Anja Emilie Kruse

• Todd-Kvam, Mari; Kruse, Anja Emilie & Gausel, Nicolay (2026). Doing respectful closeness: the role of minimal listening responses in supporting disclosure of sexual offenses. Frontiers in Psychology. 17. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1720312. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Objective Across institutional settings, there are conversations in which the client’s disclosure of moral transgressions is a goal in itself or a necessary step toward change. Such disclosure both depends on and may threaten the client–professional relationship. Therefore, these conversations constitute a fruitful setting for examining how people build purposive relationships within institutional constraints. We aim to examine how participants interactionally co-achieve a relationship that is purposive toward disclosure of moral transgressions. Methods Drawing on conversation analysis (CA) of 19 research interviews with young people who have committed sexual violation(s), we apply longitudinal CA on one single successful case, substantiated by three contrastive examples. Results Our analysis demonstrates how a purposive relationship quality of respectful closeness is co-achieved through the interviewer’s responsive and skillful use of minimal listening tokens to support the interviewee’s progression toward disclosure. We specify one overarching dynamic (mutual trust) and three practices (staying with difficulty, relationally scaffolded storytelling, and managing absence with presence) characterizing this relational work. Conclusion Relationship quality is achieved on a turn-by-turn basis and may over time result in the relational robustness necessary to disclose sexual offenses. Conversation analysis detailing this relational work can develop both theory and clinical practice, and unpacks expertise as practical, observable knowledge.

• Lindegren, Stina; Jørgensen, Kasper; Sandbukt, Ingeborg Jenssen; Kruse, Anja Emilie & Pedersen, Mikkel Rask (2026). Interview research with individuals convicted of sexual offenses: Navigating barriers and building strategies. Nordic Journal of Criminology. ISSN 2578-983X. 28(1), p. 1–20. doi: 10.18261/njc.28.1.1. Full text in Research Archive
• Kruse, Anja Emilie & Houge, Anette Bringedal (2025). En sånn fyr? Om erkjennelse og rehabilitering etter å ha blitt dømt for voldtekt. In Skilbrei, May-Len; Stefansen, Kari & Dullum, Jane Vibeke (Ed.), Et voldsfelt i bevegelse: Rettslige virkemidler og institusjonelle ordninger. Cappelen Damm Akademisk. ISSN 9788202879921. p. 123–144. doi: 10.23865/cdf.246.ch6. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Individuals convicted of sex offences are often subject to specific judgment: they are seen as deviants and met with contempt, condemnation, and disgust. Their offences are understood not just as actions they have committed, but as indications of who they are. In this chapter, we examine the meaning and purpose of rehabilitation of convicted individuals within the Norwegian criminal justice system and investigate the significance of what we call professional friction in the rehabilitation process. We base our analysis on interviews with 15 men convicted of various sexual offences and explore how conditions within the prison environment can facilitate the active acknowledgment of personal responsibility for serious crimes, in interactions with criminal justice professionals – or interfere with it. In the analysis, we differentiate between performative and internalised acknowledgment of responsibility, and between productive, negative, and absent friction. We argue that this conceptual framework can contribute to promoting effective rehabilitation work for people convicted of sex offences.

• Kruse, Anja Emilie (2024). «Jeg er ikke her for å fordømme deg». Om maskefall, påtrengende følelser og å (ikke) være en sånn fyr. In Houge, Anette Bringedal & Kruse, Anja Emilie (Ed.), Etisk ubehag. En ærlig lærebok om kvalitativ forskning på sensitive temaer. Universitetsforlaget. ISSN 9788215068558. Full text in Research Archive
• Kruse, Anja Emilie & Skilbrei, May-Len (2024). The monster and the self: Taking on the monstrosity of sexual violations. Punishment & Society. ISSN 1462-4745. 26(5), p. 840–859. doi: 10.1177/14624745231221933. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The contemporary normative climate regarding sexual violence affects how perpetrators of such violence relate to their harmful acts. In this article, we analyze how men convicted of sex offences are affected by how perpetrators of such offences are often represented as monsters and ask what this tells us about what characterizes the Monster as a figure. While people convicted of sexual offences are likened to monsters in many contexts, there is little research that unpacks the characteristics of this figure and how it is contingent on ideas about and the regulation of sex offending. By analyzing data from qualitative interviews with 17 men convicted of sexual offences in Norway, we found that, although they presented themselves and the acts they were convicted of committing differently, they had a common fear of being identified as a monster. In these narratives, a monster was characterized by (1) intentionality—having intentionally harmed others, (2) preference—having a sexual preference for harmful, nonconsensual sex, and (3) authenticity—being authentically violent. We conceive of the narrative processes that the participants engage in as forms of social abjection and discuss the consequences that abjection may have for accountability, rehabilitation, and justice.

