"Det är inte bra att vara kär i en ung ålder" - En kvalitativ fokusgruppsstudie om ungas hälsosamma och destruktiva parrelationer
(2025) SOPB63 20251School of Social Work
- Abstract
- This study aimed to explore young people's perceptions of healthy and destructive romantic relationships, how they perceive the influence of different sources of knowledge, and how they construct and normalize violence regarding their relationships. The method chosen for this study was qualitative focus group interviews with students in grades one and three at a high school in Scania, involving a total of 20 participants aged 16 to 18. In analysing our results, we applied a constructive and a gender perspective combined with the concepts of sexual scripts and action competence. The theoretical framework provided analytic tools for understanding how the adolescents' perceptions were created and for highlighting underlying assumptions that... (More)
- This study aimed to explore young people's perceptions of healthy and destructive romantic relationships, how they perceive the influence of different sources of knowledge, and how they construct and normalize violence regarding their relationships. The method chosen for this study was qualitative focus group interviews with students in grades one and three at a high school in Scania, involving a total of 20 participants aged 16 to 18. In analysing our results, we applied a constructive and a gender perspective combined with the concepts of sexual scripts and action competence. The theoretical framework provided analytic tools for understanding how the adolescents' perceptions were created and for highlighting underlying assumptions that shaped them. This study found that participants described young people's romantic relationships as short-term, impulsive, and shaped by insecurity. Healthy relationships were associated with emotional safety and trust, while destructive ones were described with terms as jealousy, dishonesty, and control. A significant finding was the difficulty among some students in identifying non-physical forms of violence. Their understanding of relational rules or “comfort boundaries” often blurred the line between care and control, with controlling behaviors being legitimized through notions of mutuality, clear communication, or emotional comfort. This study further showed that normalization of certain destructive behaviors was often negotiated collectively. Peers played a central role as reference points when shaping relational perceptions. Furthermore, the participants criticized media portrayals of romantic relationships for promoting unrealistic expectations and romanticizing destructive behaviours. The findings indicate that young people's perceptions of romantic relationships are fluid, socially influenced, and shaped by gaps in knowledge and language. This study underscores the importance of equipping youths with tools to identify and articulate different forms of violence and calls for a stronger involvement from schools, social services, and caregivers. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9201388
- author
- Stenmark, Julia-Linn LU and Nilsson, Nelly LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- SOPB63 20251
- year
- 2025
- type
- M2 - Bachelor Degree
- subject
- keywords
- adolescents, perceptions, romantic relationships, youth intimate partner violence
- language
- Swedish
- id
- 9201388
- date added to LUP
- 2025-06-19 15:16:49
- date last changed
- 2025-06-19 15:16:49
@misc{9201388,
abstract = {{This study aimed to explore young people's perceptions of healthy and destructive romantic relationships, how they perceive the influence of different sources of knowledge, and how they construct and normalize violence regarding their relationships. The method chosen for this study was qualitative focus group interviews with students in grades one and three at a high school in Scania, involving a total of 20 participants aged 16 to 18. In analysing our results, we applied a constructive and a gender perspective combined with the concepts of sexual scripts and action competence. The theoretical framework provided analytic tools for understanding how the adolescents' perceptions were created and for highlighting underlying assumptions that shaped them. This study found that participants described young people's romantic relationships as short-term, impulsive, and shaped by insecurity. Healthy relationships were associated with emotional safety and trust, while destructive ones were described with terms as jealousy, dishonesty, and control. A significant finding was the difficulty among some students in identifying non-physical forms of violence. Their understanding of relational rules or “comfort boundaries” often blurred the line between care and control, with controlling behaviors being legitimized through notions of mutuality, clear communication, or emotional comfort. This study further showed that normalization of certain destructive behaviors was often negotiated collectively. Peers played a central role as reference points when shaping relational perceptions. Furthermore, the participants criticized media portrayals of romantic relationships for promoting unrealistic expectations and romanticizing destructive behaviours. The findings indicate that young people's perceptions of romantic relationships are fluid, socially influenced, and shaped by gaps in knowledge and language. This study underscores the importance of equipping youths with tools to identify and articulate different forms of violence and calls for a stronger involvement from schools, social services, and caregivers.}},
author = {{Stenmark, Julia-Linn and Nilsson, Nelly}},
language = {{swe}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{"Det är inte bra att vara kär i en ung ålder" - En kvalitativ fokusgruppsstudie om ungas hälsosamma och destruktiva parrelationer}},
year = {{2025}},
}