”Det kanske är så att man slår hårdare när man är yngre” : En kvalitativ studie om yrkesverksammas reflektioner kring våld i nära relationer bland äldre

The purpose of this qualitative study is to capture professional employee’s thoughts and reflections concerning domestic violence among elderly people. It is important to highlight the opinions of professionals working with elderly to better understand the phenomena and how to work with it. The data was collected through qualitative semi-structured interviews. The study was based on eight interviews in total; four with assisting nurses and four with professionals located at a social services office. The social services office is responsible for evaluating needs and assigning or denying interventions for different elderly people. The interviews were recorded, transcribed and then analysed using theories of professionalism and by the term ageism by Håkan Jönson. The result of this study shows that professionals within homecare and social services shares a big range of different thoughts and reflections around domestic violence amongst elderly, class, social changes, nurturing care and their responsibilities. We concluded that the main difference between the informants opinion about domestic violence is connected to the different ways they defined it. This study highlights the importance of talking about violence and how it can take place amongst elderly people. It is further important not to exclude this big group of people that lives in our society, therefore an understanding of the existence of domestic violence amongst among elderly, can lead to better assistance and help where needed. Keywords: domestic violence, elderly people, ageism, ålderism, våld, äldre