• Houge, Anette Bringedal & Kruse, Anja Emilie (2024). Feil, følelser og forskningsetikk. In Houge, Anette Bringedal & Kruse, Anja Emilie (Ed.), Etisk ubehag. En ærlig lærebok om kvalitativ forskning på sensitive temaer. Universitetsforlaget. ISSN 9788215068558. p. 21–38. Full text in Research Archive
• Kruse, Anja Emilie; Helseth, Hannah & Korkmaz, Sibel (2023). Callous Lovers and Frightening Victims: How emotional contradictions affect young people’s navigation of sexually abusive relationships. Nordic Journal of Criminology. ISSN 2578-983X. 24(1), p. 1–20. doi: 10.18261/njc.24.1.6. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  In this article, we analyze how young people with sexual intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization experiences describe, interpret and attempt to understand their abusive partners. Building on a qualitative interview study with 27 young participants (ages 17–24) from Norway and Sweden, our analysis demonstrates how young people’s victimization experiences in abusive relationships are characterized by confusing, contradictory and conflicting emotions about their abusive partners. We developed two ‘ideal types’ of relationship dynamics with abusive partners from our empirical material – being in a relationship with a ‘Callous Lover’ or a ‘Frightening Victim’, respectively. These ideal types illustrate how emotional contradictions take different forms, are managed differently and bring different consequences for the young, victimized participants. We argue that their efforts to manage their contradictory feelings towards their abusive partners can be understood as ‘emotion work’. The demand for such work is shaped by social expectations and norms of what constitutes a ‘good’ or ‘normal’ relationship, and of what can or should be expected of romantic or sexual partners in adolescent and young adult relationships. Managing and trying to live up to these expectations has consequences for young people’s opportunities to disentangle themselves from harmful relationships.

• Kruse, Anja Emilie (2022). Beginnings matter: Why sexual violence perpetration should not remain on the dark side of the moon. Nordisk Tidsskrift for Kriminalvidenskab. ISSN 0029-1528. 109(1), p. 175–182. doi: 10.7146/ntfk.v109i1.130303. Full text in Research Archive

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• Houge, Anette Bringedal & Kruse, Anja Emilie (2024). Etisk ubehag. En ærlig lærebok om kvalitativ forskning på sensitive temaer. Universitetsforlaget. ISBN 9788215068558. 256 p. Full text in Research Archive
• Bitsch, Anne & Kruse, Anja Emilie (2012). Bak lukkede dører : en bok om voldtekt. Cappelen Damm AS. ISBN 9788202365813. 382 p. Full text in Research Archive

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• Houge, Anette Bringedal & Kruse, Anja Emilie (2025). Sensitive temaer og etisk ubehag i kvalitativ forskning. Full text in Research Archive
• Houge, Anette Bringedal & Kruse, Anja Emilie (2025). Ærlige fortellinger om forskningsetikk [Boklansering]. Full text in Research Archive
• Kanestrøm, Jorunn; Houge, Anette Bringedal; Kruse, Anja Emilie & Eggebø, Helga (2025). Vi må snakke mer om etisk ubehag [Podkast]. [Radio]. Universitetsplassen. Full text in Research Archive
• Houge, Anette Bringedal; Kruse, Anja Emilie & Hansen, Maria (2025). Etisk ubehag i kvalitativ forskning​. Full text in Research Archive
• Houge, Anette Bringedal & Kruse, Anja Emilie (2024). Etisk ubehag i kvalitativ forskning. Full text in Research Archive
• Kruse, Anja Emilie (2024). Frokostseminar: Lansering av rapporten "Nesten innafor". Full text in Research Archive
• Kruse, Anja Emilie; Helseth, Hannah; Kvam, Mari & Øverlien, Carolina (2024). The Monster's Dilemma. Integration, Non-Integration and "Knifing Off" of Sexual Violence Perpetration in the Self-Narratives of Young Men in Norway. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Integrating harmdoing into a self-narrative can be especially difficult when the harmful act is a sexual violation, carrying particular condemnation and stigma to its perpetrators. Meanwhile, making meaning of harmdoing often entails efforts to consider such integration, perhaps especially during imprisonment, responding to the expectations of a rehabilitative prison regime. Hence, the question of self-narrative non-/integration of harmful acts, we argue, is central for people who have done sexual harm to others. We present a self-narrative analysis of qualitative interviews with 17 young men (18-25) who have sexually violated another person. Our analysis highlights the narrative strategies they employ to figure out which place their sexually violating acts may (or may not) have in their developing self-narrative, with particular attention to expressions of shame and shamefulness. Maruna and Roy (2007) critically discussed ‘knifing off’ as a conceptualization of the separating of harmful acts from self-narratives, and how this might be useful to understand the relationship between self-narratives and desistance from future crime. ‘Knifing off’ is our point of departure to understand narrative strategies for non-/integration of harmdoing, and management of shame. We conclude by discussing how self-narrativization in the aftermath of sexual violation perpetration may be connected to desistance processes.

