There is a consensus in Sweden that children are right-bearers and shall participate in matters that affect them among legislators, the government’s instructions by Barns Behov I Centrum (BBIC) (Child’s needs in focus) and among social workers. Despite this, previous research shows that children’s participation in social investigations is limited. The aim of this study is to analyse and interpret how social worker’s describe and understand children’s participation in their daily work at a social welfare unit. It is their perception of child participation that is studied. The data consists of interviews with nine social workers investigating children of 0-12 years of age at three social welfare units in municipalities’ in the outskirts of Stockholm. The theoretical perspective of this study is childhood sociology. The social workers in this study regard children as competent enough to receive information as well as capable contributors to the investigations. Participation was viewed as a cornerstone in their work with children. Children were described as capable of communicating information and their perspective on their situation through speech, behaviour or play indicating that all children can contribute despite age. But oral communication dominates and has a higher value, showing that age and maturity has an impact on children’s participation. Restrictions by guardians, time-restraint and heavy workloads also limited children’s participation during the investigation.

Abstract  Children according to children  From a phenomenological perspective of childhood sociological approach I have had interviews with eight children made a qualitative survey. The purpose of which was to seek knowledge about children's views on children, and to explore the essence of the phenomenon of children. What emerges from the interviews is that there is a clear differentiation between children and adults. Children and adults do not according to children do the same things, and it is the size acording to them to see if it is a child or not.  Being a child is a temporary state, but for the children is the beginning and the end difficult to define. Age has a part in it but also how children play.  Based on my interviews I see children describe children as playing thinking phenomena when they analyze children from an outside perspective. / Sammanfattning  Barn enligt barn  Utifrån ett fenomenologiskt perspektiv med barndomssociologiskt synsätt har jag genom intervjuer med åtta barn gjort en kvalitativ undersökning, där syftet varit att söka kunskap om barns syn på barn, samt att utforska essensen i fenomenet barn.  Det som framkommer i intervjuerna är att det finns en tydlig differentiering mellan barn och vuxna. Barn och vuxna gör, enligt barn, inte samma saker och det går på storleken att se om det är ett barn eller ej. Att vara barn är ett temporärt tillstånd men för barnen är början och slutet svåra att definiera. Åldern har med saken att göra men också leken.  Utifrån mina intervjuer ser jag barnen beskriva barnen som lekande tänkande fenomen där de i stort intar en utifrån-position i sina svar på de frågor jag ställer.

In the context of the Swedish welfare state, the issue of child poverty has over the past decade become increasingly prominent within the political agenda. Most research on child poverty has been based on statistics and research on children’s everyday life and their experiences in situations of economic hardship has been in demand in international as well as Swedish research. The aim of this thesis is to explore and analyze children’s experiences of living within economic hardship as part of their identity work. In addition, it highlights how their agency can be understood as a way of dealing with their situation, as well as how child poverty – and the child position in a welfare state setting -  is understood and conceptualized by the society they live in.  The analysis was based on an interview study involving seventeen children between the ages of 6–18 in families living on or below the limit for receiving welfare benefits. The purpose of the interviews was to explore how these children experience economic hardship at home and among same-aged children, focusing their own strategies and agency. The thesis uses the field of childhood sociology as a theoretical starting point, and the empirical findings are analyzed with an interactionist approach which highlights the meaning of interaction and agency in relation to identity work. The strategies deployed by the children in this study was interpreted in the context of the limited space for agency that the child position entails as well as how their positioning as children, by themselves and others, creates a new understanding of the way poverty is managed by them. This thesis seeks to problematize the issue of child poverty in Sweden by stressing its complexities.  The thesis also emphasizes that it would be a simplification to label these children as merely stigmatized since the status of poverty as a stigma for children can be questioned.

