The overall aim of this study is to investigate how social workers who are dealing with financial assistance are experiencing discretion in their daily work. The aim of the study is also to examine how social workers who are dealing with financial assistance relates to the controlling and the supporting functions of their daily work and how this in turn affects the attitude to the client. In order to examine the aim of the study, qualitative method was used. Eight social workers have been interviewed and presented with two fictitious cases that they have been able to discuss. Theories regarding the street-level bureaucrat and its discretion have been used to interpret and understand the collected material. Kerstin Svenssons’ (2001) theory regarding the social worker’s position has also been used to analyse the study’s gathered material. The study shows that social workers consider themselves to have a relatively large discretion in their daily work. However, the majority of the social workers agree that despite the great discretion they can at times feel limited in their work. Findings of the study also show that social workers are either more controlling or more supportive in meeting with the client.

No description available.

Although  “naming and shaming” paedophiles are growing in Sweden, professionals working with the rehabilitation and treatment of paedophiles describe that the naming and shaming might not prevent child sex abuse. On the opposite naming and shaming alienates the perpetrator from any ordinary life. The alienation could lead them to only having other paedophiles as friends. Previous studies show that professionals are often distancing themselves from working with paedophiles, even if there is competence. Studies also show that paedophiles are seldom seeking help due to of fear of stigmatization. The aim of this study was to describe social workers perception of “paedophiles” and to find out the action contingency among social workers regarding clients that express such feelings. A qualitative method with semi-structured interviews was used. Seven social workers and one psychologist were interviewed. Previous research has been confirmed as many professionals actively choose not to work with perpetrators even though they believe the perpetrators deserve adequate help. The data was analysed referring to Hasenfelds theory of human service organizations and the concept of cognitive dissonance. Organizations that are not specifically built to treat perpetrators and paedophiles are apparently not prepared to help them.

Traditionally and historically certain jobs have been recognized as male or female professions leading to the assumption that the barrier crossing men and women working in these gender atypical jobs are being less masculine and less feminine. The aim of this study is to examine similarities and differences among male social workers and female police officers in the experience of being a gender minority in their workplace and how it effects the construction of their gender identity. Working with a qualitative approach and using semi-constructed interviews the study was conducted by interviewing a total of five social workers and four female police officers, in six different communities, about their personal experiences of being a gender minority in a gender atypical job. The result shows both differences and similarities between the genders and their occupation; on a personal level neither of the respondents seemed to have a problem working in a gender atypical job although admitting that working in a “female” and “male” profession  had effects on their personality but not on how they viewed themselves as men or women. On a group level the respondents experienced both differences and similarities; both genders talked about being stereotyped into taking on certain tasks but also about having advantages of being male or female in certain situations. Further on the female police officers talked about being pushed aside to give room for the male colleagues while the male social workers experienced the opposite; being more acknowledged. On a societal level respondents from both groups were talking about a shift in societies showcasing that the view on men and women and what is considered male and female have been or in a process of being disintegrated. The results were seen from a social constructionist viewing point and were interpreted and analyzed using following theories and theoretical concepts: Stereotype, gender, role theory, identity, gender identity and the theory about the mirrored self.

