Den känslosamma förövaren - En diskursanalytisk granskning av fridskränkningsbrotten

Sammanfattning: The overall aim of this project has been to analyze how the perpetrator and victim are constructed in the adjudication process of the criminal acts gross violation of integrity and gross violation of a woman’s integrity in Chapter 4, section 4a of the Swedish Penal Code. The sections regarding the criminal act gross violation of integrity will focus on cases concerning heterosexual partner violence where the woman is the perpetrator and the man the victim. The aim of this essay is furthermore to from within the established law analyze how the constructions of the perpetrator and crime victim can be related to Yvonne Hirdman’s theory of the gender system and to the application of the law. The methods applied in this essay are discourse analysis and the legal dogmatic method. According to the crime code of the gross violation of the integrity offences, a person who commits criminal acts stated in Chapters 3, 4, 6 or 12 in the Swedish Penal Code or violates a restraining order against a person to whom he or she is in or has had a close relationship with, can be sentenced for gross violation of integrity. That is, if the court judge that the committed acts are suited to severely damage the other person’s self-confidence and form a part of an element in a repeated violation of the other person’s integrity. In this thesis it will be stated that the female perpetrator is constructed as emotional in the criminal legal discourse since she is described as aggressive, troubled and hysterical, or as vulnerable due to for example homelessness or violence. The male perpetrator on the other hand is constructed as violent or as a person with mental health problems. Furthermore, the female victim is constructed as vulnerable due to for example the perpetrator’s physical advantage, her strong fear for the perpetrator or due to other conditions in her life. The female victim is also constructed as an ideal victim since she is portrayed as respectable, unselfish and forgiving of the perpetrator. Another discourse about the female victim is the discourse of the provocative woman, which is constructed by descriptions of the victim’s behavior while being violent, arguing and drunk. The male victim is moreover constructed as the ideal victim since he is described as unselfish and forgiving, or as vulnerable due to conditions in his life. Lastly, the male victim is constructed as an active victim with descriptions of how the victim practised self-defense. The result from the discourse analysis is related to Hirdman’s theory of the gender system. In the analysis it will be stated that the male perpetrator is constructed as rational whereas the female is represented as an emotional, almost hysterical perpetrator. Through Hirdman’s principle of division between the sexes it will be stated that the male is portrayed as rational and the female as a non-thinking human controlled by her own emotions. It will also be noted in the essay that the male victim that is violent is not portrayed as negative as the female victim in the discourse of the provocative woman. This could be due to the fact that men according to Hirdman’s gender contract are expected to be superior and to have more power than women in relationships. Since in contrast to women, men’s subordination is not seen as natural. The results from the discourse analysis can be related to a study made by Malou Andersson from her thesis regarding the gross violation of integrity offences. Malou Andersson states in the study that circumstances affiliated with the victim such as alcohol abuse, violence or a provocative behavior, may in the application of the law become factors that determine the necessary prerequisites - repeated violation of the other person’s integrity and acts suited to severely damage the self-confidence - as unfulfilled. In conclusion, it is stated in the thesis that it is still a risk that a victim’s traits and behavior may affect the judicial judgment and therefore the opportunity to achieve legal protection.