The last major change occurred in 2005 when the new sexual offenses law came into force with an increased focus on children. The purpose of this study is that through a content analysis to identify and understand the construction of children in the new legislation on sexual offenses on the basis of preliminary work. Based on the purpose we came up with two questions: How are children constructed in the preparatory works to the new sexual offenses law? Are they attributed to child characteristics and responsibilities in the new legislation on sexual offenses and if so, how? In order to achieve the purpose of the study we have chosen the preparatory works to the new legislation on sexual offenses from 2005 until today. The study's empirical work has been further narrowed to the children, which means that a distinction is made in the new legislation on sexual offenses to 6 chapter 4-6 §§. The theoretical starting point is the childhood sociology and the method used is a content analysis. The result shows that the preparation of children in the new legislation on sexual offenses can be divided into continuous central themes: children 's agency, children than in adults and children's properties and responsibility.

Syftet med föreliggande studie är att undersöka hur eleverna på ett fritidshem uppfattar sina egna möjligheter till delaktighet och inflytande på fritidshemmet. Med en fenomenografisk forskningsansats har empirin samlats in och bearbetats för att visa på elevernas olika uppfattningar om deras delaktighet och inflytande. Materialet har sedan analyserats med hjälp av barndomssociologin som teoretisk utgångspunkt samt begreppen being, becomings och barns perspektiv. Resultaten visar att en större del av eleverna på fritidshemmet anser att de har möjlighet att påverka innehållet i verksamheten, när det gäller styrda och fria aktiviteter. Dock är elevernas uppfattningar om hur detta går till varierande och flera elever önskar sig samtidigt större möjligheter till delaktighet och inflytande. Resultaten visar även att eleverna tänker olika kring vilka sammanhang de helst skulle vilja vara med och bestämma i. / The purpose of this study is to explore how pupils at one leisure time centre (LTC) perceive their opportunities of participation and influence. With Phenomenography as a research approach the empirical data has been obtained and processed to indicate the pupil’s different perceptions of their participation and influence. The theoretical framework for the analysis is a combination of childhood sociology, being, becomings and child’s perspectives. Results show that a majority of the pupils feel that they are given opportunities to participate and influence the activities at the LTC. There is however a variation of the pupils perceptions of how this is made and several pupils wish that they were given more opportunities to participate and influence. Results also show that the pupils have different ideas of what context they would rather see themselves being able to influence the LTC.

Barnkonventionen ratificerades i Sverige för 31 år sedan och inkorporerades i svensk lag den 1 januari 2020. Barnkonventionen betraktar barn som rättighetsbärare. Syftet i denna uppsats var att undersöka hur man inom barn och unga i socialtjänsten arbetar med barn i olika åldrar med anknytning till barnkonventionen samt att undersöka hur socialtjänsten uppfattar samverkan med andra professioner i förhållande till konventionen. För att besvara syftet intervjuades fyra socialsekreterare. Materialet från intervjuerna har analyserats genom en kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Resultatet tolkades med hjälp av det barndomssociologiska perspektivet och samverkansteori. Resultatet visade att bilden av barn som rättighetsbärare var förankrad inom socialtjänsten med fokus på att barnet skulle höras och vara delaktigt. Vidare framkom att information gällande hur barnkonventionen skulle omsättas i det praktiska arbetet var efterfrågat. Det fanns brist på resurser i förhållande till det arbete som barnkonventionen krävde. Slutsatsen är att synsättet på barn som rättighetsbärare överensstämde med barndomssociologin. Bristande utbildning, rättspraxis och organisatoriska förutsättningar såsom budget riskerade att minska barnkonventionens inflytande i ärenden. Inom samverkan riskerade även resursbrist för professioner att minska barnkonventionens inflytande i ärenden. Korrekta förväntningar på varandras professioner och deras handlingsutrymme betraktades öka barnkonventionens inflytande i samverkan. / The Convention on the Rights of the Child was ratified in Sweden 31 years ago and incorporated into Swedish law on 1 January 2020. The convention considers children to be rights holders. The purpose of this essay was to investigate how the social services work with children of different ages in connection with the convention and to investigate how the social services perceive collaboration with other professions in relation to the convention. To answer the purpose, four social secretaries were interviewed. The material from the interviews has been analyzed through a qualitative content analysis. The results were interpreted with the help of the childhood sociological perspective and collaboration theory. The results showed that the image of children as rights holders was rooted in the social services with a focus on the child being heard and involved. Furthermore, it emerged that information regarding how the convention was to be implemented in the practical work was requested. There was a lack of resources in relation to the work required by the convention. The conclusion is that the view of children as rights holders was in line with the sociology of childhood. Lack of education, case law and organizational conditions such as the budget risked reducing the influence of the convention in matters. In collaboration, a lack of resources risked reducing the influence of the convention in the matter. Correct expectations of each other's professions and their scope for action were considered to increase the influence of the convention in collaboration.

