People with dementia are commonly in need of some form of social care from the social services in order to manage their everyday situations. However, social services are shaped by the construction of policy targets. The aim of this dissertation is to explore the social citizenship for people with dementia. Social citizenship for people with dementia is explored by studying how people with dementia, in policy documents, have been constructed as a target group and also by studying how policies are enacted in practice by care managers, in their work and in their meetings with people with dementia. This is illustrated by studying policy documents from national level which range over nearly 40 years and 19 interviews with care managers. It is shown that, if and when, people with dementia are visible in policy documents, they commonly have a negative construction based on their cognitive and communicative abilities, as a burden, disturbing and incapable. It is further investigated how street-level bureaucrats, in this case care managers, experience meeting with people with dementia when they apply for social services. It is shown that care-managers experience difficulties concerning this group comprised of the exchange of information between care managers and people with dementia, refusal of social services by the person, the influence of relatives and other professions as well as moral dilemmas, such as the relations between the person with dementia and their relatives. The study shows that care managers have little support from policies, e.g. legislation and guidelines, in how to handle these dilemmas, and must thus create their own local ways of handling these situations. Care managers are thus influential policy actors concerning the policy target group of people with dementia. The policy processes which this dissertation illustrates, affect the social citizenship of people with dementia. It is shown that they, to an extent, have difficulties in influencing their own everyday situation concerning social services. Finally, the policy processes, will affect their possibility to influence their social citizenship. / Personer med demenssjukdom behöver vanligtvis någon form av socialt stöd från socialtjänsten för att kunna hantera sin egen vardag. Emellertid så är socialt stöd format av konstruktionen av policymålgrupper. Syftet med denna avhandling är att undersöka det sociala medborgarskapet för personer med demenssjukdom genom att studera hur dessa personer, som policymålgrupp, har konstruerats i policydokument samt hur policys iscensätts i praktiken av biståndshandläggare inom socialtjänsten, i deras arbete och i deras möten med personer med demenssjukdom. Detta belyses genom studier policydokument på nationell nivå som spänner över nästan 40 år samt intervjuer med 19 biståndshandläggare. Studien visar att om och när personer med demenssjukdom är synliga i policydokument så har de vanligtvis en negativ konstruktion som baseras på deras kognitiva- och kommunikativa förmågor, som betungande, störande och inkapabla. Vidare undersöks i denna avhandling hur gräsrotsbyråkrater, i form av biståndshandläggare, upplever mötet med personer med demenssjukdom då de ansöker om socialt stöd från socialtjänsten. Det visas att handläggare upplever svårigheter i deras möten med denna grupp. Svårigheterna ligger i utbytet av information mellan handläggare och personen med demens, vägran från personen att ta emot stöd, inflytande från anhöriga och andra professioner samt moraliska dilemman som relationen mellan personen med demenssjukdom och anhöriga. Handläggare har lite stöd från policys, såsom lagar och riktlinjer, i hur de ska hantera dessa svårigheter och måste således hitta egna, lokala, sätt att hantera dessa situationer. Handläggare är således inflytelserika policyaktörer rörande policymålgruppen personer med demenssjukdom. De policyprocesser som avhandlingen berör påverkar det sociala medborgarskapet för personer med demenssjukdom. Det visas att de, till viss del, har svårigheter att påverka sin egen vardag i relation till stöd från socialtjänsten. Slutligen påverkar policyprocesser möjligheten för personer med demens att påverka sitt sociala medborgarskap.

Kommuner kan ha olika rutiner vad gäller utbetalning av ekonomiskt bistånd som på olika vis kan påverka jämställdhet och våld i nära relationer. Det råder även ett begränsat forskningsläge kring utbetalningsrutiners påverkan på dessa faktorer. Därför ville vi med hjälp av denna studie undersöka vilka erfarenheter socialsekreterare besitter av och hur de resonerar kring att utbetalningsrutiner kan påverka jämställdhet och våld i nära relationer. Utöver det ville vi även undersöka socialsekreterarnas handlingsutrymme gentemot dessa rutiner. Även om socialsekreterare i vissa situationer vill handla i enlighet med klientens bästa kan de nämligen hindras av olika rutiner och riktlinjer. I denna kvalitativa studie har vi intervjuat sex socialsekreterare från tre olika kommuner och data har bearbetats genom en tematisk analys. Resultaten visade att samtliga socialsekreterare hade svårt att se hur eller om deras utbetalningsrutiner kunde påverka våld i nära relationer samt att handlingsutrymmet varierade beroende på vilken utbetalningsrutin som tillämpades. / Municipalities have different routines regarding payments of financial support which in different ways can affect equality and intimate partner violence. There are also limited studies about payment routines effects on these factors. Therefore, we wanted to investigate social workers experiences and reasonings regarding the effects payments routines can have on equality and intimate partner violence. We also wanted to investigate social workers discretion to these routines. Although social workers in certain situations want to act in the clients best interests, they can be limited by different routines and guidelines. In this qualitative study we have interviewed six social workers from three municipalities and the data has been processed through thematic analysis. The results showed that all social workers had difficulties seeing how or if their payment routines could affect intimate partner violence. It also showed that the discretion varied depending on what payment routine they were using.

