The essay wants to capture and illustrate the complex role/roles that social workers possess in their work. The purpose of the essay is to find different parts of their work where their different roles are put to the test and challenged. The purpose is to understand how the dualistic role of social workers is created and arises in relation to external and internal expectations. In which situations and contexts do they take on their different roles, i.e. to be someone's "savior" or the person in power and how this in turn affects their work. To understand this, theories of power relations, grassroots bureaucracy and role theories will be applied. The essay is based on a qualitative interview method with four social workers on financial aid in a mediumsized city. The results of the thesis indicate that there are several influencing factors at different levels, which can form the basis for the role conflict. Expectations of the social workers and their assignment, in the form of expected and unexpected assignments in relation to society, the organization and the clients. Where the problem arises from different views on the role of assignments, where they do not correspond to the social workers perception, which in turn creates an internal conflict with the social worker. It can be concluded that the role conflict is created by different expectations of the social workers assignments, from society, the organization, the client and above all themselves. Based on the essay, it can be seen that the different roles that the social secretary holds are only created in relation to someone else.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the guidelines, methods and strategies of social workers supporting children and young people who live with honour-related problems – in order to deepen the knowledge of tensions between the guidelines of social work and its practices. The result of the study has emerged from qualitative interviews with six social workers working with children and young people and three local authority documents containing guidelines and routines. The social workers were asked questions about their experiences of guidelines and routines and their current work situation. To analyse and understand the results a thematic method was used along with theories on discretion. The result shows that social workers use different assessment manuals in order to assess that a child/young person is exposed to honour-related problems, but their experience is that the manuals are not complete and adapted to children and young people who live with honour-related problems. Therefore, many social workers have a discretion, where they can take available methods and adapt them to the honour-related cases. The social workers have several different voluntary and family-oriented interventions to offer, but in honour-related cases the interventions are not optimal. The social workers experience difficulties with working with the families of children and young people with honour-related problems because they are not receptive to change, which was the first tension that could be identified. The overall experience of the interviewed social workers regarding honour-related cases shows that their work is complex in relation to laws, guidelines and methods. Thereby another tension was discovered in the result and analysis between forced interventions relating to the laws and guidelines and principles of the child's best interests. The social worker experiences are that it is difficult to motivate forced interventions as it does not always improve the situation of the child.

This essay will address the topic of child abuse through healthcare interventions, ormore precisely medical child abuse - which is also called Münchausen syndrome byproxy. A social problem that is quite unusual, and therefore creates complexity. Witha quantitative method, the essay is based on a web-based survey, which social workerson the Swedish social services at the children- and family units in Småland haveresponded to. The questions in the survey processes the social workers' knowledgeand preparedness which will be analyzed by their discretionary space and reasoning.These themes are also linked to Lipsky’s theory of street-level bureaucracy which isused to analyze the empirical data of the study. The results from the essay are analyzedand tested through the statistics program SPSS. The results and analysis show forinstance that the longer the social workers have been working at their units and insocial work in general, the more knowledge they considered themselves to have. Theyalso possessed a higher readiness the longer they worked at the unit. They are morerecon with the term “Münchausen by proxy” than “Medical child abuse”. Regarding guidelines and legislation, they feel uncertain, which we connect to the knowledge-gaps that comes with the social problem. Medical child abuse in the Swedish social services is quite unexplored and with this essay we want to contribute to a betterresearch, to help the children who are victims of medical child abuse.

