I knät på myndigheter och våldsutövare : Om reproducerad utsatthet för våldsutsatta föräldrar och barn vid vårdnadskonflikter

Sammanfattning: The purpose of this essay has been to understand the conditions for parents who are victims of domestic violence to deal with legal demands in custody disputes, and thereby understand how authorities risk reproducing vulnerability. Our qualitative research has been conducted by analyzing life stories through autobiographical literature and podcastinterviews. The results of the study show that the perpetrator, social networks and the authorities are important for understanding aggravating and enabling circumstances in custody disputes for victimized parents. Furthermore, the results show that parents who have experienced violence manage paradoxical demands from authorities in custody disputes through both adaptation and resistance. Yet, regardless of the strategy, they still need to adapt to the authorities. This leads to the lack of power for parents trying to protect their children from an abusive parent and authority decisions that put their lives, safety and health at risk. Consequently, authorities risk unintentionally reproducing the vulnerability for parents and children who are victims of domestic violence.