Over the past decade, several studies have been conducted on the extent to which social workers are subjected to threats and violence from clients. The results of these studies indicate that approximately one-third of social workers have experienced threats or violence from clients. Previous research also shows that social workers in the field of child and family services are at a higher risk of facing client-initiated threats and violence. Based on this statistics, along with the recent disinformantion campaign against the social services' work with the LVU-legislation, we found it interesting to focus our study specifically on social workers in the child and family domain. The purpose of our study was examine the experiences and perceptions of threat and violence from clients that social workers in the child and family domain have, and how these experiences have affected their professional approch. Additionally, we wanted to investigatethe strategies social workers use to feel secure. Our study is based on six semi-structured interviews with participants from two municipalities in southern Sweden. Threats and violence from clients are defined in various ways by the participants, with the main difference in the definition being where one draws the boundaries for what is acceptable. Many participants speak about a process of normalization of violence becomes a stratagy to cope with their work. It is also evident that when social workers are exposed to threats or violence from clients, there is a risk that it may affect the objectivity in assessments and decisiions.

Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka hur socialt arbete med barnavård framställs i media och hur porträtteringen påverkar enskilda socialarbetare inom yrkesfältet. Studiens genomförande bestod av att sammanställa tillgänglig forskning inom området genom en litteraturstudie. Materialet bearbetades genom tematisk analys, och analyserades sedan utifrån Meads teori om jaget och maskerna samt Goffmans dramaturgiska perspektiv. Resultatet visade att media generellt sett tenderar att framhäva misslyckanden och osynliggöra positiva aspekter av det sociala arbetet med barn och unga. Vidare framkom att socialarbetare verksamma inom området upplevde att en alltjämt negativ och ensidig bild av professionen framhävs i media. Detta har lett till ett undvikande förhållningssätt gentemot media bland socialarbetare. Något förvånande visade resultatet att allmänhetens förtroende och uppfattning inte tycks påverkas av negativ porträttering av socialarbetare i lika hög utsträckning som den påverkar enskilda socialarbetare. En övergripande slutsats var att socialarbetares förhållningssätt till media påverkar den offentliga bilden av professionen. Implikationer för det sociala arbetet diskuterades. / The purpose of this study was to investigate how child welfare social work is portrayed in the media and how the portrayal affects individual social workers within the professional field. The implementation of the study consisted of compiling available research in the field through a literature study. The material was processed through thematic analysis, and then analyzed based on Mead's theory of the self and masks and Goffman's dramaturgical perspective. The results show that the general perception among social workers is that the media tends to highlight failures and shortcomings in social work. Furthermore, it appeared that child welfare social workers feel that a negative and one-sided image of the profession is still emphasized in the media. Consequently, this has led to an avoidant approach among social workers in relation to the media. A somewhat surprising finding was that the public's trust and perception does not seem to be affected by negative portrayals of social workers in the media to the same extent as it affects individual social workers. An overall conclusion was that social workers' approach to the media have contributed to the public image of the profession. Implications for social work was discussed.

The objective of this study was to determine some of the effects of child protective service investigations on families, children and the workers, when the allegations are determined to be unfounded and no abuse and/or neglect is further suspected.

Title:” Now I took his child, what will he do with mine?” A qualitative study on threat and violence aimed at social workers within child protective service. Authors:  Emma Andersson and Torbjörn Sjölin. Supervisor:  Peter Hultgren. Assessor: Barzoo Eliassi. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine how social workers within child protective service understand and experience threat and violence aimed at them in their profession and how these understandings and experiences affects their well-being. The study will provide an understanding of the subject at hand and can also lead way for new research areas of how to improve the well-being of social workers within this field.   Method: A qualitative approach based on semistructured interviews has been used as method in this study. To collect empirical material seven currently working social workers from three different municipalities in the same region were interviewed. Theory: The theoretical points of this thesis has been Berger and Luckmanns theories about social construction, theory of social cognition and a model produced in the writing of how interaction between experience and understanding affects the well-being. The different theories and approaches has been a valuable tool to analyze the empirical material gathered in the study. Results: The result of this study is divided in different themes based on the purpose of the study. Our results indicate that social worker within child protective service consider threat and violence as occurring within their profession and that this perception has a negative impact on their well-being. Even though social workers consider threat and violence as not acceptable at work and perceive threat as a part of their job they continue to fulfill their obligations at work. The main explanation, found in this study, is that they consider the well-being of children as higher valued than their own.

The aim of the study was to create a greater understanding concerning social workers'experience and their discretion to balance between voluntary and compulsoryinterventions in child welfare. Furthermore, we wanted to investigate social workers'attitudes regarding the implementation of an intermediate compulsory care accordingto the law regarding compulsory care of children and adolescents. Previous researchhas identified a problem where the child is between voluntary and compulsorylegislation which can lead to the child continuing living in harmful conditions. Theempirical data is based on nine interviews with social workers in child welfareinvestigations units in Sweden. Lipsky's (2010) theory of street-level bureaucrats andthe term discretion were used to analyze the data and interpret the results obtainedfrom the study. The results showed that social workers' experience limited discretion.Strategies that were most successful were the relationship-building between socialworker and caregivers, communicative skills, and the application of the law. Thestudy also revealed that social workers had different points of view regarding animplementation of an intermediate care. Some find the implementation hard toenforce in practice, even though it could result in increased child protection. Theconclusion of the study was that the social workers would rather add moreinterventions than an implementation of an additional compulsory law. / Syftet med studien var att skapa en förståelse för socialsekreterares erfarenheter och deras förmåga att balansera mellan frivilliga och tvingande insatser inom den sociala barnavården. Dessutom ville vi undersöka socialsekreterares inställning till implementeringen av ett mellanvårdstvång enligt 2 § i lagen om särskilda bestämmelser om vård av unga. Tidigare forskning har identifierat ett problem där barnet befinner sig mellan frivilliga- och tvångsinsatser, vilket kan leda till att barnet fortsätter att leva under skadliga förhållanden. Empirin baseras på nio intervjuer med socialsekreterare inom den sociala barnavården i Sverige. Lipskys (2010) teori om street-level bureaucrats och begreppet handlingsutrymme användes för att analysera data och tolka de resultat som erhållits från studien. Resultaten visade att socialsekreterarna upplevde ett begränsat handlingsutrymme. Strategier som var mest framgångsrika var relationsskapande mellan socialsekreterare och vårdnadshavare, kommunikativa färdigheter och tillämpning av lagen. Studien visade också att socialsekreterare hade olika inställningar om implementeringen av ett mellanvårdstvång. Vissa tycker att det är svårt att genomföra i praktiken, även om det skulle kunna leda till ökat skydd för barnet. Slutsatsen av studien var att socialsekreterare hellre vill ha tillgång till fler insatser än en implementering av ytterligare en tvångslagstiftning.