I denna studie har nio semistrukturerade intervjuer genomförts utifrån en kvalitativ studie med yrkesverksamma på kvinnojourer runt om i Sverige. Syftet med studien var att undersöka hur yrkesverksamma på kvinnojourer har upplevt det att arbeta på en kvinnojour samt hur deras bemötande och kommunikation gentemot våldsutsatta kvinnor har påverkats under tiden för pandemin. Resultatet har analyserat med hjälp av tidigare forskning, Lipskys teorier om gräsrotsbyråkrati och handlingsutrymme samt utifrån begreppen bemötande och kommunikation. Med en tematisk analys visar resultatet på att de yrkesverksamma på kvinnojourerna har fått göra omprioriteringar i sina arbetsuppgifter i samband med de implementerade restriktioner och rekommendationer på arbetsplatsen som smittspridningen av Covid-19 har medfört.  De har även bidragit till att en del kvinnojourer har fått en hög arbetsbelastning som lett till en sliten personal. Vidare framkommer det i resultatet att opinionsbildning och föreläsningar som är en viktig del i deras arbete, inte har kunnat bedrivas såsom önskat under pandemin. Resultatet visade även på att yrkesverksamma på kvinnojourer inte har sett en ökning av stödsökande kvinnor under Covid-19, vilket de tror sig kommer att se efter pandemins slut. / In this study, nine semi-structured interviews were conducted based on a qualitative study with ten various women’s shelters representatives around Sweden. The aim of the study was to investigate how representatives in women's shelters have experienced working in a women's shelter and how their treatment and communication towards abused women has been affected during the Covid-19 pandemic. The results have been analyzed with the help of previous research, Lipsky's theories of street-level bureaucracy and discretion and the concepts of treatment and communication. Using a thematic analysis, the results show that the representatives at the women's shelters have had to re-prioritize their work tasks because of the implemented restrictions and recommendations in the workplace that the spread of Covid-19 has entailed. They have also contributed to several women's shelters having a high workload, which has led to a worn-down staff. Furthermore, the results show that opinion formation and lectures, which is an important part of their work, have not been able to be conducted as desired during the pandemic. The results also showed that the representatives at the women's shelters have not seen an increase in women seeking support during Covid-19. They do however believe that they will see it when the pandemic has come to an end.

Kommuner kan ha olika rutiner vad gäller utbetalning av ekonomiskt bistånd som på olika vis kan påverka jämställdhet och våld i nära relationer. Det råder även ett begränsat forskningsläge kring utbetalningsrutiners påverkan på dessa faktorer. Därför ville vi med hjälp av denna studie undersöka vilka erfarenheter socialsekreterare besitter av och hur de resonerar kring att utbetalningsrutiner kan påverka jämställdhet och våld i nära relationer. Utöver det ville vi även undersöka socialsekreterarnas handlingsutrymme gentemot dessa rutiner. Även om socialsekreterare i vissa situationer vill handla i enlighet med klientens bästa kan de nämligen hindras av olika rutiner och riktlinjer. I denna kvalitativa studie har vi intervjuat sex socialsekreterare från tre olika kommuner och data har bearbetats genom en tematisk analys. Resultaten visade att samtliga socialsekreterare hade svårt att se hur eller om deras utbetalningsrutiner kunde påverka våld i nära relationer samt att handlingsutrymmet varierade beroende på vilken utbetalningsrutin som tillämpades. / Municipalities have different routines regarding payments of financial support which in different ways can affect equality and intimate partner violence. There are also limited studies about payment routines effects on these factors. Therefore, we wanted to investigate social workers experiences and reasonings regarding the effects payments routines can have on equality and intimate partner violence. We also wanted to investigate social workers discretion to these routines. Although social workers in certain situations want to act in the clients best interests, they can be limited by different routines and guidelines. In this qualitative study we have interviewed six social workers from three municipalities and the data has been processed through thematic analysis. The results showed that all social workers had difficulties seeing how or if their payment routines could affect intimate partner violence. It also showed that the discretion varied depending on what payment routine they were using.

The honor killing of Fadime Sahindal in 2002 sparked a debate in Swedish media about honor-related violence and oppression. As a professional social worker, it is important to have knowledge in the field to help young women who are exposed to honor-related violence and oppression. The aim of this study is to analyze the working methods and attitudes of social workers and their discretion in the work of honor-oppressed young women. The study is based on six qualitative interviews conducted with professional social workers. Through the interviews, the social workers' experiences, thoughts and opinions about the social service's way of working with honored young women were highlighted. The interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis and interpreted by the theory of honor and discretion. The results show that social workers do not have the right knowledge about honor problems and that they do not have the right tools to meet these young women who are exposed to violence and oppression.

No description available.

