”Vi borde ju ha 200 män som går här, men det har vi ju inte” : En kvalitativ studie om socialtjänstens förändrings- och behandlingsarbete med våldsutövande män

The purpose of this study was to get an extensive understanding of how social services work with male intimate partner violence perpetrators. A qualitative methodological approach inspired by hermeneutics has been used. The study’s data was obtained through semi-structured interviews with six professional behavior treatment workers. The study’s results were interpreted and analyzed in accordance with previous research on the subject and selected theoretical starting points. During the analysis-process two main themes were identified. The results of the study have shown that change and treatment work is associated with a number of challenges, such as the perpetrators motivation and societal norms. The results have also highlighted that the relationship between the professional and the client constitutes an important component in the work with intimate partner perpetrators. Furthermore, the results showed that the study’s respondents primarily worked individually with the men. The study’s results also revealed that the respondents margin for manoeuvre was perceived to be broad, but that it can be limited by both organizational guidelines and a lack of consensus between different professions within the organization.