Unemployment and long term unemployment is a reality for a large number of people in Sweden. This may be the result of structural changes in the labor market, but involves a wide range of issues. Along with other actors, the social services are obliged to support the long term unemployed to find a job. The aim of this study was to describe and analyze the work done by social workers towards the long term unemployed, 25-49 years old, in two municipalities. We performed altogether six qualitative interviews. In each municipality we selected two social workers and the head of the work unit. The interviews were recorded and transcribed. We used a social constructionist perspective and organizational theory for the analysis. Results show that the social workers believe that they have almost twice as many clients as they can handle with a good quality in social work. We also present, in the study that a considerable coordination with other units of the social services and other authorities is taking place, but that the social workers are partly negative towards its functioning.

Abstract The aim of this qualitative case study was to examine social service workers and managers approach towards the implementation of the Signs-of-Safety (SoS) model and their comprehension of working with the model. This study took place at a children and youth unit at a social service office in Stockholm. The empiric is based on three qualitative semistructured interviews and participant observations. The result was analyzed by definitions from Hasenfeld’s Human service organizations (HSO), Lipsky’s and Johansson’s definitions of "street-level bureaucrats", and room for manoeuvre. Lundquist’s definitions of "understand", "want" and "can" was also used, as well as the core-components that Fixsen, Naoom, Blase, Friedman och Wallace draw together of a successful implementation. The main result of the study indicates that the SoS-model contributes to the participation of children and parents and that it is complicated to implement the SoS-model in such a specialized organization. The study’s result also shows that the implementation is promoted by the support and the resources of every level in the organization and the fact that the initiative came from the street-level bureaucrats. The documentary system that comes with the BBIC is complicated to combinate with the SoS-model and therefore this might become a restricting effect.

Syftet med studien är att få en ökad förståelse för hur socialsekreterare upplever bemötande och makt i mötet mellan socialsekreterare och familjer med migrationsbakgrund. Vi har genomfört en kvalitativ studie med semistrukturerade intervjuer som datainsamlingsmetod. Intervjumaterialet bygger på intervjuer med sju socialsekreterare som arbetar på ett socialkontor i en medelstor kommun i Sverige med inriktning på barn- och familjefrågor. Uppsatsen fokus ligger på studiens två centrala teman: Bemötande och Makt. Vi har i vår studie kommit fram till att bemötandet har en stor betydelse för förtroendet och relationen mellan socialtjänsten och familjer med migrationsbakgrund. Att bemöta familjerna med respekt och nyfikenhet ansåg socialsekreterarna som viktigt liksom användandet av en skicklig tolk. Reflektionerna kring makt varierade bland socialsekreterarna. Några upplevde en slags trygghet gällande sin maktposition till följd av de lagar som styr arbetet medan några inte reflekterade över maktförhållandet alls. Vad som även framkom var betydelsen av kulturförtrogenhet, det vill säga att ha kompetens och förståelse för olika kulturer. Det kan även vara en fördel för klientrelationen om socialsekreteraren har en liknande bakgrund som den aktuella familjen. Det empiriska materialet har analyserats utifrån maktperspektivet samt tidigare forskning som berört studiens ämne. Till skillnad från den redan befintliga forskningen bidrar denna studie med socialsekreterares egna perspektiv utifrån en svensk kontext. / The purpose of this study is to gain a better understanding of how, encounter and the use of authority, affect the meetings between social secretaries and families with foreign backgrounds from a social secretary's standpoint. We conducted a qualitative study with semi-structured interviews as our data collection method. The interview material is based on interviews with seven social workers working at a social welfare office in a medium-sized municipality in Sweden focusing on child and family issues. The thesis is based on the study's two central themes: Encounter and Authority. We have found in our study that having a positive attitude has a great impact on building confidence and a meaningful relationship between social services and families with migration backgrounds. By treating families with respect, having an open mind and using a skilled interpreter, social workers felt this gave a positive response. The reflections around authority varied among social workers. Some experienced a sort of reassurance regarding their position of authority as a result of the laws governing their work while some do not reflect on the balance of power at all. What also emerged from the study was the importance of cultural familiarity, that is, to have the skills of understanding of different cultures. It can also be an advantage for client relationship if the social worker has a similar background to that of the family. The empirical data have been analyzed from the perspective of authority and previous research that has dealt with the study topic. Unlike existing research studies this study deals with the experiences of social secretaries and has a Swedish context.

