The aim of this study was to investigate how organizational and child-related factors, as well as the general approach, affect the child's participation and the extent to which children are involved in the child protection agency child care investigations. Based on the following questions, the study investigated to which extent, and in which way, children are involved in investigations: 1. To what extent and in what way are children involved in the Swedish child protection agency? 2. How are children's involvement affected of child-related factors? 3. How are children's involvement affected of organizational factors? The result has been analyzed based on Michael Lipsky's Street-level-bureaucracy (2010), in addition, Harry Shier`s (2001) participation ladder has also been used. The result showed that most of social workers considered that the factors of time, workload, competence development and staff density affects children's participation. Drawing on the answers from the study, we conclude that there is generally a high level of participation within the Swedish child protection agency. Children hold a significant place in social welfare investigation cases, although social workers could involve them to a greater extent in the decision making process.

Enligt beslut i riksdagen ska FN:s konvention om barns rättigheter ges ställning som svensk lag 1 januari 2020. Tidigare forskning visar att det råder en oenighet om huruvida en inkorporering av barnkonventionen som lag är bra eller inte. Syftet med studien var att undersöka vad olika professioner som jobbar med barn och unga har för inställning till att barnkonventionen inkorporeras till svensk lag, synen på barnets roll samt vilka utmaningar de upplever finns när det gäller att följa barnkonventionen. Studien är kvalitativ och grundar sig på sex intervjuer med olika professioner som arbetar med barn och unga. Studiens teoretiska utgångspunkt är systemteori och socialkonstruktivism. Ur intervjuerna framkom tre teman: En förändringsprocess, rättighetsbärare i beroendeställning och tillämpningens komplexitet. Studien visar att en inkorporering av barnkonventionen är en förändringsprocess där professionerna har en positiv inställning till att stärka barns rättigheter men åsikterna kring om barnkonventionen som lag är det bästa tillvägagångssättet är tudelade. Barnet ses som en rättighetsbärare samtidigt som det befinner sig i en beroendeställning i ett vuxenorienterat samhälle. Att följa barnkonventionen är en komplex utmaning där samverkan mellan lagstiftning, myndigheter och samhället behöver förstärkas för att tillgodose barns rättigheter. Sammantaget visar studien att barnet har en central roll som rättighetsbärare där en förändringsprocess är nödvändig samtidigt som tillämpningen är komplex då barnet hamnar i en beroendeställning gentemot vuxna, myndigheter, lagstiftning och samhället. / The Swedish government decided to introduce the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) into Swedish law on January 1, 2020. Previous research shows different opinions about turning CRC into Swedish law. The purpose of the study was to investigate different professions’, who are working with children and adolescents, opinions of incorporating CRC into Swedish law, their view of the child’s role as well as challenges they see with complying with CRC. The study is qualitative and is based on six interviews with different professions working with children and adolescents. The theoretical basis of the study is system theory and social constructivism. The study's analysis resulted in three themes: Process of change, rights carrier in deprivation and complexity of application. The study shows that an incorporating of CRC is a process of change there professional´s have a positive attitude towards strengthening children's rights, but their views on whether CRC as a law is the best approach or not are unclear. The child is seen as a rights carrier while it is in a deprivation position in an adult-oriented society. Adhering to CRC is a complex challenge in where cooperation between law, government and society needs to be strengthened to accommodate children's rights. Overall, the study shows that the child has a central role as a rights carrier, where a change process is necessary while the application is complex when the child is in a state of dependence towards adults, authorities, legislation and society.

The aim of this essay was to try to understand young people's experiences of participation and influence. The purpose has been to define participation and influence with young people's own words, and with the definition as a basis explore young people's experiences of participation and influence. The purpose has also been to seek understanding for young people's experiences of participation and influence by discuss young people's descriptions at different levels. There have been three research questions: How do young people define participation and influence?; Which experiences in life about participation and influence do young people narrate?; How do young people experience participation and influence and how do that come to expression? The first research question was answered by asking (n=13) secondary youth with methodological support of vignettes. The second and the third research question has been answered by collecting young people's narratives on the Internet. The (n=37) narratives were analyzed by support of content analysis and narrative analysis. The result was a definition of participation and influence put together from young people's own defining words. The result also shows that young people's experiences of participated and influence is about both having and not having participation and influence. Young people narrate more often about experiences of not participated and influence. Finally, the result show us that young people's experiences of participation and influence come to expression in three different ways were the young actor's agency has a central role. / Den här uppsatsen har handlat om att försöka förstå ungas erfarenheter och upplevelser av delaktighet och inflytande. Syftet har varit att definiera delaktighet och inflytande med utgångspunkt i ungas egna utsagor, samt att med utgångspunkt i definitionen undersöka ungas erfarenheter och upplevelser av delaktighet och inflytande. Syftet har också varit att söka förståelse för ungas upplevelser och erfarenheter av delaktighet och inflytande genom att diskutera ungas beskrivningar på olika nivåer. Tre frågeställningar har undersökts inom uppsatsen: Hur definierar unga delaktighet och inflytande?; Vilka erfarenheter i livet berättar unga om, som handlar om delaktighet och inflytande?; Hur upplever unga att delaktighet och inflytande tar sig uttryck för dem i deras liv? För att besvara den första frågeställningen har (n=13) gymnasieungdomar tillfrågats med stöd av vinjetter. För att besvara den andra och den tredje frågeställningen har ungas (n=37) berättelser på nätet samlats in och analyserats med stöd av innehållsanalys samt narrativanalys. Resultatet har visat på en definition av delaktighet och inflytande som sammanställts utifrån ungas egna definierande ord. Resultatet har också visat att ungas erfarenheter av delaktighet och inflytande handlar om både avsaknad av och upplevd delaktighet och inflytande, det var vanligare att unga beskrev avsaknad i berättelserna. Resultatet har slutligen visat att ungas upplevelser av delaktighet och inflytande tar sig uttryck på tre olika sätt där den unges aktörskap innehar en central roll.