I denna studie har jag beskrivit delar av socialarbetares emotionella arbete i mötet föräldrar och/eller barn. Jag undersöker på vilket sätt personer som jobbar i eller i anslutning till socialtjänsten arbetar emotionellt i mötet med sina klienter, samt hur detta påverkar dem. Jag har även undersökt huruvida stöd från kolleger och ledning underlättar det emotionella arbetet. Studien har genomförts med utgångspunkt i emotionssociologisk forskning. De teoretiska begrepp som studien utgår från är framförallt emotioner, emotionellt arbete, tillit samt emotionshantering. Detta för att skapa förståelse för intervjupersonernas emotionella situation på arbetsplatsen. Arbetet har genomförts med hjälp av sex stycken semistrukturerade intervjuer. Intervjupersonerna är personer som jobbar inom eller i anslutning till socialtjänsten, direkt eller indirekt med barn och familjer. De huvudsakliga resultaten visar att socialarbetarna väljer de att försöka trycka bort sina egna emotioner i mötet med klienter. Detta kan de ta igen i efterhand exempelvis genom att diskutera med sina kolleger, och att släppa fram känslor exempelvis genom att gråta. En svårighet de upplever är att inte bara behöver hantera sina egna emotioner, utan även klienternas.Socialarbetarna påverkas av arbetet genom att de har svårt att släppa arbetet på fritiden och har ibland sömnsvårigheter. De upplever ett stort ansvar som kan vara svårt att släppa. De menar trots allt att det egna livet ändå rullar på, vilket gör att de lär sig hantera tankar på jobbet med tiden och mer erfarenhet.Nära relationer till kolleger är viktiga för välmåendet, medan relationer till chefer tycks vara sekundärt i den aktuella studien. Goda relationer på arbetsplatsen tycks underlätta de svårigheter som kan uppstå. De hanterar sina känslor på olika sätt, men att ha avlastning av kolleger och i form av handledning tycks vara två av de viktigaste delarna. / In this study I have described parts of social workers emotional labout i the meeting with parents and/or children. I have studied the way people who work with social services work with their emotions in relations with the clients, and how this effects the social workers. I also studied in what way support from colleagues and manegement can help with the emotion labour. The study has been implemented with the base in sociologic research with emotions in centre. The theoretic concepts that has been used is first and foremost emotions, emotional labour, trust and handling emotions. I have used these concepts to try and create understanding for the inteviewees emotional situation in the workplace. In this study I have done six semi-structured interviews. The interviewees is people who work with or in close contact to the social services, direct or indirect with children and families. The primary results shows that social workers chose to try and hide their own emotions in the meeting with clients. They can compensate this afterward, for example by talking with colleagues, and let their emotions some forward for example by crying. One thing they say is hard is dealing with not only their own emotions, but also the clients.The social workers are affected by their work in the way that they have a hard time to let the work go when they go home for the day, and sometimes they have trouble sleeping. They experience a big responsability that can be hard to let go. Although, they say their own life runs it course, which makes it easier to learn to handle thoughts about work. Time and experience also helps. Close relationships to colleagues are important for their wellbeing, but the relation to manegers seems to be less important in this study. Good relations on the workplace seems to make hardships easier. They handle their emotions in different ways, but support by colleagues and by guidance appears to be two of the most important parts.

Psykisk ohälsa hos unga är ett problem som ökar i dagens samhälle. För att främja en bättre psykisk hälsa hos dessa finns kuratorer på skolor, ungdomsmottagningar samt barn- och ungdomspsykiatriska mottagningar. I denna studie har frågorna ställts om kuratorernas bilder gällande de vanligaste orsakerna till psykisk ohälsa hos unga, eventuella könsskillnader samt resurser för att ge stöd. Utifrån sex intervjuer som genomförts med kuratorer på ovan nämnda arbetsplatser visade resultatet att många unga idag lider av problem i hemmet eller skolan, höga krav, depression, ångest, ätstörningar, självskadebeteende, arbetslöshet samt hemmasittande. Av dessa visade sig ätstörningar och självskadebeteende vara vanligast hos flickorna, medan istället hemmasittande och skoltrötthet dominerade hos pojkarna. Övriga orsaker var relativt jämnt fördelade mellan könen. Viktigt är dock att ta hänsyn till mörkertalet av dem som inte söker hjälp. I många avseenden behövde resurserna förbättras, framför allt i form av tid för ungdomarna samt för kompetensutveckling och handledning. / Mental illness among adolescents is a problem which increases in our society. By promoting a better mental health among these, there are social workers working at schools, Youth Clinics and psychiatry receptions for children and adolescents. This study asked the questions about which versions the social workers had about the most usual reasons for mental illness amongst adolescents, if the social workers had noticed any differences of the mental illness between young boys and girls and if the social workers thought that they had sufficient resources to offer the adolescents good help. By six interviews done with social workers on the workplaces above, the results showed that many adolescents today have problems at home or in school, problems with high claims on themselves, depression, anxiety, eating disorders, self-harm, unemployment and sitting at home. Of these reasons for mental illness, eating disorders and self-harm had been found to be most usual amongst the young girls, and sitting at home and school fatigue amongst the young boys. The other reasons for mental illness were pretty much the same amongst boys and girls. Still, it is important to take into account that there are hidden statistics of the young people who do not search for help against their mental illness. The resources needed to be improved in many aspects, mostly by more time by the social workers to help the adolescents and more skills development and tutoring for the social workers.