Lagen (1988:870) om vård av missbrukare i vissa fall (LVM) är en tvångsvårdslag och är den enda lagen som avviker från frivillighetsprincipen i socialtjänstlagen, vilket ger socialsekreterarna möjligheten att gå emot individens fria vilja. Studien syftar till att belysa de faktorer som kan bidra till vilka svårigheter socialsekreterare kan ställas inför i relation till LVM-lagstiftningen, individens rättssäkerhet och självbestämmanderätt. Syftet är också att problematisera socialsekreterarnas tillvägagångssätt gällande tillämpningen av LVM-lagstiftningen och om mål och syfte uppfylls. De teoretiska utgångspunkter som används för att kunna analysera det empiriska materialet är teorier om socialsekreterarnas handlingsutrymme och etiska dilemman som kan uppstå i relation till klienten samt teorier om makt och motivation. För att samla in det empiriska materialet användes semistrukturerade intervjuer med olika socialsekreterare, därmed fångades socialsekreterarnas egna erfarenheter upp kring arbetet med LVM i praktiken. Resultatet av studien har visat att det förekommer motsättningar i LVM- lagen eftersom det är en tvångsvårdslag där socialsekreterarna har makten att ta ifrån klienten deras fria vilja, samtidigt som hänsyn skall tas till klientens självbestämmanderätt och integritet. Socialsekreterarna i sin tur är styrda av den högre ledningens makt genom ledningens riktlinjer och direktiv, vilket både påverkar socialsekreterarna och klienten på ett negativt sätt. Motivationsarbetet med klienten handlar om att få klienten motiverad till att gå med på behandling vare sig denne vill det eller inte och förekommer i form av dold makt och hot, där klientens fria vilja inte beaktas. Tillämpningen av mål och syfte i LVM- lagen har visat sig skilja markant åt inom olika kommuner i Stockholms län, beroende på att det förekommer ett brett handlingsutrymme och en tolkningsbarhet i lagen samt att ingen standardmodell finns att följa. / The law (1988:870) concerning care of addicts in some cases (LVM) is a compulsory care law and is the only law that deviates from the voluntariness principle in the social care law, which gives social workers the ability to go against individual’s free will. This study aims to elucidate the factors that may contribute to the difficulties social workers may face in relation to LVM- law, individual's legal certainty and self- determination of the individual. The purpose is also to problematize the social worker's approach concerning application of the LVM- law and if its purpose and goal is fulfilled. The theoretical starting points that are used to analyze the empirical material are theories about the social worker's discretion and the ethical dilemmas that may arise in relation to the client, also included here are theories about power and motivation. The empirical material was gathered through semi-structured interviews with different social workers, thus the social workers own experiences was captured of the work with the LVM- law in practice. The result of the study has shown that there are certain contradictions in the LVM- law since it is a compulsory care law where social workers have the power to take away their free will of the client, while taking account the right of self-determination and integrity. In turn, the social workers are controlled by higher management’s power by management policies and directives, which have a negative effect on the social workers and clients. Motivation work with the client involves getting the client motivated to agree to treatment irrespective of whether he wants it or not and occurs in the form of hidden power and threats, where the client's free will, not will be considered. The application of goal and purpose of the LVM- law have shown to differ significantly in different municipalities in Stockholm county since there is a wide range of discretion, dependent on the existence of a wide discretion and interpretability of the law and that no standard model is to follow.

