”Våldet är inte av den kriminella typen” En kvalitativ studie om biståndshandläggares syn på våld i nära relationer bland äldre

Sammanfattning: The purpose of this study was to illustrate how professionals within eldercare view domestic violence amongst elderly and how they view their own work regarding the subject. An emphasis was placed on capturing the professionals' thoughts and reflections about domestic violence amongst elderly as it provided a more profound understanding of the phenomenon and how it is worked with. We collected our data through qualitative semi-structured interviews with six different professionals working at a social services office within the area of eldercare. The professionals worked in three different municipalities in Skåne, Sweden, and their work tasks mainly included needs assessment regarding elderly care initiatives and interventions. The interviews were recorded, transcribed and further analyzed using our chosen theories, which are discretion and ageism. The results of our study show that the professionals have different thoughts and reflections on domestic violence amongst elderly, and their own work related to the area. Our conclusion regarding the differences within the respondents' reflections on domestic violence amongst the elderly lies in their different ways of defining violence. Another finding was that the respondents mainly described the violence in a gender neutral way and did not make elderly women's particular vulnerability visible. Furthermore, there seemed to be a perceived shortage of formal guidelines concerning the professionals’ work within violence amongst the elderly. Despite the lack of guidelines, the work and responsibilities regarding domestic violence amongst elderly still landed on the eldercare, which sheds light on the complexity of their professional role. This study highlighted the importance of clearer guidelines to facilitate the professionals and minimize the moral stress that comes with ambiguity in work tasks and responsibilities. Subsequently, increased guidelines would result in a lesser variation in what innovations you can be granted as an older person who has been exposed to domestic violence, and lead to more equivalent help.