With the backdrop of newly admitted restrictive asylum policies in Sweden, a new law that made temporary residence permits available for studies in upper secondary school was adopted in 2018. This study aims to analyze how grassroot bureaucrats experience the implementation and result of the so called “upper secondary school act” (2018:755). The use of a possible discression and the laws’ policy documents from the grassroot bureaucrats’ perspective is the focus of the analysis. The study is based on 10 semi-structured interviews with teachers that have implemented the law in smaller Swedish municipalities. The analysis uses qualitative text analysis combined with the theoretical framework “State agent or citizen agent: two narratives of discretion” (Maynard Moody & Musheno, 2000). The study finds that the implementing teachers mainly makes decisions based on enabling a permanent residence permit for the students both in using their discression and handling the policy documents. The teachers describe the law as strict in many aspects but also helpful to students. They teachers emphasize their hard work, flexibility, cooperation with each other and with the non-profit civil society in creating a good implementation. The theoretical citizen agent narrative in contrast to the state agent narrative (Maynard Moody & Musheno, 2000, 348-356) mainly conforms with the interviews on these points, except for the cooperation with the non-profit civil society, which may need more exploration.

The purpose of this essay is to examine how human rights are implemented in a municipal context. The essay is based on a case study of the City of Malmö and analyzes the work of the city office, the high school and adult education administration and the service administration in incorporating the city’s human rights policy into their respective operations. To analyze the administrations’ work with human rights, central concepts from neo-institutionalism, Lennart Lundquist’s three aspects for successful implementation and Michael Lipsky’s theory of street-level bureaucrats have been applied to the collected material. The collected material mostly consists of regulatory documents such as budget and operational plans, publications from SKR, public documents and previous research and literature on human rights in public administration. In addition, five interviews with civil servants from the various administrations have been conducted. The results show that the committees’ budgets contain political guidelines which are then concretized into focus goals and evaluated using indicators. The goals are specified in relation to indicators that make out an increase compared to previous years. Based on municipal council goals and goals set for the operation, the administrations make various contributions in the form of activities. Based on the interviews it emerged that there was a lack of understanding about how to work rights-based. At the same time, the human rights work was prioritized. With that in mind, my conclusion is that there is a certain inertia within the administrations. Due to reasons such as high workload and a lack of resources the human rights policy has not been able to be fully implemented in the investigated administrations, which reasonably indicates that a de-coupling from higher to lower levels of governance has occurred. / Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka hur man i en kommunal kontext implementerar mänskliga rättigheter. Uppsatsen baseras på en enfallsstudie av Malmö stad och analyserar stadskontoret, gymnasie- och vuxenutbildningsförvaltningen och serviceförvaltningens arbete med att införliva stadens policy för mänskliga rättigheter i sina respektive verksamheter. För att analysera förvaltningarnas arbete med mänskliga rättigheter har centrala begrepp från nyinstitutionalismen, Lennart Lundquists tre aspekter för lyckad implementering och Michael Lipskys teori om gräsrotsbyråkrater applicerats på det insamlade materialet. Det insamlade materialet består till största del av styrdokument såsom budget- och verksamhetsplaner, publikationer från SKR, offentliga dokument samt tidigare forskning och litteratur om mänskliga rättigheter i offentlig förvaltning. Till detta har fem intervjuer med tjänstepersoner från de olika förvaltningarna genomförts. Resultatet visar att nämndernas budgetar innehåller politiska riktlinjer som sedan konkretiseras i inriktningsmål och utvärderas med hjälp av indikatorer. Målen specificeras i förhållande till indikatorer som handlar om en ökning jämfört med tidigare år. Utifrån kommunfullmäktigemål och mål satta för verksamheten gör förvaltningarna olika insatser i form av aktiviteter. Utifrån intervjuerna framkom att det fanns en avsaknad för förståelse kring hur man arbetar rättighetsbaserat. Samtidigt prioriterades MR-arbetet. Mot bakgrund av detta är min slutsats att det finns en viss tröghet inom förvaltningarna. På grund av anledningar såsom hög arbetsbelastning och en avsaknad av resurser har inte policyn för mänskliga rättigheter kunnat implementeras fullt ut i de undersökta verksamheterna, vilket någorlunda tyder på att en särkoppling från högre till lägre styrningsnivåer skett.

