Love that turns into terror: Intimate partner violence in Åland : nurses’ encounters with battered women in the context of a government-initiated policy programme
Year: 2008
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Violence against women is a problem in all countries in the world, including the small autonomy of the Åland Islands. The violence ranges from psychological threats to femicide. In the Åland Islands the issue has been placed on the agenda of politicians and the authorities, while reports about severe violence against women have been brought to the public. In Åland no scientific research on violence against women has been performed. The overall aim of this dissertation is to gain a deeper insight into how battered women in Åland are cared for by nurses, and how the official organizations have responded to the government policy directives. In this thesis, the first study, a descriptive survey, describes how nurses identify and support battered women. In the second and third studies, the method of grounded theory was used to explore the experiences and perceptions of nurses and battered women of violence against women. In the fourth study a case study approach was used to explore government policies for intimate partner violence. The main findings in this thesis are that battered women used health services to receive help. We found that nurses identified and supported abused women, even though services for these women were inadequate. Nurses were willing to help the women, but they often lacked support. Battered women reported that they received ad hoc help. They were often left alone, dependent on a nearby person to escape, survive, and recover. Another finding was that the Government of the Åland Islands demanded that the official organizations should allocate services to battered women, but the organizations’ response to the directives had some limitations. From a public health perspective, the phenomenon presents an urgent challenge. Overall, the public health community can and should contribute greatly towards the understanding, prevention, and control of violence by applying and adapting already constructed principles, and by implementing strategies.
Author: Anette Häggblom
Language: English
Subfield: Health
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W638236796