• Kruse, Anja Emilie & Helseth, Hannah (2024). Hva har vi lært om seksuell vold av de som begår den? Full text in Research Archive
• Kruse, Anja Emilie (2024). Er det virkelig ingen som bryr seg om unge menn som dømmes for voldtekt? Full text in Research Archive
• Kruse, Anja Emilie (2024). «Vi kan ikke etterforske oss ut av dette!» En intervjuundersøkelse om voksne som har begått digitale seksuelle overgrep mot barn og unge. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Digitale seksuelle overgrep er et økende samfunnsproblem med omfattende konsekvenser for de berørte. Stadig nye teknologiske utviklinger, i kombinasjon med et økende antall barn som deltar på den digitale arenaen, medfører en rekke utfordringer tilknyttet seksuelle overgrep. Dette foredraget presenterer hovedfunn fra et omfattende forskningsprosjekt om digitale seksuallovbrudd, gjennomført av forskningsinstituttene NKVTS og NOVA mellom 2021 og 2024. Prosjektet undersøkte spørsmål som hvordan overgrepsatferd utvikles, betydningen av det digitale rommet for utbredelsen av digitale seksuelle overgrep, og hvilke muligheter og hindre politifolk opplever mot å forebygge seksuelle overgrep på nett.

• Solvang, Tomine Barstad & Kruse, Anja Emilie (2024). – Kvinnelige voldsofre tar et enormt ansvar. [Internet]. Kilden kjønnsforskning.no. Full text in Research Archive
• Kruse, Anja Emilie & Haugen, Linn-Eirin Aronsen (2024). Drawing the Line. Seksuell vold i unges nære relasjoner - utsatte, utøvere og institusjonelle rammer. Full text in Research Archive
• Houge, Anette Bringedal & Kruse, Anja Emilie (2023). Èn gang overgriper - alltid overgriper? Full text in Research Archive
• Kruse, Anja Emilie (2023). Keynote-foredrag: Produktiv friksjon? Betydningen av responser fra andre i menns fortellinger om seksuelle krenkelser. Full text in Research Archive
• Kruse, Anja Emilie; Helseth, Hannah; Todd-Kvam, Mari & Øverlien, Carolina (2023). The Monster’s Dilemma. Integration and Non-Integration of Sexual Violence Perpetration in Self-Narratives of Young Men in Norway. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Narratively integrating one’s own harmful acts into a running self-narrative can be an especially difficult undertaking when the harmful act in question is a sexual violation. Sexual violations are a category of harmdoing that carries particular condemnation and stigma to its perpetrators. At the same time, making meaning of harmful acts one has committed often does entail an effort or imperative to consider such integration. This is perhaps particularly true when such processes are undertaken during imprisonment and (partly) as a response to the expectations of a rehabilitative prison regime. Hence, the question of narrative integration (or non-integration) of harmful acts into the running story of one’s life and biography is, we argue, central for people who have done sexual harm to others. On this background, our paper presents and discusses a self-narrative analysis of qualitative, semi-structured interviews with 17 young men (age 18-25) in Norway. Our participants had been convicted of a sex offense or otherwise self-identified as someone who had sexually violated another person. Our analysis highlights the narrative strategies the young men employ to figure out which place their sexually violating act(s) may have in their developing self-narrative. For our participants, this process started after they had been accused, reported or convicted for a sexual offense, or if they had otherwise concluded that they have sexually violated someone. In 2007, Maruna and Roy critically discussed the term ‘knifing-off’ as a conceptualization of the separating of harmful or criminal acts from narratives of self, and how this term might be useful or counterproductive to understand the relationship between self-narratives and desistance from future crime. We use the concept of ‘knifing-off’ as a point of departure for understanding the self-narratives of our participants, and how their various narrative strategies for non-/integration of harmdoing may be connected to desistance processes.