Bakgrunden tills studien är dels att förstå innebörden av begreppet ensamkommande barn, dels vilka riktlinjer för delaktighetsgörandet som finns för socialsekreteraren i arbetet med ensamkommande barn. Jag vill få en kunskap om socialsekreterarens delaktighetsfrämjande arbete med ensamkommande barn och socialsekreterarens handlingsutrymme och svårigheter i arbetet. Syftet med studien är att utifrån socialsekreterares upplevelser beskriva och analysera det delaktighetsfrämjande arbetet med ensamkommande barn. En kvalitativ studie med semistrukturerade intervjuer där empirin består utav fem transkriberade intervjuer. Intervjupersonerna har valts utifrån ett strategiskt val med kriteriet att vara socialsekreterare som arbetar med ensamkommande barn. En intervjuguide utformades för att få svar på intervjufrågorna. Det empiriska materialet har analyserats utifrån studiens teoretiska perspektiv symbolisk interaktionism samt de två teoretiska begreppen delaktighet och handlingsutrymme. Resultatet visar att samtliga intervjupersoner upplever sitt handlingsutrymme i arbetet som stort och att de är tämligen fria i arbetet. Socialtjänstlagen ger socialsekreterarna ett stort handlingsutrymme då lagen enbart är en ramlag med allmänna riktlinjer. Fortsättningsvis visar resultatet att intervjupersonerna upplever stora svårigheter vid användandet av telefontolk i samtal med ensamkommande barn. Det framkommer i resultatet att intervjupersonerna upplever svårigheter vid att skapa en förtroendefull relation med det ensamkommande barnet med anledning av barnets tidigare erfarenheter. Vidare visar resultatet på att intervjupersonerna upplever deras arbete med ensamkommande barn som delaktighetsfrämjande genom att låta barnet få ta del av information samt genom att barnet får dela med sig av sina åsikter som beaktas i den beslutsfattande processen. / The background to the study is the first to understand the concept of unaccompanied children, and the guidelines for the participation announcement that exist for the social worker in the work with unaccompanied minors. I want to gain knowledge of the social workers participative work with unaccompanied children and the social workers discretion and the difficulty of the work. The purpose of the study is that based on the social worker's experience to describe and analyze the participative work with unaccompanied children. A qualitative study using semi-structured interviews in which empirical data consists of five transcribed interviews. The interviewees have been selected by a strategic choice of the criterion of social workers who work with unaccompanied minors. An interview guide was designed to find answers to interview questions. The empirical data were analyzed based on the study of theoretical perspectives symbolic interactionism and the two theoretical concepts of participation and discretion. The results show that all the respondents perceive their freedom of action in that big and that they are relatively free of work. The Social Services Act gives socialworkers a wide discretion when the law is merely a framework law of general guidelines. Henceforth, the results show that the respondents are experiencing great difficulties when using telephone interpreter in conversation with unaccompanied minors. It emerges from the results that the respondents experiencing difficulties increating a relationship of trust with the unaccompanied child because of the child'sprevious experiences. Furthermore, the result shows that the interviewees perceive their work with unaccompanied children who participative by letting the child take part of the information and by the child may share their opinions taken into account in the decision-making process.

