"You know the rules" : En tematisk filmanalys om våld i nära relationers karaktär i filmer

Sammanfattning

Titel: “You know the rules” - A thematic film analysis of the characteristics of intimate partner violence in films Tutor: Therese Bielsten Examiner: Staffan Bengtsson Domestic violence is a widespread problem frequently encountered within social work, it is therefore important to understand victims’ own experiences of domestic violence, as well as outsiders’ understanding of what it is like to be a victim of domestic violence. The study aims to analyze how intimate partner violence is expressed and maintained in cinematic portrayals. The study is conducted using thematic analysis, in which three fictional films and three biographical films were analyzed. The fictional films include Gaslight (Dickinson, 1940), Safe haven (Hallström, 2013) and Once were warriors (Tamahori, 1995). The biographical films include What’s love got to do with it (Gibson, 1993), Life with Billy (Donovan, 1993) and I was Lorena Bobbit (Esterhazy, 2020). The thematic analysis generated three main themes: protection for survival, instrumental benefits of violence and ambivalent external influence. The study uses Albert Bandura’s social cognitive theory to explain the influence of popular culture on individuals and to develop an understanding of the continuation of the violence. The results demonstrated that the biographical films portrayed violence more explicitly, whereas the fictional films more frequently depicted certain aspects of violence indirectly. Furthermore, the findings showed that both the biographical and fictional films emphasized the long-term consequences of violence, as well as recurring patterns of power, control, and normalization within the relationship. Keywords: Biographical films, domestic violence, fictional films, film analysis, popular culture, thematic analysis, the nature of violence.