This study is investigating what conditions can strengthen an alliance and which obstacles there are. Coercion aspects can also influence an alliance and are therefore also written about. The asymmetrical relationship between the social worker and the juvenile delinquent is investigated also with in regards to the tacit and explicit coercion when they are entering care. The study is focusing on the consequence/influence programs that the juvenile delinquents can be sentenced to because of their crimes. Counseling is a major part in these programs. For the definition of alliance I have used Bordin´s definition, it includes mutual agreement about the task and goal. It also includes bonding between the two parts. This study also uses Hill´s definitions sham alliance, mutual adaption and alliance breakdown. This study´s result shows that in order to achieve a strong alliance it is important for the social worker to handle the conditions in a non-judgmental way and be clear about the rules and regulations. It is also important to get the juveniles parents involved in the treatment.

The aim of this study is to illustrate, and analyze how social workers are able to more effectively pursue operative possibilities within their own particular organizations. The main question concerning this issue is: How are social workers, working within the same district organization able to realise any potential for co-operation with other social workers, in different locales and units, yet working within the same organization? Following on from this question, further issues arise such as: 1. How do the varying demands of the clients affect the workload of the social worker? 2. How does the organization facilitate or hinder co-operation between social workers? 3. How does the workload, staff turnover and delegation influence on the co-operation between social workers? To attempt to answer to the above set of questions a qualitative method was employed. A group interview was conducted bringing together a group of five social workers working within the same district administration of the city of Stockholm. The outcome of the interview has been examined using a theoretical framework based on organization theory, symbolic interactionism and social constructivism; all applied in accordance with post-modern research principles. The main result shows that the organization both hinders and facilitate co-operation through work load, staff turnover and delegation. The outcome of this particular study is associated to results of previous research within the same research field.

This essay reflects on the thoughts and experiences of social workers in child protection agencies when it comes to talking about sexuality with teenagers, age 13-20, who is being subjected to inquiry. The research is qualitative and based on five semi-structured interviews. It has a phenomenological position and has been analyzed hermeneutically through cognitive and gender theory. Previous research shows that youths who get in contact with child protection often have issues about their sexuality. This study show that social workers in the agencies lack knowledge about this issue and that they seldom talks about it with the teenagers or their own colleagues. They are however aware of risks involved with the youth’s sexual activities and the problems that may evolve from it. Despite this they sometimes avoid the subject. Their reason is that they are afraid of investigating more than necessary and by doing so offend the clients. Sexuality for them is a private area and they feel that they need motivation for asking certain questions. The study also shows that they find it easier to talk with teenagers of the same gender as themselves. The teenagers therefore get varied help and treatment.

The exposed position of a social worker entails serious demands to their working environment. The experience of the working environment is coherent with various circumstances such as physical, technical and psychosocial factors. The aim of this study is to investigate how social workers in Gotland experience their psychosocial working environment. As a theoretical ground we describe the working environment regulations and it´s framework. Previous national and international research enlighten issues such as definitions of threat and violence, the significance of education and policys within social work, social support and riskfactors. The research shows that there is no unanimity in how clientrelated threats or violence is manifested and the social worker´s experience is indivudual. With a qualitative method this study is based on interviews with socialworkers. The result of this study shows that the socialworkers in Gotland experience the psychosocial working environment as satisfying concerning their security and safety. The colleagues are significant factors for the outcome. A threatening or violent situation is characterized by the socialworkers feeling of being personally threatened or exposed. The result also discloses the socialworkers request for education in how to handle a threatening or violent situation. They ask for a more continuous discussion of the routins and policys regarding the working environment. / Det sociala arbetets natur och utsatthet ställer stora krav på socialsekreterarens arbetsmiljö. Upplevelsen av arbetsmiljön sammanhänger med olika omständigheter såsom fysiska, tekniska och psykosociala faktorer. Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka socialsekreterarens upplevelse av den psykosociala arbetsmiljön på Gotland. Tidigare forskning visar att den psykosociala arbetsmiljön är av stor betydelse för hur socialsekreteraren upplever sin arbetsplats. Centrala begrepp är arbetsmiljö, trygghet och säkerhet samt hot och våld. Arbetarskyddsstyrelsens författningssamling med lagar, paragrafer och föreskrifter är väsentliga i tolkningsramen. Gällande klientrelaterat hot eller våld visar tidigare forskning att det inte finns någon konsensus om hur en hot– eller våldsituation yttrar sig och forskningen värdesätter kontinuerlig utbildning och konkreta rutiner. Med en kvalitativ metod som redskap baseras denna uppsats på intervjuer med socialsekreterare verksamma inom socialtjänsten. Resultat som synliggörs i uppsatsen är att socialsekreterarna upplever sin psykosociala arbetsmiljö som trygg och säker i de mest väsentliga delarna, samt att kollegor och gemenskap är betydelsefulla faktorer. En hot- eller våldssituation präglas av att socialsekreteraren känner sig hotad för sin egen person eller arbetsgrupp. Resultatet åskådliggör en brist i utbildningen gällande hot- eller våldssituationer och socialsekreterarna efterfrågar en mer kontinuerlig genomgång av rutinerna på arbetsplatsen. Nyckelord: Socialsekreterare, arbetsmiljö, trygghet och säkerhet, hot och våld.