<p>A qualitative study is presented concerning children’s participation in the local decisionmaking in Swedish municipalities. The study also aims at finding out what are considered to be successful factors and obstacles connected to the implementation of children’s participation in local decision-making. The study contains a summary of the convention on the rights of the child, focusing on article 12, as well as previous research findings concerning children’s participation and factors enabling respectively hindering participation. Method has been interviews with a purposive sample of politicians, civil employees and children from municipalities regarded as prominent in their work with children’s participation. Either through a formal or informal implementation model. The results have been analysed in the light of Roger Hart’s eight-step “ladder of children’s participation“, where position one is considered Manipulation from adults and position eight is Child-initiated and shared decisions with adults. The results show that the investigated municipalities are considering the voice of the children in the local decision-making. Depending on different variables in focus, the position on Hart’s ladder varies between four and seven. The study concludes that successful implementation of children’s participation in local decision-making commands parallel work with organizational structures, systematic and adult’s attitudes.</p>

<p>In 2006 there was a change in LMA (1994:37) that clarified the division of responsibility be-tween the Migration Board and the municipalities, concerning unaccompanied children. The social services should now be utmost responsible for the housing and care of these children, to assure that they gain the same standards and rights as all other children. The aim of this essay has been to examine how the division of responsibility has influenced the work of the social services and how they interpret their responsibility for the unaccompanied children. How do the social services investigate and make decisions concerning these children? Do these chil-dren have the same rights as other children? To answer these questions a legal study was made, followed by qualitative research interviews with four social services that receive unac-companied children. The study was made from a legal sociologist perspective, which involves analyzing the results from the interviews with the legal results, together with earlier research on unaccompanied children. The results show that the division of responsibility still is indis-tinct and that the investigations concerning these children often are brief and simplified. In two of the interviewed municipalities the view was that unaccompanied children did not have the right to efforts according to SoL (2001:453), which in practice means that the unaccom-panied children are discriminated.</p>

<p>In 2006 there was a change in LMA (1994:37) that clarified the division of responsibility be-tween the Migration Board and the municipalities, concerning unaccompanied children. The social services should now be utmost responsible for the housing and care of these children, to assure that they gain the same standards and rights as all other children. The aim of this essay has been to examine how the division of responsibility has influenced the work of the social services and how they interpret their responsibility for the unaccompanied children. How do the social services investigate and make decisions concerning these children? Do these chil-dren have the same rights as other children? To answer these questions a legal study was made, followed by qualitative research interviews with four social services that receive unac-companied children. The study was made from a legal sociologist perspective, which involves analyzing the results from the interviews with the legal results, together with earlier research on unaccompanied children. The results show that the division of responsibility still is indis-tinct and that the investigations concerning these children often are brief and simplified. In two of the interviewed municipalities the view was that unaccompanied children did not have the right to efforts according to SoL (2001:453), which in practice means that the unaccom-panied children are discriminated.</p>

<p>The purpose of this project is to study the women involved in the SOS Children’s Villages; the influence of the association on their views on life, as seen from a human-rights and a religious perspective. Questions such as why they chose to work with the association and what it gives them to do so are treated in this study.</p><p>My goal has been to study and present different aspects of something so important, but yet so unfamiliar. The method used in this project is minor field studies, which means visiting the villages, living with the families and observing their daily lives. The means of acquiring the information necessary for this study is by qualitative interviews with the mothers.</p><p>A theoretical framework has been used as a complement to the study, and it is also used to bring greater understanding to the SOS mothers and how they have shaped their lives.</p><p>My ambition with this essay is to bring out their individual experiences on how they view their own lives at present and what meaning life has given them. I have used seven of the 14 interviews conducted.</p><p>The outcome shows that several factors play important roles as to why the mothers decided to work with the association. Such factors were socioeconomic and sociopsyhologic factors. Other conclusions that were drawn after this field trip were that the women are very vulnerable to the social situation in Lebanon. They need someone to support them since the men are the primary providers. If the women do not find someone to marry they need to find another source for provision and the SOS children’s Association is one way to go. The sense of Coherence that these women had was indeed strong, they felt meaningfulness in what they did, they had comprehended the situations at hand and could manage the situations as predictable, and they have the confidence to know that everything will work out in the best way possible.</p> / Uppsatsen har givits ut som bok 2009 med titeln: "Lebanese SOS Children's Villages: Stories of the village mothers" av VDM Verlag, Saarbrücken.