Syftet med denna uppsats var att undersöka hur barnavårdsutredande socialsekreterare förhåller sig till mamma- och papparoller i utredningsförfarandet. Vi ville studera detta ur ett genusperspektiv för att se om socialsekreterare tolkar egenskaper och föräldraförmågor olika beroende på om de innehas av en man eller en kvinna. Vi valde att göra en vinjettstudie med en kvalitativ ansats. Det deltog sex socialsekreterare i studien, vilka fick resonera kring föräldraförmågor i enskilda intervjuer. Den fiktiva fallbeskrivningen utgick från en orosanmälan kring en tvåårig flicka. Flickan har två föräldrar med olika egenskaper som finns beskrivna i vinjetterna. Dessa beskrivningar var likadana i vinjetterna, men i en av vinjetterna hade mamman de egenskaper som pappan hade i den andra vinjetten, och vice versa. Tre av socialsekreterarna utgick alltså från en vinjett där pappan hade vissa egenskaper som mamman sedan hade i den vinjett som de övriga tre socialsekreterarna utgick ifrån. Detta gjorde att vi kunde jämföra hur socialsekreterarna förhölls sig till föräldrarna, och kunde urskilja när det fanns skillnader och likheter i förhållningssätten utifrån könet på föräldern. Empirin analyserades sedan utifrån ett genus- och socialkonstruktivistiskt perspektiv med hjälp av begreppen genussystemet, perfomativitet, schabloner och teorier om kön, genus och jämställdhet i relation till synen på föräldraskap samt tidigare forskning. Resultatet visade att socialsekreterarna i vissa aspekter tolkade egenskaper och föräldraförmåga på olika sätt beroende på om det handlade om mamman eller pappan. Slutsatsen är att det behövs fler möjligheter för socialsekreterare att reflektera över de underliggande värderingar och föreställningar som finns kring mammor och pappor i samhället. Diskussionen skulle behöva lyftas tydligare och på gruppnivå för att synliggöra de skillnader som socialsekreterare annars riskerar att göra mellan mammor och pappor i barnavårdsutredningar. / The purpose of this study was to explore how childcare investigators view mother and father roles when investigating family relations. We sought out to study the matter from a gender perspective to see if social workers view parenting capabilities differently depending on the parent’s sex. We chose to do a qualitative vignette study. Six social workers took part in the study and we had them discussing parenting capabilities in individual interviews. The fictitious case was about a concern report regarding a two-year-old girl. The young girl has two parents with different features. In one set of the vignettes the mother had the same features as the father had in the other set and vice versa. This means that three of the participating social workers were lead to believe that the father had certain features that were the same as those of the mother according the information that was given to the remaining three social workers. This made it possible for us to compare how social workers view the parents and we could identify differences and similarities in their views depending on the parent’s sex. The results were analysed from a gender and social constructivist perspective with the help of the concepts gender system, performativity, templates and theories about sex, gender and equality and previous research. The findings revealed that social workers do view parenting capabilities differently in certain aspects depending on whether the concerns were about a mother or a father. The conclusion of this study is that there is a need for further opportunities for social workers to discuss the society’s underlying values and ideas of motherhood and fatherhood. This discourse would have to be presented clearly and openly among social workers to prevent discriminating mothers or fathers in childcare investigations.

Visoje Lietuvoje nedarnios, asocialaus elgesio, socialinės rizikos šeimos yra viena skaudžiausių problemų, nes tokiose šeimose auga vaikai, kuriems reikalinga ypatinga apsauga ir priežiūra. Svarbu yra padėti vaikams, augantiems socialiai pažeistose šeimose. Šiame darbe nagrinėjamos socialinės rizikos šeimų problemos, nes jos itin skaudžiai išgyvena pokyčius ir atsiduria sudėtingoje situacijoje. Šis darbas aktualus, kadangi aptariama socialinės rizikos šeimoms ir jose augantiems vaikams teikiamos socialinės paslaugos socialinio darbuotojo veiklos kontekste. Darbo objektas – socialinio darbuotojo, dirbančio su socialinės rizikos šeimomis, veiklos analizė. Tyrimo tikslas – išanalizuoti socialinių darbuotojų taikytų metodų vertingumą. Darbo uždaviniai: 1. Pateikti socialinės rizikos šeimų ir jose augančių vaikų sampratą, apžvelgti socialinės rizikos šeimoje kylančias problemas. 2. Atskleisti socialinio darbuotojo veiklai būdingus bruožus ir veiksnius. 3. Išanalizuoti Utenos rajono socialinių paslaugų centro socialinių darbuotojų veiklą. 4. Ištirti socialinių darbuotojų taikytų metodų vertingumą. Teorinėje darbo dalyje analizuota socialinės rizikos šeimos samprata; problemos (giminės tęsimo, jaunosios kartos auklėjimo ir socializavimo, šeimos ūkio tvarkymo, įgūdžių stokos ir kt.); aptartos socialinių darbuotojų funkcijos (prevencinė, paramos, diagnostinė, informacinė mokomoji); socialinio darbo metodai (individualus, darbo su šeima ir bendruomenėje); veikla, teikiant... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / In all Lithuania uncoordinated, asocial, social risk families are one of severe problems, because these families have children, who need the special protection and care. It is important to help the children growing in socially affected families. In this work are analyzed the problems of social risk families, because they notably painfully experience changes and get into the complicated situations. This work is actual because there are discussed the social risk families and the social services given in the context of activity of social worker for children growing there. Object of work – analysis of activity of social worker dealing with social risk families. Purpose of survey – to analyze the value of methods applied for the social workers. Goals of work: 5. To give the conception of social risk families and children growing there, to view the problems rising in social risk families. 6. To open the characteristics and features specific for the activity of social worker. 7. To analyze the activity of social workers of The Center of social services of Utena region. 8. To survey the value of methods applied by social workers. In the theoretic part of work are analyzed the conception of social risk family; problems (family continuation, upbringing and socialization of junior generation, family economy management, lack of skills, etc.); discussed the functions of social workers (preventive, supportive, diagnostic, informational educational); methods of social work (individual... [to full text]

