”Det händer inte mig” En studie om utsatta kvinnors upplevelser av våldsrelationens konsekvenser.

Sammanfattning: Summary: The purpose of this study was to look at autobiographies through qualitative methods. The autobiographies have been written by women who have been victims of domestic violence. The main purpose has been to highlight how the women describe themselves (as victims or survivors), the psychosocial consequences of the violence they have experienced and their turning points: the way out of the relationship. To study this, we have used the following questions as starting points: How do the women describe themselves? (victim or survivor), are there any similarities or differences in the women's stories, regarding the turning point, and how do the women describe the psychosocial consequences from the violence they suffered? The study's analysis has been done by several theories, such as the narrative theory, the breakup process theory and a stigma theory. The study shows that the women do not want to be seen as victims or become stigmatized in social settings such as health care or during contact with police, but at the same time they see themselves as victims in relation to the perpetrator. The results also show that the similarities in the women’s turning points is that it has been a process that finally reaches its end at the final turning point. The difference found in the final turning points varies but it is clear that the violence the women were subjected to increased and this played a role for the time when the final turning point occurred. The psychosocial impact of violence has been highlighted by quotations from the women's autobiographies. We have found some similarities in the psychosocial consequences; like for example the everyday life pressures, social phobia, posttraumatic stress and depression. Keywords: domestic violence, victim, survivor, stigma theory, narrative theory, turning point, psychosocial consequences.