This essay describes social workers view on the action contact person. The study was qualitative and six social workers were interviewed on the topic. The effort contact person were chosen as the object for this study since it is the most common action given to young people, despite the lack of research about this subject. The result was analyzed out of conduct action theory and the theory of street level bureaucrats as well as scientific research in this area. The result of this study shows that most of the social workers consider the action as positive. The knowledge that they value the most in their work is gut feeling and their own experience. The young people that are assigned the action have a wide variation of different issues. The action was often used as a first step before placement outside the home. The action also functioned as a way to get a view of the life situation of the young people. The social workers in the study experienced that they have a great deal of freedom of action in their work with the young people. However the study shows that their freedom of action are in many ways restricted; for example they had few alternative actions and they were all limited by the budget.

Syftet med studien har varit att undersöka samverkan mellan fältsekreterare, polis och socialsekreterare samt vilken funktion fältsekreterarna fyller för polis och socialsekreterare i deras ungdomsinriktade arbete. Uppsatsen har sin utgångspunkt i projektet Lokal operativ samverkan i stadsdelarna Gottsunda/Valsätra i Uppsala. Studien rör sig inom det komplexa område som samverkan innebär. Skapar fältsekreterarna nya förutsättningar för hur yrkesgrupperna tillsammans kan arbeta mot ett gemensamt mål? Tidigare forskning har visat att samverkan mellan socialtjänst och polis är beroende av en gemensam problemdefinition och samsyn. Fältsekreterarna verkar i en mittenposition där de förväntas arbeta både utifrån socialtjänstens formulerade önskemål och utifrån ungdomens behov. Fältarbetet kretsar ofta kring att skapa relationer till en grupp som har en negativ bild av myndigheter och att förmå dessa att ta emot samhällets stöd. De teoretiska perspektiv som appliceras för att förstå och tolka samverkan och de interaktioner som sker inom den är systemteori och symbolisk interaktionism. Det är en kvalitativ studie som har genomförts i form utav semi- strukturerade intervjuer. Sex personer har intervjuats; fältsekreterare, polis och socialsekreterare. Intervjuerna analyserades genom en innehållanalys, där skillnader och likheter mellan uttalandena kartlades. Resultatet bekräftar en del av den tidigare forskningen. Respondenterna i studien lyfter fram vikten av en gemensam samsyn. I en samverkan är det viktigt att samverkansparterna fyller skilda funktioner och kompletterar varandra. Respondenterna beskriver att de har skilda perspektiv som kan gynna samverkan. De verifierar att det finns en myndighetsskepsis hos målgruppen, därför strävar fältsekreterarna efter att skapa ett förtroende hos ungdomarna. Fältsekreterarna fungerar för polis och socialsekreterare som en förebyggande aktör. De är myndigheternas ögon utåt. De tre undersökta yrkesgrupperna kan betraktas som ett system, där de fyller olika funktioner men tillsammans arbetar de mot ett gemensamt mål. Samverkan i sig bidrar till en ökad förståelse för varandras arbeten. Den slutsats som kan dras av studien är att det i samverkan är viktigt att ta tillvara på varandras kompetenser och funktioner. Genom att göra detta kan man på bästa sätt möta omvärldens behov. Fältsekreterarna är ytterligare en aktör som verkar i området, de kan skapa en bredare kunskap hos polis och socialsekreterare. / The aim of this study has been to illustrate the collaboration between out-reach workers, police and social workers. The purpose of the study has also been to explore the impact out- reach workers has on the work of the police and social services. Out- reach workers are social workers whose main work is to locate and help youth in their own environment. The basis has been a project in Uppsala, Lokal operativ samverkan. By adding the out- reach workers to the already existing collaboration between police and social workers the conditions changes. Research on the subject has shown that the collaboration is dependent on a joint vision. Out- reach workers exist in the middle, they must meet expectations from the social workers but their main task is to work for the youth in the community. They often meet youth in vulnerable situations. The work includes creating a functional relationship between the youths and the societies agencies. The applied theories have been system theory and symbolic interactionism. The study has a qualitative approach. Six persons have been interviewed using semi-structured interviews, including police, out- reach workers and social workers. Over all the result confirms earlier research on the subject. An agreement about the task is essential for the participants. It’s important to have different roles and to complement each other, to appreciate the different functions. The participants describe how different perspectives further the collaboration. The out- reach workers aim to strengthen the relationship between the youth and the authorities. They function as a preventive and observing agent in the community. The police, the social workers and the out- reach workers function as a system that works against a common vision, but with different tasks. Finally the study shows that it’s vital to take advantage and to esteem the differences in assignments in the collaboration. By doing this the agents can meet the need of the community. The out- reach workers can broaden the knowledge about the youths in the collaboration with the police and the social workers.