Studien avser att genom ett kvalitativt fältarbete få förståelse för hantering av känslor för socialsekreterare inom socialt arbete på en socialförvaltning. Syftet är även att få en inblick i vilka faktorer som eventuellt har en inverkan på denna hantering och vad denna emotionella hantering kan ha för konsekvenser för socialsekreteraren. Det insamlade materialet i studien baseras på intervjuer för att få en detaljrik uppfattning om informanternas arbetssituation. Intervjuerna utfördes med åtta socialsekreterare som utreder ärenden angående barn, unga och familjer inom en specifik kommun. Att de arbetade under en gemensam arbetsstruktur och kultur underlättade ytterligare vår undersökning. Resultatet visar att det som minskar risken för psykisk ohälsa hos socialsekreterarna är social respons och stöd från bl.a. kollegor där de får möjlighet till utrymme och utlopp för sina känslor i en avslappnad miljö. Till följd av att socialsekreterarna är i behov av att bygga en relation med sina klienter, befinner de sig i ett komplext läge i klientmötet där de använder sig av en kombination mellan ett ytligare och djupare agerande. Socialsekreterarna måste således visa sig mänskliga under samtalet för att konstruera en känsla av trygghet, vilket kräver en balans av en viss känslomässig frihet att respondera utan att göra avsteg från rollen som professionell. / The study’s intention is to achieve an understanding for social workers' management of feelings within social work at a social service centre through qualitatively fieldwork. Our intention is also to receive an insight of the components that might have an impact on the feeling management and also what consequences this feeling management might have for the social worker. The gathered material in the study is based on interviews to receive a detailed view of the informants' work situation. The interviews were performed on eight social workers investigating cases concerning children, young adults and families in a specific county, which contributed to a common working structure and culture that have simplified our research. The result shows that what reduces the risk of psychological illness for the social workers is social response and support from, among others, colleagues where they have a chance of space and can express their feelings in a relaxed environment. Because of the need for social workers to build a relationship to their clients, they are in a complex situation in the meeting with the client where they have a combination of a more surfaced acting and a deeper acting. Therefore social workers must show their humanity during the client meetings to construct a feeling of security, which demands a balance between having a certain emotional freedom to express oneself without breaking the role as a professional.

The aim of this study is to through six interviews, with six experienced, social workers’, in three cities, understand how the child’s position in the Swedish child protective services’ enquiries has change, and the factors behind it. The aim is also to compare if the social workers’ view of the child’s position in the enquire has change accordingly to Socialstyrelsens intentions of BBIC. The theoretical approaches that was used is the new institutionalism, the Shier’s pathways to participation and the term discretion. The results of the study shows that through the perspective of social workers, the factors that helped the child’s position to improve are the new organization of working patterns and the new documentation system, the new mindset of the social workers’ and the way the social workers’ talk to the children. The study also shows that through the child’s position in child protective enquiries has improved accordingly to Socialstyrelsens intentions of BBIC.

The purpose of this study was to examine the school counsellors and social service workers experience of how the child psychiatry manage their authority in the collaboration concerning children with mental health problems. The study was conducted using qualitative interviews with school counsellors, social service workers and one former employee of the Swedish child psychiatric care. Our results are divided into two themes: Collaboration and distribution of responsibility and Children who fall between the cracks. Examples of groups of children who according to our study are at risk of falling between the cracks are those who apart from mental issues have substance abuse issues or social issues, those whose parents are in a child custody dispute, children who are acting out and children with self-harm issues. The study also reveals that it's easier for children whose parents are active and knowledgeable to get help from the child psychiatric care and that it's a requirement for both parents and children to be highly motivated.There are established social hierarchs between agencies who partake in collaboration regarding children with mental illness. The child psychiatry have a higher status than the social services and the school and therefore greater power to steer the collaboration in a way that benefits the organisations own interests. The structure of the Swedish child psychiatric care is founded in a way that benefits the sorting of clients through the requirement of diagnoses and the will to sort out the psychic problems from the social.Our conclusions with the study is the way that children with mental illness are categorized and where the child is referred is mainly because of a broad conception that Abbott (1981) could describe where the mental issues are considered as "pure" and the social issues are considered "impure".

