The purpose of the study is to explore how social workers work with youths that seek financial assistance and what importance gender plays in this process. The participants were six female social workers that work with financial assistance. They were interviewed and had to reflect over a case, where the client where either male or female. The results was analyzed and compared in relation to social constructive theory and gender theory. The study shows that social workers work in two parallel processes, when they decide about financial assistance and other help benefits, the formal and the intuitive. In the formal process the social workers don’t give gender any importance in how they reflect about their work and the clients. In the same time way they think differently about male or female clients in a more intuitive manner. The differences that are done can be related to gender stereotypes. The male client is thought of being responsible and active and the female client is viewed as a passive victim. These ideas creates different practices against men and women, where the female would be given psychological aid and the male would be given work related support. These practices reproduces traditional conceptions of both sexes and can therefore create different possibilities for young men and women that contact the social welfare system for financial assistance.

The purpose of this thesis is to examine whether parents that obtain long-term maintenance support in Enköping, consider the support as adequate when trying to meet their children's basic needs. The thesis also intends to investigate whether parents experience that their children, because they receive income support, have been socially excluded or stigmatized in their daily lives because of the family’s maintenance support. Further, the thesis aims to examine if there are any discrepancies in the above mentioned issue in relation to how long the parents have received maintenance support. Theoretical starting points used in this thesis mainly consist of the child perspective, social exclusion and the stigmatization theory. The empirical data is based on questionnaires and thus the method for the investigation is of a quantitative nature. Because of the small number of respondents and the large non-respond rate it is important to emphasize that the result merely shows tendencies among the respondents and therefore cannot be seen as a general opinion among all parents who receives long-term maintenance support. The results of the questionnaires show that parents consider the money to be sufficient to a greater extent when meeting the children's need of food and hygiene and to a lesser extent when it comes to clothing, shoes and recreational activities. The results further indicate a variation among the parents’ perception when it comes to social exclusion and the ability to meet their children’s need of recreational activities. The results in regards to possible stigmatization illustrates that the majority of the parents in the survey had not experienced that their financial situation had led to a different or unequal treatment of their children. However, the results shows that there is differences in the way parents think about the above questions in relation to how long they received income support. / Syftet med uppsatsen är att undersöka vad föräldrar, som långvarigt uppburit försörjningsstöd i Enköpings kommun, anser avseende att kunna tillgodose sina barns grundläggande behov. Syftet är också att undersöka om föräldrarna anser att deras barn, på grund av att de uppbär försörjningsstöd, har socialt exkluderats och stigmatiserats i sitt dagliga liv. Därtill syftar undersökningen till att studera om det finns någon skillnad i föräldrarnas syn kring ovanstående frågor i förhållande till hur lång tid som de har uppburit försörjningsstöd. Teoretiska utgångspunkter är barnperspektiv, social exkludering och stigmateori. Det empiriska materialet bygger på enkätformulär och således är metoden för undersökningen av ett kvantitativt slag. Det är viktigt att poängtera att studiens stora bortfall innebär att det inte är möjligt att generalisera resultaten till populationen. Därmed kan vi enbart uttala oss om de 13 respondenter som besvarat enkäten. Resultaten visar att föräldrarna i högre utsträckning anser att pengarna räcker till att tillgodose barnens behov av mat och hygien och i mindre utsträckning till kläder och skor samt fritidsaktiviteter. Avseende social exkludering finns det en variation i hur föräldrarna anser att de har ekonomiskt utrymme att tillgodose sina barns behov av olika fritidsaktiviteter. Dock visar resultaten att alla föräldrar i någon utsträckning anser att de inte har kunnat tillgodose barnens behov av fritidsaktiviteter. Resultaten för stigmatisering visar att majoriteten av föräldrarna anser att deras ekonomiska situation, att uppbära försörjningsstöd, inte i någon större omfattning medfört att deras barn har behandlats eller känt sig annorlunda. Samtidigt visar resultaten att alla föräldrar i någon grad anser att deras ekonomiska situation innebär en stigmatisering för deras barn. Avseende tidsaspekten visar resultaten att det finns en skillnad i hur föräldrarna anser kring ovanstående frågor i förhållande till hur lång tid de uppburit försörjningsstöd. De som har uppburit försörjningsstöd i 18 månader eller mer tenderar i de flesta frågor att vara mindre nöjda med insatsen än de som har uppburit försörjningsstöd i mindre än 18 månader.

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We have chosen to focus on the meaning of long-term income support dependency regarding health, goal setting and motivation for the recipient of economical aid. We have chosen to use semi structurized interviews to achieve our goal of reaching the clients experience of long-term income support dependency. The study consists of interviews of six clients whose answers have been analyzed through appliance of Kielhofner´s Model of human occupation, Scheff´s Shame in self and society.    Our results show regarding, 1) the factor health that long-term income support dependency may elevate the risk of illness and less experienced options of possibilities to act. 2) regarding the factor goal setting, that goals may be inefficiently used during social work with long-term income support dependent clients and may result in a disorganized relationship between client and social worker in the sense of making the parties pull in opposite direction. 3) regarding the factor motivation, that long-term income support dependency and the living with the emotion of shame elevates the risk of maintaining a negative image of oneself that limits the willpower to assimilate new knowledge and/or skills. This also effects the clients belief in their own capacity to change their current negative situation. Which may impact the rate of success in motivational social work and the individuals own possibilities to live an independent life, free of income support. Throughout the study we have encountered the traces of shame as a social emotion and emphasize on the environments pressure for change and socialization.