Background: The National Board of Health and Welfare (2020) states that when coordination fails this leads to difficulties in the cooperation between the roles of the various professions and this lack results in the staff's holistic approach to care are failing.  The National Board of Health and Welfare (2020) also shows that the elderly drink more and more alcohol and statistics show that alcohol consumption among 65-84-year-olds has risen by 21% since 2014. Purpose: The purpose of our study was to get a deeper understanding of how the work on the elderly with alcohol abuse is carried out within the home care service from the perspective of leaders and assistant nurses. Method: Collection of data material was carried out through a qualitative method which was carried out in total through eight semi-structured interviews with unit managers and assistant nurses in the home care service. Result: To then analyze the results we used collaboration from Bert Danermark, room for maneuver from Michael Lipsky and Ingrid Karlsson's thesis there she reflects on room for maneuver and freedom of action.  was used. The results of the study showed a lack of knowledge among the staff when it comes to the elderly and alcohol abuse as well as the managers' room for maneuver and the staff's freedom of action is limited towards the elderly with alcohol abuse in the home care service through laws and guidelines. They require further collaboration between the home care service and other organizations such as substance abuse care to prevent the elderly from ending up in alcohol abuse. Conclusion: Our conclusion is that there is a great need for collaboration and cooperation between the various actors in society and that one should review the already existing laws or come up with proposals for a new law. / Bakgrund: Socialstyrelsen (2020) konstaterar är att när samordning brister leder detta till svårigheter i samarbetet mellan de olika yrkesprofessionernas roller och denna brist resulterar i att personalens helhetsgrepp kring vården fallerar. Socialstyrelsen (2020) visar även att äldre dricker alltmer alkohol och statistik visar att alkoholkonsumtionen bland 65–84-åringar har stigit med 21 % sedan 2014. Syfte: Syftet med vår studie var att få en ökad förståelse om hur arbetet kring äldre med alkoholmissbruk bedrivs inom hemtjänsten utifrån enhetschefer och undersköterskors perspektiv. Metod: Insamling av datamaterial har genomförts genom en kvalitativ metod som sammanlagt genomfördes genom åtta semistrukturerade intervjuer med enhetschefer och undersköterskor inom hemtjänsten. Resultat: För att sedan analysera resultatet användes teorierna om samverkan från Bert Danermark, handlingsutrymme från Michael Lipsky och Ingrid Karlssons avhandling där hon reflekterar över handlingsutrymme och handlingsfrihet. Studiens resultat visade kunskapsbrist hos personalen när det kommer till äldre och alkoholmissbruk samt chefernas handlingsutrymme och personalens handlingsfrihet begränsar deras arbete gentemot de äldre med alkoholmissbruk inom hemtjänsten. De krävs ytterligare samverkan mellan hemtjänsten och andra organisationer så som missbruksvården för att förebygga att äldre hamnar i ett alkoholmissbruk. Slutsats: Vår slutsats är att det finns ett stort behov av samverkan och samarbete mellan de olika aktörerna i samhället samt att man bör se över de redan befintliga lagarna eller komma med förslag till en ny lag.

