Gender and professional identity in three institutional settings in Brazil: The case of responses to assessment turns

Ana Cristina Ostermann and Caroline Comunello da Costa
Abstract

The current study looks at the construction of professional identity and its relations with gender, by analyzing the discursive practices of a unique set of contrasting groups, i.e. three parallel institutions created to address violence against women in Brazil: An all female police station and two crisis intervention centers – one run by feminists professionals and the other run by lay women from a working class community. In particular, the study investigates how the professionals in each setting respond to self and other assessments made by the female victims of violence.

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