• Kruse, Anja Emilie (2023). Keynote Address: The Why, the Who and the Wherefore. Explanations, Self-Change and Social Friction in Men's Narratives of Sexual Violations. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  In this address, I ask and try to answer the question of what we can learn from the stories that men convicted of sex offenses tell about their sexually violent acts – and the stories they tell about themselves as a person who has committed such acts. From a narrative criminology approach, the stories told of past harmdoing by those responsible for doing harm may affect their future behavior. This is so because experience is simultaneously represented and (re-)constructed in the telling of narratives, the meaning-making it entails and how storytelling contributes to (dis-)integrate harmdoing into a broader narrative of self, identity and future. The first part of this address will zoom in on the explanations – the why stories – that the 17 men I interviewed for my PhD project (2015-2020) gave in response to questions about how they ended up committing sexual violence. Social responses to violence – and to stories of violence – may (re-)produce dominant understandings of violence and the harm resulting from it. However, social responses also carry subversive potential to redefine such understandings, potentially recognizing new forms of violence or harm and pushing narratives about selves and acts in new directions. In the second part of the address, I will discuss the meaning and impact of social responses in and on developing narratives of committing and being convicted for sexual violence. The interpersonal responses that the participants encountered after having committed and been convicted for sex offences turned out to be important factors in the processes they engaged in to make sense of, and come to terms with, their acts and experiences. Some responses were pushing the men to re-evaluate their concepts of violation, violence and consent. Other responses were reinforcing experiences of having been unfairly treated by a victim-centered, over-vigilant justice system, and yet other responses caused stigma, fear and social isolation. Examples of responses and their impact in and on the men’s stories will be discussed in relation to narrative criminological thinking, as well as theorization on what helps or hinders desistance, rehabilitation and reintegration.

• Kruse, Anja Emilie & Øverlien, Carolina (2023). Conference Symposium: Drawing the line? Emerging findings from a mixed-methods study on young people’s experiences of exposure to and perpetration of sexual intimate partner violence. Full text in Research Archive
• Kruse, Anja Emilie; Helseth, Hannah & Korkmaz, Sibel (2023). Callous Lovers and Frightening Victims: How emotional contradictions affect young people’s navigation of sexually abusive relationships. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  From research on adult intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization, we know that IPV victims often have contradictory and ambivalent ways of relating to their abusive partner, both during the relationship and after it has ended. The ambivalent and shifting quality of abusive relationships can be experienced as binding, thus making it more difficult for the victim to leave. However, young people’s experiences of IPV is still an under-researched topic, and it is unclear if and how youth IPV differs from adult IPV. This paper explores how young victims of sexual IPV in Sweden and Norway describe and understand their abusive partners and their relationships to them. Drawing on an ideal-type analysis of interviews with 27 young people who had experienced IPV during their teenage years, we want to develop our understanding of the emotional dissonance and contradictions often experienced by victims in abusive relationships, especially among young people, and to explore the gendered dynamics of such dissonance. We find that the young people understand and interpret their abusive partners in two discrete ways. We have developed two figures or types, representing differing interpretations by the young people of their partners, their interactions with them, and the emotional contradictions arising from these dynamics. These types will be presented in the paper, alongside our analysis of both the differing consequences that such dynamics may have for young people’s experienced opportunities to leave harmful or abusive relationships, and how these dynamics may be better understood in the light of a sociology of emotions.

• Houge, Anette Bringedal & Kruse, Anja Emilie (2023). Workshop: Etisk ubehag. Full text in Research Archive
• Helseth, Hannah; Kruse, Anja Emilie & Korkmaz, Sibel (2021). Narratives about sexual perpetrators – how do young victims of sexual violence in intimate relationships describe their offender? Full text in Research Archive
• Ugelvik, Thomas & Kruse, Anja Emilie (2021). 9 Anja Emilie Kruse: Seksuell vold, kriminalomsorg, galgenhumor. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Anja Emilie Kruse jobber som forsker ved Nasjonalt kunnskapssenter om vold og traumatisk stress (NKVTS). Doktorgradsavhandlingen hennes fra 2020 bygger på dybdeintervjuer med 17 menn som er dømt for voldtekt eller andre former for alvorlige seksuelle overgrep. Anja viser hvordan mennene sliter med å forene handlingene sine – altså overgrepene de er dømt for – med hvem de tenker at de er. Hun viser også at selvbildet kan endre seg over tid. Ettersom mennene reflekterer over spørsmål om skyld, ansvar og skam i relasjon til handlingene sine, ser de etter noe tid ofte annerledes både på det de har gjort, og på hvem de er.

• Kruse, Anja Emilie & Elnan, Thea Storøy (2021). Slik endrer dommen mot kulturprofilen synet på voldtekt og overgrepsutsatte. [Journal]. Morgenbladet. Full text in Research Archive
• Kruse, Anja Emilie (2021). Keynote-foredrag: Produktiv friksjon? Betydningen av sosiale responser i (unge) menns fortellinger om seksuelle krenkelser de selv har begått. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  I dette foredraget vil kriminolog Anja Emilie Kruse presentere resultater fra sitt doktorgradsprosjekt, fullført i 2020, om hvordan menn som har krenket andre seksuelt forstår og forsøker å skape mening i sine egne handlinger. Gjennom analyser av deres fortellinger - deres narrativer - setter hun søkelys på hvordan responser fra andre former og omformer mennenes forståelser av handlingene sine og av seg selv. Hun viser at endringsprosesser er noe som ikke bare finner sted i terapirommet. Et annet viktig funn er hvordan andres kritiske, men samtidig respektfulle blikk bidrar til at mennene finner noen svar på et spørsmål som er sentralt for dem - nemlig hvorfor de gjorde som de gjorde.

