Gendered and social hierarchies in problem representation and policy processes : "domestic violence" in Finland and Scotland.

This article identifies and critiques presumptions about gender and violence that continue to frame and inform the processes of policy formation and implementation on domestic violence. It also deconstructs the agendered nature of policy as gendered, multilevel individual and collective action. Drawing on comparative illustrative material from Finland and Scotland, we discuss how national policies and discourses emphasize physical forms of violence, place the onus on the agency of women, and encourage a narrow conceptualization of violence in relationships. The two countries do this in somewhat comparable, though different ways operating within distinct national gender contexts.The complex interweaving of masculinities, violence, and cultures, although recognized in many debates, is seemingly marginalized from dominant discourses, policy, and legal processes. Despite growth in critical studies on men, there is little attempt made to problematize the gendered nature of violence. Rather, policy and service outcomes reflect processes through which individualized and masculine discourses frame ideas, discourses, and policy work. Women experiencing violence are constructed as victims and potential survivors of violence, although the social and gendered hierarchies evident in policies and services result in longer-term inequities and suffering for women and their dependents.The final, definitive version of this paper has been published in:Violence against women, (16), 2, 136-58, 2010.Jeff Hearn and Linda McKie, Gendered and social hierarchies in problem representation and policy processes: "domestic violence" in Finland and Scotland.http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1077801209355185by SAGE Publications Ltd, All rights reserved.http://www.uk.sagepub.com