Huvudsyftet med denna studie är att belysa komplexiteten i familjerättens utredningar gällande umgänge i relation till handlingsutrymme, barnperspektiv samt ett barns perspektiv. Tolv familjerättssekreterare i nio olika kommuner har intervjuats enligt en semistrukturerad intervjudesign. Insamlad data har sedan analyserats för att belysa de aspekter som skildrar familjerättssekreterarnas upplevelse kring hur deras utredningar utförs. Resultatet påvisar att informanternas arbete gällande den materiella utredningen har stora likheter med varandra, men att tillvägagångssättet under utredningarna skiljer sig åt mellan dem, både när det kommer till tidsåtgång, antal barnsamtal samt nyttjandet av manualer eller metoder. Studien påvisar även att familjerättssekreterarna upplever sig ha en hög grad av handlingsutrymme som de värnar om, då detta utgör möjligheten till att göra bedömningar utifrån det enskilda barnets bästa i dennes unika situation. / The main purpose of this study is to shed light on the complexity of family court investigations regarding visitation rights in relation to scope of action, child perspective and a child’s perspective. Twelve family court secretaries at nine different municipalities have been interviewed according to a semi-structured interview design. Collected data has then been analyzed to shed light on the aspects that the family court secretaries experience regarding how their investigations are conducted. The result shows that the work of the informants regarding the material investigations has great similarities, but that the procedure during the investigations differs between them, both when it comes to time spent on the investigations, the number of discourse with the child and the use of manuals or methods. The study also shows that the family court secretaries experience that they have a high level of scope of action which they cherish, as this forms the opportunity to make assessments based on the individual child's best interests in its unique situation.

Huvudsyftet med denna studie var att undersöka hur socialsekreterare upplever barnperspektivet i arbetet inom ekonomiskt bistånd innan och efter inkorporeringen av Barnkonventionen. Vi undersökte även vilken position barn har i socialsekreterarnas utredningar. Föreliggande studie avsåg att vara en kvalitativ intervjustudie där empirin grundar sig på sex stycken intervjuer med socialsekreterare som arbetar inom ekonomiskt bistånd i olika kommuner i Sverige. Empirin har analyserats med hjälp av barndomssociologi samt Michael Lipskys teori om gräsrotsbyråkrater. Analysmetoden som användes för att analysera respondenternas utsagor var tematisk innehållsanalys. Studiens resultat visade att flertalet socialsekreterare ansåg att barnperspektivet är tvetydigt och komplext i praktiken på grund av de många lagar och riktlinjer som präglar arbetet med ekonomiskt bistånd. Trots detta ansåg samtliga socialsekreterare att barnperspektivet är viktigt men att deras arbetsplatser har en del utrymme för ytterligare förbättring. Resultatet visade fortsättningsvis även att barn tenderar att bli mindre uppmärksammade än vuxna samt att socialsekreterarna saknade tillräckliga resurser, i form av tid och vidareutbildning, för att kunna arbeta enligt ett barnperspektiv fullt ut. / The main purpose of this study was to investigate how social workers in the social services’ management of financial assistance experience the use of the child perspective before and after the incorporation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. We also examined how children were being positioned in social workers investigations. The method applied is a qualitative interview study and the empirical data lies in six interviews with social workers that work with financial assistance in different municipalities in Sweden. The empirical data has been analyzed through childhood sociology and Michael Lipsky's theory of street-level bureaucrats. The empirical data was evaluated through thematic analysis. The results showed that most of the social workers consider that the meaning of the child perspective appears to be somehow ambiguous and complex due to laws and regulations that characterize the work within financial assistance. Although all informants consider the child perspective to be important, they experience that their workplaces have room for improvement. The results also showed that children seem to be noted less in comparison to adults and that social workers don’t have enough resources, in terms of time and further education, to fully commit to the child perspective.