• Kruse, Anja Emilie (2021). Written Abstract: Social responses to narratives of sexual harmdoing. Full text in Research Archive
• Kruse, Anja Emilie & Dybvig, Elise (2021). Særlig én kulturell forestilling gjør det vanskelig å erkjenne at man har begått et overgrep. [Journal]. Morgenbladet. Full text in Research Archive
• Kruse, Anja Emilie (2021). Stort doktorgradsprosjekt om voldtektsdømte i Norge: Intervjuet 17 voldtektsmenn bak murene. [TV]. TV2 Nyhetskanalen. Full text in Research Archive
• Kruse, Anja Emilie & Aarnes, Helle (2021). Voldtektsdømte "Per Inge" om å slippe ut: -Jeg må bli flink til å være ensom. [Journal]. Aftenposten A-Magasinet. Full text in Research Archive
• Kruse, Anja Emilie & Sandnes, Heidi Elisabeth (2020). Voldtektsdømte menn har nytte av motstand i samtaler. [Internet]. forskning.no. Full text in Research Archive
• Kruse, Anja Emilie (2020). Social responses to/in narratives of sexual harmdoing. Full text in Research Archive
• Kruse, Anja Emilie (2020). “Nein, ich will verstehen”. Learning through (critical) engagement with men’s accounts of sexually violating behavior, and the dangers and benefits of (not) doing so. Full text in Research Archive
• Kruse, Anja Emilie (2019). Hvordan forstår seksuallovbruddsdømte menn krenkelsene de har begått? Tre fortellinger om hvorfor. Full text in Research Archive
• Kruse, Anja Emilie (2019). Selvforståelse og overgrepsforståelse hos menn som har begått seksuelle krenkelser: Tre fortellinger om hvorfor. Full text in Research Archive
• Kruse, Anja Emilie (2018). Men as Victims, Women as Perpetrators. Guest Lecture - Criminological Perspectives on Gender, Sexuality and Violence (KRIM2953/4953). Full text in Research Archive
• Kruse, Anja Emilie (2018). Domestic Violence. Guest Lecture - Criminological Perspectives on Gender, Sexuality and Violence (KRIM2953/4953). Full text in Research Archive
• Kruse, Anja Emilie (2018). Å jakte etter (kjønnet?) mening. Forsøk på å forstå menn som har begått voldtekt og andre grove, seksuelle krenkelser - og hvordan de forstår seg selv. Presentasjon i gruppesesjon: "Vold i nære relasjoner og kjønn". Full text in Research Archive
• Kruse, Anja Emilie (2017). Domestic Violence. Guest Lecture - Criminological Perspectives on Gender, Sexuality and Violence (KRIM2953/4953). Full text in Research Archive
• Kruse, Anja Emilie (2017). What’s in a narrative? ‘Owning up’ to sexual violations – and the consequences of ‘doing the right thing’. Full text in Research Archive
• Kruse, Anja Emilie (2017). Peacetime Sexual/ized Violence. Guest Lecture - Criminological Perspectives on Gender, Sexuality and Violence (KRIM2953/4953). Full text in Research Archive
• Kruse, Anja Emilie (2017). Overgriperperspektiver i forskningen på seksuelle overgrep og voldtekt. Full text in Research Archive
• Kruse, Anja Emilie (2017). Researching sexual violence with a perspective on perpetration. Advantages, dilemmas and challenges in different approaches to 'The Man Question' in research on sexual violence perpetration. Part of Symposium: The “man question” in research on violence in close relationships. Studying and positioning men as research subjects, victims and perpetrators. Full text in Research Archive
• Kruse, Anja Emilie (2016). Forskningsfronten: Hvor mange er for mange? Full text in Research Archive
• Kruse, Anja Emilie (2016). Domestic Violence. Guest Lecture - Criminological Perspectives on Gender, Sexuality and Violence (KRIM2953/4953). Full text in Research Archive
• Kruse, Anja Emilie (2016). Peacetime Sexual/ized Violence. Guest Lecture - Criminological Perspectives on Gender, Sexuality and Violence (KRIM2953/4953). Full text in Research Archive
• Kruse, Anja Emilie (2016). "Jeg kan jo ikke kalle det noe annet enn vold..." Om mødres vold mot barn. Full text in Research Archive
• Kruse, Anja Emilie (2016). "Jeg kan jo ikke kalle det noe annet enn vold..." Om mødres vold mot barn. Full text in Research Archive
• Kruse, Anja Emilie (2015). Menn som har begått voldtekt - en kunnskapsstatus. Full text in Research Archive
• Kruse, Anja Emilie (2015). Mother’s violence towards their children – situations, contexts and meaning-making. Part of Symposium: Maternal violence and partner violence against heterosexual men. Full text in Research Archive
• Kruse, Anja Emilie (2014). «Jeg kan jo ikke kalle det noe annet enn vold…» En forskningsoversikt og en intervjustudie om mødres vold mot barn. Full text in Research Archive
• Kruse, Anja Emilie (2014). Menn som har begått voldtekt - en kunnskapsstatus. Full text in Research Archive
• Kruse, Anja & Bergman, Solveig Helena (2014). Frokostseminar: Lansering av rapporten «Jeg kan jo ikke kalle det noe annet enn vold…». NKVTS-rapport nr. 4/2014. Full text in Research Archive
• Kruse, Anja (2014). «Jeg kan jo ikke kalle det noe annet enn vold…». Et eksplorerende, kvalitativt forskningsprosjekt om mødres vold mot barn (2013-2014). Full text in Research Archive