This is a qualitative study based on two focus group interviews with a total of six social workers who work with assessing financial aid in two municipalities. The study aims to examine how the social workers experience and handle their ambiguous professional role, on the basis that they are expected to support and control the client. The theoretical framework is the theory about discretion and role theory. The results show that social workers find it difficult to combine these different approaches. Two different groups of strategies that social workers use to manage their professional role have been distinguished, the first is used to combine the different approaches (combination strategies), which are: empathy, to be distinct and to "blame" the organization. The second is used to manage the professional role (managing strategies) and are: support of work colleagues, support of manager, "squareness" and distance. / Detta är en kvalitativ studie som bygger på två fokusgruppintervjuer med totalt sex socialsekreterare som arbetar med att handlägga ekonomiskt bistånd i två kommuner. Studiens syfte var att undersöka hur socialsekreterare som arbetar med ekonomiskt bistånd upplever och hanterar sin dualistiska yrkesroll, utifrån att de förväntas stötta och kontrollera klienten på en och samma gång. Studiens teoretiska ram utgörs av teorin om handlingsutrymme samt rollteori. Resultatet visar att socialsekreterarna upplever det svårt att kombinera dessa olika förhållningssätt/roller och att svårigheterna främst uppstår då de tvingas fatta beslut som går klienten emot. Två olika grupper av strategier som socialsekreterarna använder sig av för att hantera yrkesrollen har kunnat urskiljas, den första används för att kombinera de olika förhållningssätten (kombinationsstrategier), vilka är: visa empati, tydlighet och “skylla” på organisationen. De andra används för att hantera yrkesrollen (hanteringsstrategier) och är: stöd av arbetskollegor, stöd av chef, “fyrkantighet” och distans.

