Identifying and assessing risks for intimate partner violence: Social workers’ experiences in rural and remote areas

This study aimed to explore social workers’ shared experiences and perceptions of identifying intimate partner violence (IPV) and assessing the risk for re-victimization of such violence in a Swedish rural and remote context. Thirteen focus group interviews were conducted with social workers (N = 38) from 17 rural and remote municipalities and analyzed using thematic analysis. Three themes were identified: Challenges with identifying IPV, Varying risk assessment expertise, and Lack of practical utility of available risk assessment tools. Identifying IPV was challenging for many reasons, primarily due to a lack of routines and knowledge of IPV. These challenges were also perceived to extend to the assessment of risk for re-victimization. For example, the required knowledge of risk assessment practices was scarce, unevenly distributed, and difficult to maintain as IPV cases were rarely identified. The results are generally in line with previous studies. However, given that this study was conducted with professionals working in rural and remote areas, we also identified challenges unique to a sparsely populated context that are discussed.