Thesis (M.S.W.)--University of Hong Kong, 1987.

Because of the situation around the world with war and poorness many people need to leave their homeland and find safeness in other countries. A big amount of this group is children without company of an adult, so called unaccompanied children. The numbers of unaccompanied children who seek safeness in Sweden grow every year. The aim of this study was to investigate how social workers in four municipalities in south of Sweden experience their work with investigating the needs of unaccompanied children. The aim was also to investigate how the social workers experience their opportunities to meet the children’s needs with personalized interventions. The study is built on semi-structured interviews with six social workers who all have experience or are now working with investigating unaccompanied children. The results of the interviews were analyzed using a system theory perspective and Andrew Abbotts profession theory. We also used the terms grassroots bureaucrats and discretion. The results of our study has shown us that the social workers often feel a certain restriction when it comes to their ability to meet the children’s needs because of the lack of available accommodations. The study also shown that the social workers experience a limitation when it comes to the authority they have as their decisions must be approved by others and not based solely on the individual workers assessment.   The social workers in our study also experience that their work is not taken as seriously as others investigation of children from Swedish families which influence the status and legitimacy that they describe that their profession should have.

The aim of this study is to illuminate social worker’s perception of social class within the Swedish social service system. This study therefor examine if social class contributes to the production and reproduction of the client and what impact social class has on the interaction between client and social workers. The study was conducted with qualitative semi-structured interviews with social workers from three different departments of social service. The theoretical approach is Yeheskel Hasenfeld’s theory about moral practices in welfare organisations, Michael Lipsky and Roine Johansson’s theories about client construction and Pierre Bourdieu’s class theory. The conclusion of this study is that social class affects individual conditions and opportunities in Swedish social service. Social worker’s perceptions of social class have an impact on the construction of clients and will affect what level of service a client receives.

published_or_final_version / Mental Health / Master / Master of Social Sciences

published_or_final_version / Social Work and Social Administration / Master / Master of Philosophy

Syftet med den här studien var att genom ett kvalitativt perspektiv få en djupare förståelse om bakgrunden till hög personalomsättning inom socialtjänstens barn- och ungdomsvård samt vad som skulle kunna motverka detta. Undersökningen har genomförts med ett kvalitativt tillvägagångsätt i form av sex halvstrukturerade intervjuer med personer som valt att säga upp sig som socialsekreterare inom socialtjänstens barn- och ungdomsvård. Studien visar återkommande beskrivningar kring en ohållbar arbetssituation utom räddning med låg lön, dåliga arbetsförhållanden med tidsbrist och för lite feedback, brist på engagemang från kollegor, avsaknad av tilltro till arbetsledningen samt utbrändhet. De tidigare socialsekreterarna hade behövt bland annat mer personal, bättre kommunikation med arbetsledningen, en teamledare och mer handledning för att stanna kvar i sin anställning. Våra huvudslutsatser är att det finns en stor komplexitet i bakgrunden till den höga personalomsättningen inom socialtjänstens barn- och ungdomsvård och att ett helhetsperspektiv är av största vikt för att kunna motverka detta. / The aim of this study was to get a deeper understanding through a qualitative perspective about the background to high employee turnover in the unit of child and youth care within social services and also how this could be counteracted. Six semi-structured interviews with people who have chosen to resign from child and youth care within social services were conducted. The results show repetitive descriptions of unsustainable working conditions characterized by low wages, lack of time, lack of feedback and commitment from colleagues, absence of trust to the supervision and burnout. The previous social workers described that they would have needed more colleagues, better communication with the supervisor, a team leader, more tutoring and higher wages to stay in their jobs. Our main conclusions are that there is a big complexity in the background to employee turnover and we consider that a holistic perspective is essential to be able to beat this.

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published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Sciences

published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Sciences

published_or_final_version / Social Work and Social Administration / Master / Master of Social Sciences