Stöd till våldsutsatta kvinnor under rättsprocessen : en undersökning av Relationsvåldscentrums betydelse för de samverkande myndigheterna

Relationsvåldscentrum (RVC) is a support center for physically and mentally abused persons and who have made a complaint to the police regarding domestic violence. The target group mainly is women who experienced domestic violence, but also men who experienced domestic violence from another man. Persons who are subject to honor related violence is also included. The project is a collaboration between Social Services, Police and Prosecutors in Västerort, Stockholm. In this paper, the significance RVC has had on the abused women and the collaborating authorities has been investigated. The aim has been to deepen the understanding by using an organization theoretical perspective. The project has been analyzed with the help of theoretical concepts from New institutionalism in organizational theory in particular. The focus for the analysis has been three concepts: inhibiting/promoting factors for collaboration, coherence/conflict between the actors and legitimacy. Several data collections have been made over three years. Six women were interviewed regarding their experiences of RVC. A questionnaire was distributed among the visitors at RVC. Personnel of the collaborating authorities have also answered a questionnaire and some have participated in focus group interviews. Managers and representatives of the authorities have been interviewed individually. The empirical data has been used for descriptive analysis of RVC and the significance RVC has had for the abused women and for the public authorities. The analysis has been done in an organization theoretical framework. It has been possible to identify a number of legitimacy-building factors that probably contributed to why the RVC is perceived as a successful project. The study has shown that RVC is a collaborative project with collaboration in two levels: operational and strategic. Three main themes, as to why the authorities want to collaborate have been identified: improved performance, communication/focus on issues and to improve contact and understanding of each other's professional roles