• Skjørten, Kristin; Kruse, Anja Emilie & Strandmoen, John-Filip (2013). Lansering av kunnskapsstatus om voldtekt. Full text in Research Archive
• Øverlien, Carolina; Kruse, Anja Emilie; Helseth, Hannah; Korkmaz, Sibel; Todd-Kvam, Mari & Haugen, Linn-Eirin Aronsen [Show all 9 contributors for this article] (2024). "Nesten innafor": Seksuell vold og krenkelser i unges nære relasjoner. Nasjonalt kunnskapssenter om vold og traumatisk stress. ISSN 9788281221864. Full text in Research Archive
• Hellevik, Per; Kruse, Anja Emilie; Dullum, Jane Vibeke; Frøyland, Lars Roar; Skar, Ane-Marthe Solheim & Andersen, Lotte Cathrin [Show all 10 contributors for this article] (2023). Digitale seksuelle overgrep mot barn og unge – gjerningspersoner og fornærmede. Nasjonalt kunnskapssenter om vold og traumatisk stress. ISSN 9788281221758. Full text in Research Archive
• Neupane, Sudan Prasad; Fjelli, Nora; Bekkevold-Jernberg, Ina; Larsen, Kim Sverre; Kruse, Anja Emilie & Bergman, Solveig [Show all 8 contributors for this article] (2022). Selvmordsproblematikk blant utsatte for og utøvere av vold og overgrep: En systematisk gjennomgang av oversiktsartikler. N/A. Full text in Research Archive
• Bergman, Solveig; Bjørnholt, Margunn; Helseth, Hannah; Kruse, Anja Emilie; Øverlien, Carolina & Vold, Mary (2020). Krisesentrene og covid-19 – resultat fra en kartlegging i april 2020 (notat). Nasjonalt kunnskapssenter om vold og traumatisk stress/RVTS Øst. Full text in Research Archive
• Kruse, Anja Emilie (2020). The Why, the Who and the Wherefore. Explanations, self-change and social friction in men's narratives of sexual violations. Universitetet i Oslo. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  How do men who have committed sexual violations navigate expectations to acknowledge and take responsibility for their offences, while at the same time trying to uphold an acceptable conception of self? This dissertation shows how seventeen men convicted of sexual violations explain their actions with reference to culture and norms, and how being convicted of sexual violations affect their identity and conception of self. This is partly uncharted territory in the Nordic countries, as there have been few academic studies of men’s own conception of their sexual violence here. Men’s conceptions of self and their conceptions of their own offences may change over time, according to the findings in this dissertation. New understandings of their own violations are developed in and through feedback from others. While serving their sentence, persons convicted of sexual offences are often expected to acknowledge and take responsibility for their crimes. All the men in this study had reflected on questions like guilt, responsibility and shame with regards to their actions. They had been through processes of attempting to understand what they had done, why they had done it, and the consequences their actions had had. The analyses clearly show that the men to a large degree developed their understanding in dialogue with other people, in social processes. The dissertation shows that the work involved in coping with a criminal conviction should be understood as a social process, rather than an individual process. Meaning-making, identity and social reintegration are critical for rehabilitation and the process of desistance, i.e., the enduring cessation of offending behavior. Taken together, these factors suggest that one important way for society to approach those convicted for sexual offences is by facilitating such social processes of change. Doing so has the potential to increase and expand offenders’ understanding of their actions and of the consequences they have had for their victims. The analyses also identifies which cultural explanations are available to these men when they explain their own violating behaviour. They actively negotiate with prevailing normative sexual ideals when evaluating their own actions, and when they explain how they previously perceived their violating behavior as somehow permissible. This shows how a more comprehensive knowledge of the experiences and attitudes of these men is important to prevent rape and sexual violations, and to inform how we address this social problem. Facts about the study: This qualitative interview study includes seventeen men aged 18-60, who have committed sexual violations against adult or peer victims. Most participants were imprisoned at the time of the interviews. All were convicted of sexual offences, including rape, attempted rape, or other forms of sexual assault. While she conducted this PhD project, Kruse was employed by the Norwegian Centre for Violence and Traumatic Stress Studies (NKVTS). Her project was funded by the Research Programme on Violence in Close Relationships (2014-2019).