Lately, alarming reports have appeared regarding the work environment and work situation of social workers. Research focusing on the promotion of health and well-being in the workplace among other professionals show that factors such as social relationships, ability to influence their work situation and leadership are important. A quantitative study was conducted focusing on the work climate for social workers employed by some of the district administrations in the City of Malmö. A questionnaire with questions and statements on various factors in the work environment was sent to 34 social workers. They were asked how important these factors were for their well-being, as well as to what extent they felt that these factors were present at work. A total of 17 social workers filled out the questionnaire. The study results showed that communication and leadership were the two themes that had the greatest impact on the well-being at work for the social workers. The results also showed a discrepancy regarding the relationship between how the importance of the statements in the questionnaire was considered, and the degree to which they were present at work. However, the results could not demonstrate any difference between how younger and older social workers assessed the importance of the work environment factors' importance for their well-being at work. Further studies with different approaches of how communication and leadership affects social workers well-being at work could help identifying appropriate actions for improved working conditions for social workers. / Socialsekreterare är en utsatt yrkesgrupp som det kommit negativa signaler från på senare tid vad gäller deras arbetsmiljö och arbetssituation. En stor andel sjukfrånvaro, hög personalomsättning och svårigheter till nyrekrytering kan få allvarliga konsekvenser för yrkesgruppen. Det finns en hel del forskning som visar på att arbetsmiljön har betydelse för människors hälsa och välbefinnande. Strategier för hälsoarbete i Sverige kopplat till arbetsplatsen har i allt större utsträckning antagit en hälsofrämjande utgångspunkt i stället för att enbart vara riskorienterade. Forskning med fokus på främjande av hälsa och välbefinnande på arbetsplatsen visar att faktorer som sociala relationer, möjlighet att påverka sin arbetssituation och ledarskap har betydelse i många olika typer av verksamheter. Om arbetsgivaren har kännedom om vilka arbetsmiljöfaktorer som socialsekreterare bedömer som viktigast för sitt välbefinnande i arbetet, där det även tas hänsyn till om det skiljer sig något i bedömningen mellan yngre och äldre personer, skulle riktade arbetsmiljöinsatser som främjar en hälsosammare arbetssituation för socialsekreterarna kunna identifieras och initieras från arbetsgivarens sida. En kvantitativ studie genomfördes som riktade sig till socialsekreterare anställda vid några av stadsdelsförvaltningarna inom Malmö Stad. En enkät skickades ut till 34 socialsekreterare med frågor och påståenden om olika arbetsmiljöfaktorers betydelse för deras välbefinnande och i vilken grad de ansåg att dessa förekom på arbetsplatsen. Enkäten besvarades av 17 personer. Resultaten från studien visade att kommunikation och ledarskap var de två teman som hade störst betydelse för socialsekreterarnas välbefinnande i arbetet. Resultaten visade också på en diskrepans avseende förhållandet mellan hur viktigt påståendena i enkäten ansågs vara och i vilken grad de förekom på arbetsplatsen vilket pekar på utvecklingsmöjligheter. Däremot kunde det inte påvisas någon skillnad mellan hur yngre och äldre bedömde vikten av de olika arbetsmiljöfaktorernas betydelse för deras välbefinnande i arbetet. Fler studier med olika infallsvinklar av hur kommunikation och ledarskap påverkar socialsekreterares välbefinnande i arbetet skulle kunna bidra till att identifiera lämpliga arbetsmiljöinsatser för en förbättrad arbetssituation för socialsekreterare.

Author: Jessica Liljekvist and Emmelie Wiss CedergrenTitle: A miserable wretch that you should feel sorry for – If social workers see persons who prostitute themselves as victims or agents. [Translated title]Supervisor: Marie ErikssonAssessor: Anders Giertz Our purpose with this study was to examine if social workers see persons who prostitute themselves as victims or as agents. We also wanted to examine how social workers see male and female persons who prostitute themselves. This study is based on the qualitative method and the result was analyzed with social constructionism, postmodern feminism and labeling theory. Eight social workers were interviewed in three different cities in Sweden. They were asked thematic questions about gender, victimization and agency and how their organizations and parliament affected their approach to prostitution. The results in the study showed that the majority of the social workers saw persons who prostitute themselves as traumatized victims. They pointed out that they had trouble seeing any agents in prostitution. Our results showed that they had a polarized approach to victimization and agency with different ratings. Trafficking victims had the highest grades of victimization. The lowest ratings were given to men and elderly persons who prostitute themselves. Men were seen as participants who got pleasure out of the prostitution. Women were exploited.

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