Syftet med föreliggande studie är att bidra med kunskap om barns fysiska aktiviteter på förskolegården genom ett närmande av barns perspektiv. Studien är kvalitativ och förhåller sig till ett barndomssociologiskt perspektiv, vilket bland annat innebär att vi har forskat med barnen och inte om dem. Barnen i studien är aktörer som ges möjlighet till delaktighet och agerande. De centrala begreppen för studien är barns perspektiv och regler. Metoderna som använts i studien är fotografering, gruppsamtal och videoinspelning. Barnen fotograferade platser på förskolegården där de kände att de kunde eller inte kunde utöva fysiska aktiviteter, samtidigt som ett gruppsamtal tillsammans med barnen ägde rum. Alla undersökningstillfällen dokumenterades med videoinspelning. Datainsamlingen analyserades med inspiration av Grounded Theory för att hitta likheter och skillnader i den insamlade empirin. Resultatet visade på att barnen uttryckte att de kunde utöva fysiska aktiviteter oavsett storleken på förskolegården. Barnen uttryckte flera möjligheter till fysiska aktiviteter vid platser såsom kullen, gräsmattan, träden och leksakslådan. Barnen inspireras av bland annat materialet som finns tillgängligt och skapar lekar och aktiviteter utifrån det. Barnen uttryckte begränsningar som handlade om regler och skaderisker framförallt vid träden och gungorna. / The purpose of the present study is to contribute with knowledge about children’s physical activities in the preschool yard through an approach to children’s perspective. The study is qualitative and relates to a childhood sociological perspective, which means, among other things, that we have researched with the children and not about them. The children in the study are actors who are given the opportunity to participate and act. The central concepts of the study are children's perspective and rules. The methods used in the study are photography, group conversations and video recording. The children photographed places in the preschool yard where they felt they could or could not practice physical activities, while a group conversation with the children took place. All examinations were documented with video recordings. The data collection was analyzed with inspiration from Grounded Theory to find similarities and differences in the collected empirical data. The results showed that the children expressed that they could engage in physical activities regardless of the size of the preschool yard. The children expressed several opportunities for physical activities at places such as the hill, the lawn, the trees and the toy box. The children are inspired by, among other things, the material that is available, and create games and activities based on it. The children expressed restrictions that dealt with rules and risk of injury, especially by the trees and swings.

This thesis explores diaspora experiences among Somali-Swedish parents and their daughters where the girls are enrolled in a Muslim-profiled school. The thesis uses migration theory with a transnational perspective, with findings that depart from the traditional view of migrants’ rootedness in a single country. It adopts the new paradigm for the sociology of childhood, where childhood is regarded as a social construction and children are considered to possess agency and competence. Anthony Giddens’s structuration theory and its main concept ‘duality of structure’ was employed as a theoretical tool. Methods that were used were participant observation, interviews (individual and in group) and analysis of essays. The thesis consists of three studies. The first study explores how Somali-Swedish parents explain their choice of a Muslim-profiled school for their children. The results refute the traditional view that such choices are solely faith-based, showing faith as important but not determining. Important factors were finding a school that met their high educational ambitions and  made both parents and children feel trusted, safe and not disrespected because of their faith and skin-colour. The second study explores transnational experiences, particularly the transfer of transnational practices from the Somali-Swedish parents’ to their children and the construction of a transnational social space, built on close global relationships. The results show that transnational practices are feasible irrespective of physical travel. The study also exemplifies the group’s readiness to relocate between countries by the onward migration from Sweden to Egypt, and implications for the children are illuminated. Somalis in diaspora often explain their propensity to move by their past nomadic life-patterns, but this study shows as strong factors the desire for better opportunities in combination with experiences of cultural and economic marginalisation in the West. The third study analyses how girls in grade 5 (about eleven years old) imagine their future career and family life by analysing essays. The findings reveal that their dreams are both consistent with the expectations of their families (in particular, high educational ambitions) and inspired from elsewhere (particularly in terms of future family life). How the girls imagine their adulthood could be seen as an example of how their original culture is subject to change in a new environment. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following paper was unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 1: Manuscript.</p><p> </p>