• Askeland, Ingunn Rangul; Moen, Linda Holen; Nilsen, Lisa Govasli; Kruse, Anja Emilie; Hjemdal, Ole Kristian & Holt, Tonje (2016). Behandlingstilbudet til voksne som utøver vold: En nasjonal kartleggingsundersøkelse. Nasjonalt kunnskapssenter om vold og traumatisk stress. ISSN 9788281221055. Full text in Research Archive
• Kruse, Anja & Bergman, Solveig Helena (2014). «Jeg kan jo ikke kalle det noe annet enn vold…»: En forskningsoversikt og en intervjustudie om mødres vold mot barn. Nasjonalt kunnskapssenter om vold og traumatisk stress. ISSN 9788281220782. Full text in Research Archive
• Kruse, Anja Emilie; Strandmoen, John-Filip & Skjørten, Kristin (2013). Menn som har begått voldtekt - en kunnskapsstatus. Nasjonalt kunnskapssenter om vold og traumatisk stress. ISSN 9788281220638. Full text in Research Archive
• Kruse, Anja Emilie (2013). Mellom forståelse og ansvar. Terapeuters perspektiver på voldtekt som kjønnet, sosial handling. Universitetet i Oslo. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Denne masteroppgaven handler om overgriperperspektiver på voldtekt. Gjennom kvalitative dybdeintervjuer med 8 terapeuter, som alle har erfaring med behandling av personer som har begått seksuell vold, belyser jeg ulike sider ved voldtekt som sosial og kjønnet handling. Terapeutenes perspektiver drøftes opp mot eldre og nyere feministisk og kjønnskritisk teori, og forskning om maskulinitet(er), seksualitet, vold, voldtekt, avvik og handlingsbetingelser. Et formål har vært å ‘teste’ feministiske hypoteser om kjønn og voldtekt opp mot den ‘voldtektsvirkeligheten’ mine informanter møter i sin hverdag i terapirommet. Sentrale problemstillinger er: Hva er kjønnskomponenten i voldtekt? Hvordan kan voldtekt forstås som kjønnet handling, hva som utgjør det kjønnede innholdet i voldtekten? Hva kan gjenfinnes av forestillinger om og forventninger til kjønn i klientenes fortellinger om voldtektene de har begått? Hvordan spiller voldtekten inn på og påvirkes av mannens opplevelse av seg selv som mann, og finnes det paralleller til hvordan han ser på sitt offer som kvinne? Kjønn som analytisk kategori tematiseres først og fremst som sosialt kjønn – kjønn som relasjonell praksis, som læring, og som et sett av forventninger og normer. Kjønn gjøres i samspill med andre, og kjønn konstituerer identitet gjennom kjønnede praksiser. Handlinger kan bekrefte eller springe ut av kjønnsidentitet, men de kan også utfordre den samme kjønnsidentiteten. Slik sett står handlinger og identitet i et dialektisk forhold til hverandre. Disse perspektivene utforskes i oppgaven. Mitt teoretiske utgangspunkt er sosialkonstruktivistisk. Seksuell vold er noe som forekommer i en sosial virkelighet som skapes, gjenskapes og forsterkes kontinuerlig gjennom sosiale prosesser og utvekslinger mellom aktører i den sosiale virkeligheten. Sosial handling, inkludert vold, har utgangspunkt i handlingsbetingelser, og disse handlingsbetingelsene skapes delvis av det sosiale rommet handlingen utspilles i, som aktøren selv også er del av. Feministisk voldtektsforskning har vært opptatt av hvordan kjønnsmaktordningen mellom kvinner og menn skaper voldtekt, og hvordan voldtekten i sin tur gjenskaper denne dominansrelasjonen. I denne oppgaven viser jeg hvordan feministisk voldtektsforskning opererer etter noen underliggende premisser som tegner voldtekt i et spesifikt kjønnet bilde. Ut fra dette har jeg formulert tre spørsmål som min analyse er sentrert rundt. Premissene er gjenstand for debatt, forhandling og kunnskapskamp også innenfor det feministiske voldsforskningsfeltet, og utgjør slik ikke etablerte ‘sannheter’. Derfor har jeg formulert premissene som spørsmål, og ikke som påstander. Spørsmålene lyder: Handler voldtekt om vold, makt og kontroll – eller om sex? Kan «dårlige holdninger» føre til voldtekt? Og til slutt: Er voldtekt et valg? Ved hjelp av en deduktiv og semantisk variant av tematisk analyse (Braun & Clarke 2006) drøftes de tre spørsmålene i lys av terapeutenes refleksjoner om dem og om beslektede temaer, og i lys av teori og annen forskning. Dersom voldtekt skal underlegges en helhetlig analyse som sosial, kjønnet handling må også perspektiver med utgangspunkt i menns livsverden inkluderes. Ut fra Per Isdals begrep «meningen med volden» (2000) synliggjør jeg hvordan voldtekt kan forstås som en sosial handling med betydning utover handlingen i seg selv – den peker både bakover, mot forhold i overgriperens liv før handlingen, innover, mot psykologiske forhold, og utover, mot den sosiale, kulturelle og historiske konteksten han orienterer seg i. Terapeutenes refleksjoner tyder på at det kjønnede innholdet i voldtektshandlingen for deres klienter handler vel så mye om holdninger til og forestillinger om menn og mannlighet som det handler om «kvinnesyn». I tillegg drøftes ulike former for rettferdiggjøring av voldtektshandlingen fra overgriperens side, i relasjon til holdningsspørsmålet. Makt, vold og kontroll er viktige momenter i en utøverorientert voldtektsforståelse, mener terapeutene, men vold og makt får ulike uttrykk og har ulike opphav, og lar seg derfor ikke reduseres til ett enkelt perspektiv – for eksempel et rasjonelt kost/nytte-perspektiv. Mine informanter mener at seksualitet har betydning for å forstå voldtektshandlingen, men også her er flere perspektiver på det seksuelle innholdet nødvendig for å ivareta kompleksiteten. Seksualiteten kan brukes som voldsverktøy, men den kan også være hensikten med handlingen i seg selv. I det siste tilfellet setter flere av terapeutene seksualiteten i sammenheng med psykologiske behov hos overgriperen, og seksualiteten peker slik langt ut over seksuell eller kroppslig tilfredsstillelse. I drøftingen av det siste spørsmålet tar jeg for meg ulike sider ved det bevisste, rasjonelle eller intensjonelle handlingsvalget i forhold til voldtekt. Jeg diskuterer terapeutenes oppfatninger om sine klienters handlingsvalg opp mot ulike forståelser av det kriminologiske subjektet. I min avsluttende drøfting argumenterer jeg for en form for psykososial mykdeterminisme i møtet med overgriperperspektivet. Psykososiale forklaringer av voldtekt anerkjenner at årsaker til handling må analyseres med utgangspunkt i den individuelle og motsetningsfylte biografien, inkludert men ikke avgrenset til psykologiske faktorer, og samtidig med et fast blikk på den sosiale verden biografien både skapes gjennom og gjenskaper.

