Support for Abused WomenCOMPARING THREE TYPES OF CRIME VICTIM SERVICES IN SWEDEN

The Research Project• The Crime Victim Compensation

and Support Authority is funding the project

• PhD Candidate Sara Helmersson

• It is headed by Professor Håkan Jönson

• If and how is ‘empowerment‘ translated into social work practice in services supporting abused women?

• Data collection includes ethnographic fieldwork and a web based survey

The Aim of the Presentation

What kind of support is offered to (help-seeking) abused women in Sweden within the third sector and the public sector?

Individual Interventions are Ranked Number One

Supportive counselling 35 % (N=68)

Safe housing 26 % (N=52)

Hot line services 20 % (N=39)

Support in contact with authori-ties 5 % (N=10)

Remaining ten alternatives 9 % (N=18)

No response 5 % (N=10)

Eight Tasks were Never or Seldom Ranked Number One1. Influencing public opinion2. Developing working

methods 3. Self-help groups 4. Counselling groups5. Internal education6. Education/information to

authorities 7. Cooperation with external

actors8. Help to permanent

housing

A Comparative Approach  THE THREE HIGHEST

RANKED TASKS NO RESPONSE

TOTAL

WOMEN’S REFUGES

Safe housing 42 % (N=48)

Hot line services30 % (N=34)  

Supportive counselling 19 % (N=22)

2 % (N=2)  93 %

CRIME VICTIM SUPPORT

Supportive counselling 58 % (N=34)

Support in contact with authorities 15 % (N=9)

Hot line services 9 % (N=5)

12 % (N=7) 94 %

PUBLIC SECTOR CRISIS CENTRES

Supportive counselling 52 % (N=12)

Psycho-therapy 22 % (N=5) 

Safe housing 17 % (N=4)

4 % (N=1) 95 %

  THE THREE SECOND HIGHEST RANKED TASKS

NO RESPONSE

TOTAL

WOMEN’S REFUGES

Supportive counselling 22 % (N=25)

Safe housing 21 % (N=24)

Hot line services 21 % (N=24)

2 % (N=2) 

66 %

CRIME VICTIM SUPPORT

Support in contact with authorities 41 % (N=24)

Supportive counselling 15 % (N=9)

Hot line services 15 % (N=9)

12 % (N=7) 83 %

PUBLIC SECTOR CRISIS CENTRES

Counselling groups48 % (N=11)

Guidance 17 % (N=4) 

Supportive counselling 13 % (N=3)

4 % (N=1) 82 %

Non-Counselling Roles in Public Sector Crisis Centers

• The Advocate• The Support Person• The Coordinator• The Paper Work-Consultant• The Friend/The Family Member

Summing Up

• Individual interventions as the ”core work”: supportive counselling, safe housing, hot line services and support in contact with authorities

• Groups and external work are seen as peripheral

• Different niches among services – sometimes overlapping

• Observations show that it is more complex

Thank You

Sara Helmersson sara.helmersson@soch.lu.se

PhD Candidate School of Social Work Lund University

EXTRA BILDER

1. The Core work – list of fourteen alternatives2. A quote supporting the survey results but not the

observations3. Method and Data Collection 4. The Survey5. The Swedish Context6. Background of Project7. ”Number three”

THE CORE WORK – WHAT TASKS GET THE HIGHEST RANKING? List of fourteen alternatives

1. Internal education2. Safe housing 3. Hot line services by phone or

the Internet4. Supportive counselling5. Help to permanent housing6. Influencing public opinion7. Cooperation with external

actors8. Psycho-therapy9. Counselling groups

10. Guidance11. Developing working methods 12. Education for/information to

authorities 13. Self-help groups 14. Support in contact with

authorities

AN INTERVIEW QUOTE

”alltså dom [kvinnojourerna, min anm.] står ju för ett skyddat boende och ett praktiskt stöd under den tiden va’ vilket kan betyda allt ifrån att… att leka med barnen till att följa med på en rättegång eller sjukhus, hjälpa till att hitta vägar att söka bostäder därifrån […] men det är ju i huvudsak det skyddade boendet de står för… Alltså vi [på kriscentrum, min anm.] har ju en professionell samtalsbehandling och det har man ju inte på jourerna och ska man ju heller inte ha va’…” Anställd, kommunalt kriscentrum

METHOD AND DATA COLLECTION

• Web baserad survey • Interviews with employed

staff/volunteers and help-seeking abused women

• Participatory observations• Collecting texts

THE SURVEY (N=207)

• 320 services• 207 responses• Response rate 65 per cent

THE SWEDISH CONTEXT

• Historically support for crime victims is organised by the third sector

• Local governments have a greater responsibility for crime victims now than before 2007

• Different conditions for women’s refuges and crime victim support

BACKGROUND OF PROJECT • ’Empowerment’ is common in social

work arbete• The concept is prelevant in policy

documents in the domestic violence area

• Content and consequences for crime victims are unclear

NUMBER THREE

  TREDJE VIKTIGASTE UPPGIFTENTRE-I-TOPP

INGET SVAR

TOT

KVINNOJOURER Stöd vid rättegångar etc. 19 % (N=22)

Stödsamtal 17 % (N=20)

Rådgivning 10 % (N=11)

3 % (N=3) 

49 %

BROTTSOFFER-JOURER

Rådgivning 27 % (N=16)

Internutbildning 10 % (N=6)

Stöd vid rättegångar etc. 9 % (N=24)

15 % (N=9) 61 %

KOMMUNALA KRISCENTRUM

Info/utbildning till polis, soc. etc.26 % (N=6)

Stöd vid rättegångar etc. 17 % (N=4)

Jourtelefon9 % (N=2)

13 % (N=3) 65 %

NON-COUNSELLING WORK IN PUBLIC SECTOR CRISIS CENTERS ROLE OF THE EMPLOYEE

TASKS

The Advocate Making important phone calls or writing certificates and official letters to various authorities on behalf of the women.

The Support person

Accompaning women and supporting them in legal proceedings or in contact with authorities, employers etc. Acting a third party when the children are meeting the perpetrator (”umgänge”).

The Paper work-consultant

Translating formal documents or helping women to fill in forms.

The Friend/The Family member

Often unualified tasks such as helping women to move, inviting them home, taking them to dinner.