The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of counselor profanity on subjects' perceptions of counselor credibility and client satisfaction.

The main theme of this thesis is the impact of the sudden transition on service delivery caused by the COVID 19 pandemic on social workers and career practitioners in related fields. Like most professional careers that the sudden takeover of the virus has obstructed, the field of social work has been one ofthe professions that the global pandemic has negatively impacted because of its heavy reliance on face-to-face interactions. By employing research methods, challenges faced while working remotely by the social workers were identified, and a main design concepts was proposed in supporting the work of the social workers.

I denna studie har jag försökt få en ökad kunskap om hur biståndshandläggare upplever samt hur dessa hanterar makten i sina arbeten som myndighetsutövare. För att kunna uppnå mitt syfte har jag intervjuat fyra biståndshandläggare inom samma kommun som alla arbetar mot lagen om stöd och service till vissa funktionshindrade (LSS). Intervjumaterialet har jag analyserat utifrån Michel Foucaults relationella maktbegrepp. Det visade sig att informanterna inte reflekterade över makten utan fokuserar istället på den enskilde brukarens behov av diverse hjälpinsatser från kommunen. / In this study, I have tried to get an increased knowledge about administrators’ experiences about how they deal with power on their jobs as public authorities. To achieve my goal, I have interviewed four administrators within the same county, all working towards The Act concerning Support & Service for Persons with Certain Functional Impairments. The interview material has been analyzed by using Michael Foucault's relational power concept. It turned out that the informants did not reflect upon the power, but focused instead on the individual clients’ needs of various relief efforts from the municipality.

Uppsatsen baseras på en åtta veckor lång fältstudie i Jinja, Uganda och behandlar socialt arbete med fokus på HIV-rådgivning. Syftet är att beskriva HIV- rådgivning och hur det utförs. Detta genom frågeställningar om interaktionens natur mellan klient och rådgivare utifrån en ugandisk kontext, vad respektive parter har för upplevelser av rådgivning samt vilka utmaningar som kan identifieras gällande såväl HIV- prevention som HIV- rådgivning. Studien är kvalitativ och den insamlade empirin består av semistrukturerade intervjuer med sammanlagt nio informanter, varav fyra är eller har varit aktiva rådgivare, fyra är HIV- positiva klienter som får rådgivning och en är aktiv både som rådgivare och som klient. Vi har valt att spegla vår empiri mot teorier om stigma, sexuella skript och pastoralmakt. Ur resultatdelen har det mellan klienter och rådgivare framträtt en bild som visar på en samstämmighet såväl som diskrepans gällande relationens natur och innehåll såväl som utmaningar kopplat till HIV- rådgivning och preventionsarbete. Relationen bygger på vänskap såväl som professionalism och det tycks finnas en förväntan på rådgivaren som räddare som understöds av såväl klienterna som rådgivarna själva. Det framkommer att stigma fortfarande framträder kopplat till HIV, men i mindre utsträckning än förut och i högre utsträckning bland män och barn än bland kvinnor. Sedan ARV, bromsmediciner, kommit HIV- smittade till del, talar de klienter vi intervjuat om hur HIV numera inte behöver ses som värre än vilken annan sjukdom som helst, vilket rådgivarna menar på också är en risk, då minskad respekt för sjukdomen också kan leda till ett ökat riskbeteende. I de rådgivande samtalen låg fokus på beteendeförändringar baserade på ett hälsofrämjande tänkande och handlande, så kallat positive living. Vidare framgår att religionens framträdande roll i det ugandiska samhället även tar sin plats genom ord eller handling i mötet mellan rådgivare och klient. / This study is based on a minor field study that took place during eight weeks in Jinja, Uganda. It discusses the aspect of social work in HIV counselling, with the object to describe HIV counselling and how it is conducted. The study attempts to answer questions about the nature of the interaction between the client and the counsellor from a Ugandan context, what experiences that lies between them, as well as what challenges can be identified when it comes to HIV prevention as well as HIV counselling. The study’s research strategy has a qualitative approach and the collected data is derived from semi-structural interviews with four HIV positive women who receive counselling, four counsellors and one woman who is both a client and a counsellor. We have chosen to understand our empirical findings through theories of stigma, sexual scripts and pastoral power. From our findings, we were able to conclude that there is consensus as well as discrepancies between the clients’ and the counsellors’ perceptions of their relationship, the counselling content as well as the challenges that is connected with HIV counselling. The relationship is the result of an intertwining of friendship and professionalism and there seem to be an expectation on the counsellor as a savior, which is supported by both clients and counsellors. It appears that stigma still appears in relation to HIV, but to a lesser extent than before and more so among men and children than among women. Since the introduction of ARV’s, many of our interviewed clients seem to view HIV as any other disease, which is regarded as something of a risk by many of our interviewed counsellors, as it may lead to increased risky behavior when it comes to HIV transmission. In the counselling session, the focus seems to be on behavioral change through the concept of positive living, which revolves around the idea of physical and mental well-being. Furthermore, religion has a great impact on the Ugandan society, which can be seen in the words and actions in the meeting between counsellor and client.

