The aim of this paper is to gain understanding and contribute to the knowledge of attitudes towards same-sex parenting in Sweden. Despite quite sparse previous research, some results in other nations show that attitudes towards homosexual men are more negative than their female counterparts and several studies also show that men generally have more negative attitudes than women regarding same-sex parenting. An interesting perspective of understanding attitudes toward same-sex parenting is found in theories of a correlation between these attitudes and social gender norms. To research the attitudes in Sweden, a quantitative study with data from the International Social Survey Programme is performed using multivariate regression analysis. The results show that differences between the sexes in attitudes regarding same-sex parenting can also be found in the cultural context of Sweden,where men are inclined to have less positive attitudes. The previously found pattern of a greater negativity towards homosexual men as parents is not found to be statistically significant in this study, however, the results support that higher levels of equality impact attitudes to same-sex parenting in a positive direction. The results and suggestions for further research.

This thesis analyses social worker’s assessments of appropriate same-sex parenthood in the case of second-parent adoption in Sweden to thereby investigate the governmentality directed toward same-sex parents and how this governing practise normalises certain discourses on parenthood. The material consists of interviews with social workers conducting second-parent adoptions, which have been analysed through a discourse analysis deploying theoretical frameworks on governmentality, heteronormativity and family theory. The thesis has provided a deeper understanding of the effects of normative discourses on the exercise of public authority in the case of second-parent adoption. Great differences have been found among which criteria are used to condition same-sex parenthood and the impact of social workers own perceptions of suitable parenthood and the purpose of the assessment process.