Bakgrund: Erkända globala och nationella dokument framhåller sexualitet som en mänsklig rättighet. Trots detta förbises personer med intellektuell funktionsnedsättning (IF) rätt till sin sexualitet. Förbiseendet medför bland annat att de får bristande stöd av personal i detta viktiga livsområde varpå deras möjlighet att uttrycka sin sexuella identitet minimeras. Syfte: Studien syftar till att undersöka personals upplevelser av att bemöta personer med IF:s sexualitet inom bostäder med särskild service enligt LSS utifrån sin kunskap och kompetens, samt vad de ser för eventuellt kompetensbehov. Metod: Vi har använt en kvalitativ forskningsdesign och intervjuat sju kommunalt anställda personer inom bostäder med särskild service. Alla informanter har erfarenhet av att arbeta med LSS personkrets ett och några även av personkrets tre. Studiens insamlade empiri har analyserats med hjälp av tematisk analys och slutligen har vi tolkat vårt resultat med hjälp av ett socialkonstruktivistiskt perspektiv på sexualitet och teorier om professionellt handlingsutrymme. Resultat: Studien visar att informanterna har begränsad kunskap och färdigheter i att bemöta sexuella behov hos personer med IF. Dessutom framkommer en övergripande tabukänsla kring ämnet sexualitet med tystnadskultur som följd. Riktlinjer och vägledningsdokument saknas att luta sig emot samt bristande stöd från ledning framkommer. Informanterna uttrycker en stor osäkerhet kring att vara ett sexuellt stöd och efterfrågar omfattande kompetensutveckling för att de ska känna sig kunskapsmässigt och rättsligt säkra att arbeta med sexualitet. Slutsats: För att förbättra stödet och möjligheterna för personer med IF att få vara sexuella personer och bli erkända som sådana på ett respektfullt sätt, krävs det bättre utbildning, riktlinjer samt lagstöd för personalen. Det är också viktigt att arbeta mot de fördomar och tabun som råder kring sexualitet och IF, så att människor med IF inte stigmatiseras och marginaliseras ytterligare. Detta är ett område där personal och samhället som helhet har en avgörande roll, genom att se till att alla individer har rätt till sin sexuella identitet och sina sexuella behov. / Background: Nationally and globally established documents accentuate sexuality as a human right. Although this is the case, people with intellectual disabilities (ID) are shunned regarding their rights to their own sexuality. This precedence leads to caregivers, tasked with supporting intellectually disabled service users, to neglect helping them in this field, giving them less opportunities to express their own sexual identities. Purpose: This study aims to evaluate caregivers experiences when it comes to addressing sexuality in the residential homes of the people with IDs that they support, as well as what competence they deem as necessary to handle such situations. Method: In this qualitative study we have interviewed seven municipally employed, tasked with supporting people with ID within group homes. The empirical data we've collected has been analyzed with the help of a thematic analysis, for which our result has been interpreted while using social constructivist perspectives on sexuality and theories on professional discretion. Results: The study shows that the informants have limited knowledge and lack of skill when it comes to assisting people with ID with their sexualities, as well as coping with the stigma related to the topic sexuality and the culture of silence that follows. Most workplaces lack guidance documents and rules regarding the topic of sexuality and a lack of support from managers. Conclusion: To better help shape the support needs and possibilities of people with ID, allowing them to voice their sexualities and being recognized as sexual beings in a respectful manner; education, guidance, overall rules and regulations are needed for the caregivers tasked to work with them. This is an area where the caregivers and society as a whole have a deciding role, making sure that all people, no matter their abilities, are allowed to express themselves sexually. It is also important that society keeps on working against the taboo that is related to disabled people and sexual expression, which could lead to being stigmatized more than what they already are.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a recognized and widely discussed social problem  that affects women in a global perspective. One group that is considered to be particularly vulnerable are women who have been subjected to violence and also struggle with addiction. There are relatively few studies that have been conducted in this field, especially on how women's shelters work with these women. This essay aims to increase knowledge about the professional discretion in providing support to women who have been subjected to violence and struggle with addiction within women's shelters. We chose to analyze the data by using Lipsky's theory of Street-Level Bureaucracy, where we focused on the professionals' discretion. The empirical material consisted of semi-structured interviews with eight professionals from various women's shelters. The results show that the professional's discretion is influenced by individual factors in the form of their own attitudes towards the women and their view of the assignment. The results also show that organizational factors such as the board's interests, financial resources and competence, affects the professional's discretion.

The aim of this study is to describe and analyze how social workers experiences internal collaboration within child and welfare social services and how social workers describe the forms of internal collaboration in their practical work. The study is based on seven semi-structured interviews in seven municipalities with social workers, from three units within child and welfare social services. The collected empirical material were analyzed with theoretical concept discretion, cooperation theory and former research. The results of the study shows that social workers primarily have a positive attitude towards internal collaboration, due to the fact that clients with complex problems are in need of support from various social workers from different units. Furthermore the study found that social workers ordinarily use two different methods when collaborating: informal collaboration and formalized collaboration. Moreover social workers express a variety of obstacles in collabortation with other untis, such as lack of knowledge about each other´s duties, confidentiality and lack of time. It also shows that geographical nearness, good relationships and knowledge are important components for serviceable collaboration. Finally, the study results shows that internal cooperation in child and welfare social services is a necessary working method in order for social workers to be able to meet the needs of clients with complex problems.