RT Article
T1 The ‘psychological turn’ in self-help services for sexual abuse victims: Drivers and dilemmas
JF International review of victimology
VO 27
IS 1
SP 80
OP 93
A1 Stefansen, Kari
A2 Dullum, Jane 1960-
A2 Smette, Ingrid
LA English
YR 2021
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/174566355X
AB This article describes an ongoing process of transformation in sexual abuse counselling centres in Norway that involves a new classification of groups of victims. These centres have traditionally operated at the grassroots level and outside the statutory system of services for victims and with an open-door policy for all victims. Drawing on field visits and interviews with staff, we explore how the centres are now working to secure their place within the expanding organisational field of services engaged in victim support and anti-violence work - and the dilemmas this produces related to some victims. Theoretically, our analysis departs from a Bourdieusian approach to organisational fields as well as Abbott’s concept of professional regression. We find that the centres have adopted ways of thinking and working that stem from the discipline of psychology and the powerful trauma-discourse that has permeated the organisational field they are part of. This ‘psychological turn’ manifests in different ways in the centres, including an increasing problematisation and marginalisation of the centres’ original user group - women who are severely affected by childhood sexual abuse - who no longer are seen as benefitting from the services offered. Hence, it involves a regression from what used to be the centres’ purpose and niche, to care for the most vulnerable and marginalised victims.
K1 Victim services
K1 Childhood Sexual Abuse
K1 Organisational fields
K1 Professional regression
K1 Rape
DO 10.1177/0269758020918797