Endast 10% av föräldrar med en intellektuell funktionsnedsättning uppger att de får det stöd de är i behov av i sitt föräldraskap. Det har skett ett skifte i synen på individer med intellektuell funktionsnedsättning vilket inkluderar möjligheter till föräldraskap. Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka hur professionella inom socialt arbete upplever det givna stödet till föräldrar med intellektuell funktions-nedsättning. Studien har haft en kvalitativ ansats där sju semistrukturerade inter-vjuer har utförts med socionomer som kommer i kontakt med familjerna i sitt arbete. Resultatet visar på att det blir den professionellas egna förmåga och handlingsutrymme att forma och utföra arbetet, samt hur organisationen påverkar utformningen av arbetet. Även om det har skett en förändring kring synen på föräldrar med intellektuell funktionsnedsättning visar studien att arbetet behöver utvecklas för att möjliggöra ett tillräckligt stöd kring föräldraskapet. / Only 10% of parents with an intellectual disability state that they get the support they are in need of. There has been a shift in the view of people with intellectual disabilities, which includes the right of parenthood. The aim of this study is to investigate how social workers experience the given support to parents with an intellectual disability. The study has been conducted using a qualitative approach in which seven semi-structured interviews were held with social workers who come in contact with the families in their work. The results show that it is the professionals’ own ability and discretion to design the work and how the organ-ization affects the work. Even though there has been a shift in the view of parents with intellectual disabilities rights the study shows that there is more work to be done to give enough support to the parents.

Syftet med studien har varit att undersöka socialsekreterares upplevelser av att arbeta inom den sociala barnavården vilken förutsätter föräldrars frivillighet för att barn ska få sina rättigheter gällande stöd, skydd och delaktighet tillgodosedda. Studien har i synnerhet fokuserats kring att undersöka huruvida socialsekreterare upplever att föräldrars lagstadgade rätt till frivillighet begränsar barns lagstadgade rätt till delaktighet och skydd. Kvalitativ forskningsmetod valdes för att besvara frågeställningarna och studiens empiri består av intervjuer med sex socialsekreterare och en sektionschef, samtliga verksamma inom den sociala barnavården. För att bearbeta och analysera empirin användes tematisk innehållsanalys. Studiens teoretiska ramverk vilket empirin tolkats och analyserats genom består av två teorier. Den första teorin, gräsrotsbyråkrati, har använts för att förstå och förklara de dilemman som socialsekreterare behöver hantera och ta ställning till i sitt arbete. Den andra teorin består av barndomssociologi vilken utgår ifrån vikten av att betrakta barn som kompetenta aktörer i samhället. Studiens resultat visar att ett bra samarbete mellan socialsekreterare och föräldrar är avgörande för att barnet ska få tillgång till stöd. Vidare tyder studiens resultat på att socialsekreterare upplever att föräldrars rättigheter utgör ett hinder i deras arbete med att tillgodose och främja barns lagstadgade rättigheter. Föräldrars lagstadgade rätt till frivillighet riskerar att innebära att barnets rätt till delaktighet och skydd försummas. / The aim of this study has been to examine social workers experiences of working in social childcare, which requires parents voluntariness in order for children to have their rights regarding support, protection and participation fullfilled. In particular, the study has focused on investigating whether social workers feel that parents statutory right to voluntariness limits children's statutory right to participation and protection. Qualitative research method was chosen to answer the questions and the study's empirical data consists of interviews with six social workers and one section manager, all active in social childcare. To process and analyze the empirical data, thematic content analysis was used. The study's theoretical framework through which the empirical evidence was interpreted and analyzed consists of two theories. The first theory, street-level bureaucracy, has been used to understand and explain the dilemmas that social workers meet and need to deal with in their work. The second theory consists of childhood sociology, which is based on the importance of considering children as competent actors in society. The study's results show that good cooperation between social workers and parents is crucial for the child to have access to support. Furthermore, the study's results indicate that social workers feel that parents rights constitute an obstacle in their work to accommodate and promote children's statutory rights. Parents' statutory right to volunteering risks neglecting the child's right to participation and protection.

Children who experience violence is one aspect of the work of social secretaries and is a complex assignment in their work. The purpose of this essay has been to understand how social secretaries describe their work within their discretion on children who experience violence. More specifically focus has been on cases where there is a lack of consent to voluntary interventions according to the Social Services Act and when compulsory care is not possible. Previous research about this specific situation is limited which makes this study necessary. The questions of this study had a focus on how social secretaries use their discretion in these cases, which challenges they meet in their work and also their reasoning on today´s legislation regarding children who experience violence. The method of this study has been qualitative semi-structured interviews with five social secretaries in three different municipalities in Sweden. Our results have been analysed with previous research and two theoretic starting-points, discretion and caring power. This study shows that knowledge about children who experience violence is an important part in the work of social secretaries and is a crucial factor in children’s right to protection. It also shows that parental rights to refuse interventions is a major aspect that prevents the possibilities of social secretaries to protect children who experience violence which the social secretaries describe as a difficult challenge. Another difficult challenge described was when parents deny that their children are experiencing violence and there is a lack of proof in the same time. The social secretaries in this study expressed a wish to have a possibility in the law to force parents of children who experience violence to receive interventions even though there is a lack of consent.