Senatvė – paskutinis žmogaus gyvenimo tarpsnis. Visuomenėje didėjantis pagyvenusių ir senų žmonių skaičius verčia atkreipti dėmesį į šios amžiaus grupės ypatumus. Senstant žmogaus gyvenimas įgauna tam tikrų bruožų, ir ne visada malonių: socialinių ryšių siaurėjimas, susvetimėjimas, mirties baimė, užimtumo trūkumas, silpnėjanti sveikata ir pan. Išėjimas į pensiją, sumažėjusios pajamos – tai veiksniai, keičiantys žmogaus gyvenimo ritmą. Laikas, kuris anksčiau buvo skiriamas darbinei veiklai, dabar tampa asmeninėms reikmėms skiriamu laiku – laisvalaikiu. Vyresnio amžiaus žmonių laisvalaikis – svarbi ir mažai tyrinėta tema. Taip pat ji yra ir problemiška, nes būdami vieni ir nieko neveikdami seni ir pagyvenę žmonės dažnai išgyvena vienišumo jausmą, gyvenimo prasmės praradimą, sunkiai prisitaiko prie naujų gyvenimo sąlygų ir vaidmenų. Apskritai pagyvenusių ir senų žmonių laisvalaikiui organizuoti – kaip pozityvios socializacijos senatvėje procesui – skiriama pernelyg mažai dėmesio. Socialiniai darbuotojai – tai žmonės, kurie daugiausia rūpinasi pagyvenusių ir senų žmonių, gyvenančių globos įstaigoje, laisvalaikio organizavimu. Nuo jų gebėjimų ir kompetencijos priklauso laisvalaikio organizavimo pagyvenusiems ir seniems žmonėms paslaugų kokybė. Tyrimo tikslas: atskleisti pagyvenusių ir senų žmonių laisvalaikio organizavimo ypatumus globos įstaigose. Tyrimo objektas – pagyvenusių ir senų žmonių laisvalaikio organizavimas. Tyrimo metodai: • interviu su socialiniais... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Old age – the last phase of human being life. The growing number of elderly and old people forces us to pay atention to the peculiarities of this age group. Comming old age brings some features to a man‘s life and they are not always pleasant: decreasing of social contacts, fear of death, a lack of occupation, weakening of health, etc. Retiring from work, decreasing of incomes – these are the factors changing the rythm of human being life. The time which was alloted to working activity now becomes the time alloted to personal needs, i.e. freetime. Freetime of elderly people is a very important and not enough analysed topic. Also it is a problematic topic, as lonely elderly and old aged people often experience a feeling of loneliness, lost of life meaning, and they hardly adapt to new conditions and roles of life. There is paid too lees attention to organizing a freetime of elderly and old aged people – it could help to positive socializing process of old aged paople. Social workers are people who really care about organizing freetime of elderly and old aged people living in old people houses. The quality of organizing freetime of elderly and old aged people depends on abilities and competencies of social workers. The aim of this study is to disclose the peculiarities of organizing a freetime of elderly and old aged people in old people house. The object of this master thesis is the organization of a freetime of elderly and old aged people. Methods of... [to full text]