The study examines family law secretaries’ descriptions of working with parents and children in matters of custody, residence and contact. In addition, the study intends to shed light on the activities that family law secretaries work with, as well as examine the family law secretaries’ descriptions of the interpersonal meeting between a client and a person in authority. The study is based on semi-structured interviews with seven family law secretaries in southern Sweden. The collected data has been analyzed using a thematic analysis. The study’s theoretical premises are based on Yeheskel Hasenfeld’s human service organizations, Michael Lipsky’s street-level bureaucrats, power according to Michel Foucault and the concept of empowerment. By investigating the family law secretaries’ descriptions of the purpose of the activities informational dialogue, collaborative talks and contract, it emerges that the family law’s ambition is to, as far as possible, prevent parental conflicts from leading to disputes in court. Throughout, family law secretaries highlight the importance of a children's law perspective where the best interests of the child should be taken into account based on the individual and his or her situation. Furthermore, there is a common perception among all family law secretaries regarding the dilemma they face as representatives of an organization and fellow human beings. They describe how they have both a little and a large amount of power at the same time, something that has an impact on the room for action of the family law secretaries. In the study’s discussion reasoning is carried out using previous research and the study’s theoretical premises. Among other things it is discussed how the family law secretaries need to take into account factors at both individual, group and societal level, when it comes to working with families. / Studien undersöker familjerättssekreterares beskrivningar av att arbeta med föräldrar och barn i frågor kring vårdnad, boende och umgänge. Dessutom avser studien att belysa de aktiviteter som familjerätten arbetar med samt undersöka familjerättssekreterarnas beskrivningar av det mellanmänskliga mötet mellan klient och myndighetsperson. Studien bygger på semistrukturerade intervjuer med sju familjerättssekreterare i södra Sverige. De insamlade data har analyserats med hjälp av en tematisk analys. Studiens teoretiska utgångspunkter bygger på Yeheskel Hasenfelds människobehandlande organisationer, Michael Lipskys gräsrotsbyråkrater, makt enligt Michel Foucault samt begreppet empowerment. Genom att undersöka familjerättssekreterarnas beskrivningar av syftet med aktiviteterna informationssamtal, samarbetssamtal och avtal framkommer att familjerättens ambition är att så långt det är möjligt förhindra att föräldrars konflikter leder till tvister i domstol. Genomgående belyser familjerättssekreterarna vikten av ett barnrättsperspektiv där barnets bästa bör beaktas utifrån den enskilde individen och dennes situation. Vidare förekommer en gemensam uppfattning bland samtliga familjerättssekreterare kring det dilemma de står i som organisationsrepresentant samt medmänniska. De beskriver hur de har lite och mycket makt på samma gång, något som får en inverkan på familjerättssekreterarnas handlingsutrymme. I studiens diskussion förs ett resonemang med hjälp av tidigare forskning och studiens teoretiska utgångspunkter. Det diskuteras bland annat hur familjerättssekreterarna behöver ta hänsyn till faktorer på både individ-, grupp- och samhällsnivå när det kommer till arbetet med familjerna.

This study explores the experiences of the Swedish front-line social workers (socialsekreterare) in the municipal income support unit, Young Adults, monthly assessing the income support applications as well as daily processing the activation programs for young adult clients with mental ill-health combined with social-medicinal vulnerabilities, also referred to as young adults with complex needs. Furthermore, this study aims to illuminate the ever changing conditions of the Swedish welfare state and its underlying driving forces through the lens of the social workers. 9 Semi-structured distance interviews with 11 social workers from 6 municipalities belonging to 5 regions in Sweden, were conducted for the collection of qualitative data. It has been analyzed by the inductive-deductive coding as well as a theoretical frame consisting of concepts such as discretiona and advocacy of M. Lipsky, and reciprocal interaction (Wechselwirkung), form and contents, and call of G.Simmel. The result and analysis show that the rehabilitative approach based on the interactions and relations with the clients, is prevalent through the social workers’ processing of the activation program. It seems to be effective in a dyad, between the social workers and the client while the social workers’ discretion is maximized for the utilization of the agency (unit) activation resources. However, it proved not to be as effective in a triad or more when an extern agent outside of the unit, Young Adults begins to be involved. The tension is a fact and the social workers’ discretion is minimized when they have to process the activation program for the clients who are neither “active enough” to have a job in the ordinary labor market, nor “sick enough” to be eligible for the stately activity compensation (aktivitetsersättning) from the Social Insurance Agency (Försäkringskassan) which heavily relies on the medicinal expertise for its decision making. The social workers’ experience to fail to deliver the best possible results out of the activation programs, and the client relationship built on the rehabilitative approach turns out to be unsustainable, which can indicate the discrepancy between the rehabilitative approach as well as the activation programs, as content, and the unit, Young Adults, as form. Even though the social workers daily carry the ideological as well as the social-political tensions between the medicalization and the activation through the ever changing reality of the Swedish welfare state, their mandate to make an impact on the decision making of the activity compensation program, is rather limited, reflecting the Swedish welfare state’s expectation for the professionalism of the social workers. Rather striking that the social workers, however, confess that they in spite of the pressure of organizational efficiency as well as socio-economic discourse of digitalization undermining the concept of the unit, Young Adults, are not willing to give up the rehabilitative approach for the client’s sake but also to protect their unit, Young Adults, which postulate that they are not the gatekeepers in the agency but the advocate for the clients. In this moment, they also seem to know, and even have the call, the essential, if not mandatory, element needed to be landed in the perfect society of G. Simmel.