Researchers have found evidence that when clinicians use an evidence-based feedback system that uses Clinical Support Tools (CST) for not-on-track clients, deterioration rates fall and success rates improve (Shimokawa et al., 2010). Despite multiple studies finding evidence in support of using the CST, there has been a discrepancy between effect sizes (i.e., d = 0.5; Simon et al., 2012). As such, further replicate of these past studies is needed to discover if small effect sizes still persist and if so, what possible variables may contribute to inconsistent findings. For the current study, it was predicted that the use of the CST would result in significantly lower OQ-45 scores at treatment termination after controlling for the intake OQ-45 score. Additionally, previous research indicated that the combined intervention of the progress feedback plus CST would significantly reduce deterioration rates with those NOT. Out of 1,122 participants, 172 were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: The CST feedback group (n = 71) and the no CST feedback group (n = 101). There was not a significant difference in the mean OQ-45 scores for the CST feedback group (M = 2.39, SD = 20.95) and the no CST feedback group (M = 4.17, SD = 19.74). The results of this study raise questions about how regularly the therapists were monitoring their clients' progress feedback and whether the CST are effective. Additionally, the author evaluates the timing of when the CST were administered to clients and when therapists reviewed the feedback.

Recidivism among formerly convicted clients is a topic which has many facets during the present days. As a result, many individuals harbour attitudes towards clients which can result in difficulties returning to a crime-free life. This thesis was conducted to better understand people’s attitudes within the subject of recidivism and followed a quantitative format. A survey was sent out via social media and email. There were 55 respondents (women n = 20, men n = 35). Answers were analysed using descriptive statistics and differences by gender and older/younger age groups were analysed using Mann-Whitney tests and Pearson's chi-squared tests (χ2). The results indicate how the respondents deemed a necessity of improving the Swedish prison and probation service’s work to help clients before and after release. However, overall, no significant differences between either response type or groups were found on any of the questions analysed, apart from a question related to the beliefs of change after a prison sentence where older individuals rated lower in their views on rehabilitation. / Återfall i brott bland tidigare dömda klienter är ett ämne som har många viktiga infallsvinklar i vårt moderna samhälle. Som ett resultat har många individer attityder gentemot klienter som kan leda till svårigheter att återgå till ett brottsfritt liv. Detta examensarbete genomfördes för att bättre förstå människors attityder inom ämnet återfall i brott och följde ett kvantitativt format. En enkät skickades ut via sociala medier och mejl. Det var 55 svarande (kvinnor n = 20, män n = 35). Svaren analyserades med deskriptiv statistik och skillnader efter kön och äldre/yngre åldersgrupper analyserades med Mann-Whitney-tester och Pearsons chi-kvadrattest (χ2). Resultaten visar hur de tillfrågade ansåg att det var nödvändigt att förbättra Kriminalvårdens arbete med att hjälpa klienter före och efter frigivningen. Sammantaget fann man dock inga signifikanta skillnader mellan vare sig svarstyp eller grupper på någon av de analyserade frågorna, förutom en fråga relaterad till föreställningen om förändring efter ett fängelsestraff där äldre individer rankade lägre i sin syn på rehabilitering.

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.

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