The aim of this study was to understand the contact between foster homes and social workers, by doing a comparison of the social workers and the foster homes experiences of the cooperation that is between them. We started from three main questions to get an answer to our aim, how the foster homes and the social workers experience the organization of the foster care in the Social Service as an impact of the cooperation, what does the foster homes and the social workers experience as a important fact of a successful placement and finally, how does the foster homes and the social workers experience the supporting and controlling contact that is between them. To get our results we based our study on interviews whit four foster homes and whit four social workers. The analysis was based on one theoretical perspective, Skaus (2007) analytical approach for power and help. As a conclusion we have found out, that the organization of the Social Service has significance for the contact between social workers and foster homes. The social workers and the foster homes have different opinions of how the Social Service should be organized, so that the contact should be as good as possible. The social workers saw the ground work as an important fact for the placement to be successful. Both social workers and foster homes saw the confidence between them, as an important fact for the placement to be successful. All four foster homes and two of the social workers saw the controlling part of the contact as a good and necessary thing. The other two of the social workers saw the controlling part as a complicated assignment.  The social workers saw the controlling part as an inadequate thing in the foster care today. Both foster homes and social workers experience that the supporting contact between them are working well.

The aim of our study is to explore social workers view on the importance of clothing. We want to know how and if social worker reflects on the importance of their clothing and how it may affect their clients. Dresses social workers differently due to different work situations? Play client`s clothes any role in the social welfare officers? Can client`s clothing affect the assessment of their problem? The study is based on a qualitative method. The data consists of two focus group interviews with four social workers in each group, containing three women and one man in each focusgroup, with a total of eight informants. The results of our study indicate that the clothes are important in meeting with clients and especially as to help create a relationship with the client. The result also indicate that client`s clothing acts as a marker for the clients health.

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The aim with my study is to highlight, illuminate and examine the social and maternal health care motivational work of pregnant women with a risk or abuse of alcohol and / or drugs, and what actions can be considered for these women. In addition, the aim is to explore how social services and maternity care might interact in this type of case. The aim is to convey the subjective experience of each of the interviewees. For the purposes of this study, I have chosen to use the qualitative research method. I have interviewed social workers in individual and family care, and midwives. Study interview results show that pregnant misusers priority for both maternity care and social services. By the AUDIT, conducted by the maternal health care, shows that the woman has a risk and / or abuse woman offered a variety of activities that may be in the form of talks, drug testing and treatment. Cooperation is the key to success in this motivational work, and it's mainly collaboration between social services, maternal health and child health care. Cooperation seems to work fine, but could be improved with more time and more staff.

Children's Need In Focus (BBIC) is a processing and documentation system used in child welfare cases to investigate, plan and monitor interventions. The BBIC has had a breakthrough in Sweden and out of the country's 290 municipalities, there are 284 that use the system daily as a tool in cases involving children. The purpose of this study was to examine how social workers experience the BBIC as a working system and what strengths and weaknesses there are in the BBIC concept. We wanted our study to examine how the BBIC could possibly enhance the quality of childcare matters, but also how the BBIC could potentially increase children's participation in cases. We have performed qualitative interviews with eight social workers who work in four different municipalities where the BBIC is applied daily. The result of the interviews shows that the social workers feel there are both strengths and weaknesses in the system. It is a common opinion among the respondents that their work becomes structured and the majority thinks that the child's perspective has been strengthened as a result of the BBIC. Social workers in the study also feel that the BBIC is a comprehensive system and many of them ask for increased resources.

There are many children in Sweden today, approximately 200 000, who have parents or a parent that abuses alcohol or other drugs. The aim of this study was to investigate how group leaders in support groups for children with addicted parents relate to this sort of support groups. What are their advantages and disadvantages, according to the group leaders? The method used was qualitative and the empirical material was collected through group interviews. We have interviewed eight persons who are social workers and the interviews were carried out at three work places. The analysis of the material takes a survey of previous written literature as the point of departure. The theoretical framework was eclectic, combining a child perspective with a holistic approach to the situation of children with addicted parents. The interview material was interpreted with the help of hermeneutic theory. Furthermore, Antonovsky’s salutogenic theory, system theory and theory on social change have been used in the analysis. The analysis shows that the group leaders’ position is that children that have parents or a parent, who abuse alcohol need support groups. The group leaders of support groups bring up that the most important thing for these children is to have other children that they can talk to and trust. However, it was clearly more difficult for the interviewees to discuss possible disadvantages. Drawing upon a holistic perspective, we argue that one disadvantage is how group leaders see children as individuals instead of seeing the family as a whole and the need to deal with the children’s main problem, their parents’ addiction. We also discuss the fact that it seems as if a case worker with overall responsibility rarely monitors the child’s situation. Drawing upon theories on social change we argue that although support groups may empower children to some extent, support groups cannot in themselves be regarded as a way of creating social change.

The purpose of this study was to understand how social workers experienced working with Addiction Severity Index (ASI) in relation to the goal set by the National Board of Health and Welfare. The method is spread nationwide and therefore it is of great importance to examine how the social workers themselves experience the demands and the resources surrounding ASI. We choose to do a qualitative study interviewing eight social workers at six different occasions. The result was analyzed using Max Weber’s ideal type bureaucracy and Michael Lipsky’s thesis on street-level bureaucrats. We found that the social workers consider the method useful when used from without their own purposes. The standards set by the National Board of Health and Welfare was considered hard to achieve because of the complexity of the method. Among other things the valuation done by both social worker and client was regarded as tough and therefore the results of the interview are at risk of not becoming reliable. We found that the outcome of the interview depends on the performer.

<p>The purpose of this study was to <em>understand</em> how social workers experienced working with Addiction Severity Index (ASI) in relation to the goal set by the National Board of Health and Welfare. The method is spread nationwide and therefore it is of great importance to examine how the social workers themselves experience the demands and the resources surrounding ASI. We choose to do a qualitative study interviewing eight social workers at six different occasions. The result was analyzed using Max Weber’s ideal type bureaucracy and Michael Lipsky’s thesis on street-level bureaucrats. We found that the social workers consider the method useful when used from without their own purposes. The standards set by the National Board of Health and Welfare was considered hard to achieve because of the complexity of the method. Among other things the valuation done by both social worker and client was regarded as tough and therefore the results of the interview are at risk of not becoming reliable. We found that the outcome of the interview depends on the performer.</p>

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, 2001. / "A dissertation submitted to the faculty of the division of the social sciences in candidacy for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Department of History, by Deborah Ann Skok, Chicago, Illinois, August 2001." Includes bibliographical references (p. 470-486). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Western Sydney, 2009. / A thesis submitted to the University of Western Sydney, College of Arts, School of Social Sciences, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Includes bibliographical references.