Research group Domestic Violence and Abuse

Our themes include individuals’ exposure and perpetration, societal support, help, protection and treatment, and how professionals work with the issue. We are interested in the theme in relation to conventions, laws and regulations, and the importance of gender, age, ethnicity and class. Of interest is also the different directions of violence within for example juvenile detention homes, and several of the researchers have conducted studies on children and adolescents’ exposure to violence. Of specific interest has been honour-based violence and abuse, where girls’ and young womens’ search for support, response of the Child welfare services, boys’ dual role as victim and perpetrator and the prevalence of the problem, has been explored.  To answer these and other research questions several different research methods has been used, such as surveys, interviews, document studies and participant observations. Results have been published in peer-review journals and books. In addition to this, the researchers are active in disseminating the knowledge more broadly to the surrounding society.