Disclosing victimisation to healthcare professionals in Sweden: a constructivist grounded theory study of experiences among men exposed to interpersonal violence

OBJECTIVE: To develop a theoretical model concerning male victims' processes of disclosing experiences of victimisation to healthcare professionals in Sweden. DESIGN: Qualitative interview study. SETTING: Informants were recruited from the general population and a primary healthcare centre in Sweden. PARTICIPANTS: Informants were recruited by means of theoretical sampling among respondents in a previous quantitative study. Eligible for this study were men reporting sexual, physical and/or emotional violence victimisation by any perpetrator and reporting that they either had talked to a healthcare provider about their victimisation or had wanted to do so. METHOD: Constructivist grounded theory. 12 interviews were performed and saturation was reached after 9. RESULTS: Several factors influencing the process of disclosing victimisation can be recognised from previous studies concerning female victims, including shame, fear of negative consequences of disclosing, specifics of the patient–provider relationship and time constraints within the healthcare system. However, this study extends previous knowledge by identifying strong negative effects of adherence to masculinity norms for victimised men and healthcare professionals on the process of disclosing. It is also emphasised that the process of disclosing cannot be separated from other, even seemingly unrelated, circumstances in the men's lives. CONCLUSIONS: The process of disclosing victimisation to healthcare professionals was a complex process involving the men's experiences of victimisation, adherence to gender norms, their life circumstances and the dynamics of the actual healthcare encounter.