’s. Finally, the study suggests that a majority of the strategies focused on the treatment of the perpetrator in one way or another.