A new area of expertise? Incorporating social work with intimate partner violence into Swedish social services organizations

The aim of this article is to map and to analyse the incorporation of social work with intimate partner violence (IPV) into Swedish social services organizations. The empirical material consists of a survey directed at social services managers in 100 municipalities, as well as telephone interviews with IPV coordinators and caseworkers. Departing from institutional theory on organizational change, the development of IPV social work is explored through different aspects of specialization and the arrangement of collaboration within the municipalities. The results indicate that IPV specialization has to some extent been developed in a majority of the municipalities studied. The number of caseworkers assigned to work with IPV is relatively low, however, and a considerable part of IPV social work is handled by other parts of the organizations, particularly in the larger municipalities. It is argued that while there has been movement towards IPV specialization in the social services, it has not resulted in any major organizational change. While specialization, even in small measure, might be seen as recognition of IPV as a specific social problem, it is still to be seen to what extent IPV will grow into an established part of PSS structure.