The social welfare committee has a responsibility to work with children and young people to prevent them from being harmed. In many municipalities, preventive work is carried out through an activity known as field work. More than half of Sweden's municipalities have field activities, but how the work is organized differs between municipalities. The purpose of the study is to investigate fieldworkers views and working methods in order to increase the understanding of fieldworkers goals and the conditions required to achieve these goals. The study is based on a qualitative approach with semi- structured interviews as a data collection method. Ten social workers with fieldwork as their explicit task have been interviewed about their perceptions and working methods. Analysis of their statements has then been made based on Bronfenbrenner's developmental ecological model, Askheim & Starrin's theory of Empowerment and Starrin's theory of Paternalism. The results of the study show that the fieldworkers goal is to discover the needs of young people, motivate them to help and create a long-term well-being of the individuals they meet. Fieldworkers believe that academic education, social skills and cooperation with others are important prerequisites for achieving these goals. In addition, it is important to have the trust of their organization, as the profession requires flexibility and results are difficult to demonstrate. The fieldworker strikes a balance between helping and controlling, aiming to help young people make wise choices and create long-term well-being.

The aim of this study is to get a deeper understanding, from a Swedish context, of how you can do social work with vulnerable and orphaned children in a developing country such as Uganda. We have investigated this through the example WEBALE, an NGO working in a context where among other things HIV/AIDS, poverty and a defective social safety net have led to social problems affecting children. Further, we have also aimed at acquiring a deeper understanding of what it is that motivates the volunteers and the director to work with vulnerable children at WEBALE. In order to fulfil this aim, the research has the following two key questions: What is the motivation for the teacher volunteers and the manager to work with vulnerable children at WEBALE? How do the teacher volunteers perceive the social work with the children in everyday life at WEBALE and what experiences do they have from this? The study is a field study with a phenomenological and ethnological approach. We were present at and took part in the everyday life of the informants at the school and orphanage in Uganda for eight weeks. The investigation uses a qualitative method where four interviews and participant observations were carried out. The results are analyzed in connection with theories on social work defining preventions and interventions, where theories on risk- and protection factors and the salutogenetic theory on SOC have been used. The analysis is also connected to theories on social work with children from a developmental-ecological and attachment-theoretical perspective. The results show what it is that motivates the volunteers and manager to work as volunteers in this specific contest through personal accounts of their background. Our observation is that the motivation of the volunteers and the manager to work with orphaned and vulnerable children is closely connected to their own background and childhood. The biggest reason for this kind of a life choice seems to be a sense of coherence and the largest motivating factor is that the work they do feels meaningful. The results further highlight the social work that is carried out and how the volunteers perceive their work at WEBALE. The study shows that the volunteers (who mainly consist of teachers) carry out what can be called social work, according to the definitions of interventions and preventions within various fields, such as health, education, emotional and behavioural development, ability to take care of oneself, social behaviour, family and social relations, and identity.