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Health Providers’ Narratives on Intimate Partner Violence Against Roma Women in Spain
Author(s) -
BrionesVozmediano Erica,
La ParraCasado Daniel,
VivesCases Carmen
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
american journal of community psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.113
H-Index - 112
eISSN - 1573-2770
pISSN - 0091-0562
DOI - 10.1002/ajcp.12235
Subject(s) - narrative , domestic violence , gender studies , sociology , oppression , qualitative research , social psychology , ethnic group , narrative inquiry , psychology , poison control , suicide prevention , medicine , political science , politics , environmental health , social science , philosophy , linguistics , anthropology , law
This qualitative study identifies health professionals’ dominant, adaptive, and liberating narratives regarding inter‐ethnic relations when talking about intimate partner violence ( IPV ) and the health system responses to the way it affects Roma women. Dominant narratives are oppressive internalized stories that shape social perceptions of members of both dominant and minority groups, adaptive narratives refer to those that acknowledge asymmetry and inequality, and liberating narratives directly challenge oppression with resistant views of stereotypes and negative interpretations. A total of 25 in‐depth interviews were carried out with healthcare professionals in Spain in 2015. A discourse analysis of the interview transcriptions was conducted, showing the way in which different narratives about Roma people and IPV are combined among health providers. Dominant narratives were more salient: they were used by health providers to reflect prejudicial social perceptions in Spain that depict the Roma as a marginalized and traditional group, to construct Roma women in negative and prejudicial terms as patients, and to explain the existence of the cultural normalization of IPV among Roma women. Adaptive and liberating narratives showed a prevailing ideology in terms of the tendency to socially discriminate against Roma people. Using liberating narratives to train and raise awareness among health professionals about IPV among Roma women could facilitate a positive change in their treatment of Roma women who could be affected by IPV , helping to ameliorate the maintenance of existing prejudices.