Socialsekreterare verkar vara frånvarande i samhällsdebatten. Det är problematiskt, dels för att det ur en demokratisk aspekt är viktigt med insyn i offentlig förvaltning, dels för vikten av att någon – till exempel den aktör med mest kompetens på området – ger röst åt de utsatta i samhället som kan ha svårt att göra sig själva och sina behov hörda. Syftet med uppsatsen är att visa socialsekreterares syn på eventuella hinder som finns för dem att kommentera och debattera sociala frågor i det offentliga rummet. För att uppnå det genomfördes semistrukturerade intervjuer med sex stycken personer som jobbar med myndighetsutövning inom socialtjänsten. I intervjuerna kom det fram att det finns saker som hindrar socialsekreterarna att engagera sig i det offentliga samtalet. Dessa hinder verkar grunda sig i en krock mellan myndighetskulturen och idealet av socialarbetarrollen. Socionomen har under sin utbildning fått särskild professionskunskap men måste, när denne kliver in i socialtjänsten, förhålla sig till att förmågan att underordna sig organisationens sätt att arbeta på och att förvalta statlig makt värd­eras högst. Utifrån ett nyinstitutionellt perspektiv kan en förklaring till socialsekreterarnas tystnad vara att det inte ligger i myndighetens intresse att de ska uttala sig offentligt. Det riskerar att skada legitimi­teten vilket är ett hot mot organisationens existens. Därför växer det fram en icke stöttande kultur där rädsla och oro frodas, och där det inte skapas tydlighet kring ifall det ingår i socialsekreterarrollen att främja social förändring även på strukturell nivå. I en rituell socialiseringsprocess internaliserar social­sekreterarna organisationens trosuppfattningar till sina egna. De här sakerna bidrar till att socialsekre­terarna inte ger sig ut för att kommentera och debattera sociala frågor i det offentliga rummet. / Social service workers seem to be silent in public debate. For the sake of democracy, it is important there is transparency in public administration, hence the silence is problematic. It is also problematic because of the importance that someone – for instance the player with the most competence, experi­ence and expertise in the field – functions as a voice for the vulnerable who may have difficulties mak­ing themselves and their needs heard. The aim of this thesis is to show the views of social service workers on potential obstacles for them to comment and debate social issues in public debate. To accomplish this, semi-structured interviews were conducted with six persons working with responsi­bility for public authority within the social service. From the interviews it appeared that there are things hindering the social service workers to engage in social debate. These obstacles seem to be based on a clash between the authority culture and the ideal of the social worker role. The social worker has from his or her education gained certain professional knowledge but has to, when entering the social service, relate to that knowledge being valued less than the ability to subserve the organiza­tion’s way of working and to administer government dictat. From a neo-institutionalism perspective, one explanation for the silence of the social workers is that it is not in the organization’s interest that they should speak publicly. That risks hurting the legitimacy which is a threat to the organization’s very existence. Therefor a non-supporting culture grows where fear and anxiety flourish, and no intel­ligibility is created about if it is a part of the social service worker’s role to encourage social change also on a structural level. In a ritual socialization process the social service workers internalize the organization’s beliefs. These things contribute to social service workers not commenting on or debat­ing social issues in public debate.

The purpose of this study is to deepen the knowledge of investigative work with children exposed to sexual abuse through an examination of social workers experiences of interorganizational cooperation within Swedish Barnahus. The data in this study was obtained from seven interviews with people who works within Barnahus with cases where children has been exposed to sexual abuse. The findings of this study shows that professionals experiences of cooperating within Barnahus is positive and looked upon as helpful, but also that it needs improvements in various areas. Access to competent staff is invaluable, but the cooperating actors in Barnahus need to learn more about each other’s professions.

The aim of this study was to create an understanding about what kind of knowledge social workers, that work in social services, use in determining a child's participation in an investigation with the focus on the child's maturity and age. We also had the aim to get an understanding about if the reasoning about a child's maturity could lead to learning. With a qualitative approach and with semi structured interviews, seven social workers were interviewed. We were inspired of an hermeneutical approach. As the theoretical starting point, the concepts of knowledge, discretion and learning were used to analyze our data.  The conclusion of this study was that social workers use a combination of several knowledge forms when assessing children's participation based on maturity. Tacit knowledge, scientific knowledge and institutionalized knowledge were used mainly to gather information to assess the maturity of the children. Articulated knowledge and bodily knowledge were used in the reasoning in how to make children participated. The use of several forms of knowledge in combination with the reasoning of children's participation based on maturation leads to learning. However, the social workers implied that the children's participation wasn’t depending on maturity, rather that maturity only determined in which way the child was going to be participated.