• Steen-Johnsen, Kari; Enjolras, Bernard & Kruse, Anja Emilie (2012). Nettverkssamfunn og frivillige organisasjoner. Senter for forskning på sivilsamfunn og frivillig sektor. ISSN 9788277633800. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Denne rapporten undersøker konsekvensene av nettverkssamfunnet for frivillige organisasjoner. Basert på tre casestudier; av Amnesty International Norge, Natur og Ungdom og Hyperion – Norsk Forening for Fan-tastiske Fritidsinteresser, beskriver vi ulike strategier for bruk av digitale verktøy, samt potensielle konse-kvenser for organisasjonenes medlemskontakt og deres samfunnsrolle. Følgende problemstillinger blir belyst i rapporten: I hvilken grad og på hvilke måter tar de frivillige organisasjonene i bruk nettverksteknologi? Hvilke konsekvenser har fremveksten av digitale nettverksmedier for medlemsdemokrati og -innflytelse? Hvilke konsekvenser har fremveksten av digitale nettverksmedier for frivillige organisasjoners sam-funnsrolle? Hvilke organisatoriske konsekvenser og utfordringer stiller nettverkssamfunnet frivillige organisasjoner overfor?

• Kruse, Anja Emilie (2011). Unge som begår seksuelle overgrep. Nasjonalt kunnskapssenter om vold og traumatisk stress. ISSN 9788281220553. Full text in Research Archive

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