<p>Birth registration is a fundamental key in ensuring several essential rights of the child; including the right to a name and a nationality, the right to education and health care, and protection from abuse and exploitation among others. The United Nation’s Convention on the Right of the Child establishes that the child shall be registered immediately after birth and have the right to a name and a nationality. A total of 22 % of the Dominican children under the age of five are lacking an official proof of their existence within the Dominican society and in the world. A Minor Field study was conducted during a period of two months in 2009 with the aim of clarifying what obstacles to birth registration exist in the South-western part of the Dominican Republic. This clarification will contribute to a wider understanding of the causes to non-registration and the birth registration process in the country. Semi-structured interviews have been conducted with parents to unregistered children, civil registry officials and other relevant actors in the Dominican society. The findings of the study present a wide range of obstacles to birth registration and it is clear that the reasons behind non-registration in this region are numerous, complex and often inter-related. According to most parents, officials and other informants the main obstacle to birth registration was found to be the parents’ lack of a Dominican identification card, a <em>cédula</em>. The lack of awareness about the importance of being registered and neglect by the parents were two other significant barriers to birth registration. The Minor Field Study was conducted with the support of the child rights organisation Plan International - República Dominicana.</p> / <p>Registro de nacimiento es una de las claves más importantes para asegurar los derechos fundamentales del niño; derecho a un nombre y una nacionalidad, derecho a la educación, derecho a servicio de salud, protección contra el abuso y la explotación entre otras cosas. La Convención sobre los Derechos del Niño establece que el niño será inscripto inmediatamente después de su nacimiento y tendrá derecho a un nombre y una nacionalidad. Un total de 22 % de los niños Dominicanos menores de cinco años de edad carece de una prueba oficial de su existencia dentro de la sociedad Dominicana y en el mundo. Un estudio de campo (Minor Field Study) fue realizado durante un período de dos meses en 2009 con el objetivo de aclarar cuáles son los obstáculos para el registro de nacimiento en la parte Sur-occidental de la República Dominicana. Esta aclaración contribuirá a una mayor comprensión de las causas de la no inscripción y el proceso de inscripción de nacimientos en el país. Entrevistas semi-estructuradas fueron realizadas con padres de niños sin registrar, oficiales del Estado civil y otros actores en la sociedad Dominicana. Los resultados de este estudio presentan varios obstáculos para la inscripción de nacimiento y es evidente que las razones de la no inscripción en esta región son numerosas, complejas e interrelacionadas. Según la mayoría de los padres, oficiales del Estado civil y otros informantes el principal obstáculo para el registro de nacimientos se encontró en la falta de cédula de los padres, un problema que muchas veces pasa de una generación a otra. La falta de conciencia sobre la importancia de estar registrado y la negligencia de los padres fueron otros dos obstáculos importantes para el registro de nacimientos. El estudio fue realizado con el apoyo de la organización non gubernamental Plan International- República Dominicana.</p>

A qualitative study is presented concerning children’s participation in the local decisionmaking in Swedish municipalities. The study also aims at finding out what are considered to be successful factors and obstacles connected to the implementation of children’s participation in local decision-making. The study contains a summary of the convention on the rights of the child, focusing on article 12, as well as previous research findings concerning children’s participation and factors enabling respectively hindering participation. Method has been interviews with a purposive sample of politicians, civil employees and children from municipalities regarded as prominent in their work with children’s participation. Either through a formal or informal implementation model. The results have been analysed in the light of Roger Hart’s eight-step “ladder of children’s participation“, where position one is considered Manipulation from adults and position eight is Child-initiated and shared decisions with adults. The results show that the investigated municipalities are considering the voice of the children in the local decision-making. Depending on different variables in focus, the position on Hart’s ladder varies between four and seven. The study concludes that successful implementation of children’s participation in local decision-making commands parallel work with organizational structures, systematic and adult’s attitudes.

In 2006 there was a change in LMA (1994:37) that clarified the division of responsibility be-tween the Migration Board and the municipalities, concerning unaccompanied children. The social services should now be utmost responsible for the housing and care of these children, to assure that they gain the same standards and rights as all other children. The aim of this essay has been to examine how the division of responsibility has influenced the work of the social services and how they interpret their responsibility for the unaccompanied children. How do the social services investigate and make decisions concerning these children? Do these chil-dren have the same rights as other children? To answer these questions a legal study was made, followed by qualitative research interviews with four social services that receive unac-companied children. The study was made from a legal sociologist perspective, which involves analyzing the results from the interviews with the legal results, together with earlier research on unaccompanied children. The results show that the division of responsibility still is indis-tinct and that the investigations concerning these children often are brief and simplified. In two of the interviewed municipalities the view was that unaccompanied children did not have the right to efforts according to SoL (2001:453), which in practice means that the unaccom-panied children are discriminated.