The construction of the abused woman : An intersectional discourse analysis of the National Board of Health and Welfare policy documents regarding the work with men's violence against women in close relationship

The aim of this study was to examine how women subjected to men’s violence in close relationships are presented from an intersectional perspective in two selected policy documents. To analyse the policy documents Carol Bacchi´s discourse analysis approach What´s the problem represented to be? was used to detect important patterns in the material. The study showed that the construction of women subjected to violence covers a series of conceptions regarding how women should act and a framing of the abused woman as the problem carrier. Results from the study showed a gender neutral discourse and that a part of the problem representation contains framings of the ideal violence. The study also showed that categories of women are presented in terms of particularly vulnerable groups which is mainly done in exclusionary ways. Depending on how social workers comprehend these guidelines women subjected to violence might be affected differently. The findings suggest that an awareness of social discourses is of importance because it may affect how violence against women is understood and how women subjected to violence is treated