Syftet med denna studie var att genom en enkät kartlägga socialsekreterares upplevelse av beredskap och förekomst av möten med självmordsnära klienter inom socialtjänsten. I Sverige dör cirka 1100 människor årligen genom suicid och det klassas idag som ett folkhälsoproblem. Enligt forskning, kommer socialsekreterare inom socialtjänsten ofta i kontakt med suicidala klienter men hur dessa möten hanteras har inte studerats i någon större utsträckning. Studiens urval har avgränsats till Stockholm samt tre andra län och enheterna försörjningsstöd och vuxen/beroende valdes ut för närmare granskning. Forskning pekar på olika riskfaktorer för självmord, som exempelvis psykisk ohälsa, socioekonomisk utsatthet eller missbruk, därav valet av dessa enheter. Empirin bearbetades med hjälp av programmet SPSS, genom vilket bi- och univariata analyser utfördes. Resultatet analyserades sedan med hjälp av tidigare forskning, samt med teori om suicidprevention. Ett av studiens huvudresultat var att många socialsekreterare stöter på självmordsnära klienter. En majoritet av dessa socialsekreterare har träffat en eller flera självmordsnära klienter det senaste året. Vidare visade resultatet att de medverkande i viss utsträckning upplever sig beredda i möten med dessa klienter. En femtedel av de medverkande uppgav att de genomgått utbildning i suicidprevention och resultatet visade att sådan utbildning har positiv påverkan på deras upplevelse av beredskap. / The purpose of this study was to map out social workers’ preparedness and the occurrence of encounters with suicidal clients within the social services, through a survey. Nearly 1100 people in Sweden dies because of suicide every year and suicide is classified as a public health problem. According to research social workers often encounter suicidal clients, but how these encounters are handled have not been studied in any greater degree. The study’s selection was defined to Stockholm and three other counties. The units within the social services that were chosen for further examination were income support and adult/addiction. Research revolving suicide indicate that socioeconomic vulnerability, addiction and mental illness are risk factors connected to suicide, hence the choice of these units. The collected data material was processed by means of SPSS, through which univariate and bivariate analyses have been executed. The results were interpreted by means of earlier scientific findings, as well as theories concerning suicide prevention. One of the main findings that could be extracted from this study was that many social workers encounter suicidal clients. Most of the social workers have met one or several suicidal clients during the past year. The results also implies that the participants believe that they have preparedness to some extent in encounters with these clients. One fifth of the participants state that they have passed training in suicide prevention and the results show that training of such has a positive impact on their experience of preparedness.

The aim of this thesis is to examine activation, including support and control, among different groups of social assistance (SA) recipients. Assessments and activation related decisions during one year are analysed for 372 social randomly selected assistance claimants from four municipalities. Data was collected 2002-2003 through structured interviews with the clients and their social workers. Income from work and social assistance was followed up with national register data after two years. The first study focuses on social workers conception of their claimants work barriers. Conceptions vary systematically across groups of claimants. The second study examines elements of activation, finding that extent and content of activation, and use of support and control, vary between municipalities and programs. The third study analyses associations between participation in activation programs and exposures to sanctions and exemptions (indicators of support and control) on the one hand, and claimants’ characteristics on the other hand.  Traditional work-test logic seems to be common in social work, and linked to stereotypic gender logic. This implies a systematic selection to activation based on sex, and on social workers opinion about the claimants work motivation. The results question the linkage between work barriers and activation, since claimants without formal resources (education and work experience) do not participate in resource activation (aiming to increase formal resources) more often than others. The fourth study analyses association between combinations of activation programs and sanctions and self support outcomes for SA claimants. Results suggest that a combination of resource activation and sanctions has a positive association with income from work, and that a combination of job activation and sanctions is associated with continuing SA.

Abstract This paper is a peer-review about social workers´ experiences and descriptions of making individual assessments of their unemployed clients when working toward self-sufficiency and eventual obstacle for making them. The paper also deals with how social workers prioritize their work tasks. The study was conducted through interviews with five social workers at the same workplace. The results have been analyzed using theories of discretion, street-level bureaucrats and client dimensions within a street-level bureaucracy. The result shows that lack of time and limitation of discretion have negative influences in the social workers’ ability to make individual assessments. The result also shows that individual assessments are foremost made when the clients mismanage their planning and are risking not getting their application for financial assistance approved. Further the results show that the processing of applications and payment of financial assistance is a priority task since it is considered to be most important to clients and result in the greatest consequences for both social workers and clients if not performed. The discussion that follows is about the possible consequences of prioritizing work tasks this way. / Sammanfattning Denna uppsats är en kollegiegranskning och handlar om socialsekreterares upplevelser och erfarenheter av att göra individuella bedömningar av sina arbetslösa klienter i arbetet mot självförsörjning och eventuella hinder för dessa. Uppsatsen beskriver även om hur socialsekreterare prioriterar sina arbetsuppgifter. Studien har genomförts genom intervjuer med 5 socialsekreterare på en arbetsplats. Resultatet har analyserats utifrån teorier om handlingsutrymme, frontlinjebyråkrater och klientdimensioner inom en frontlinjebyråkrati. Resultatet visar att tidsbrist och begränsningar i handlingsutrymmet båda är faktorer som har en negativ påverkan på en socialsekreterares förutsättningar att göra individuella bedömningar. Resultatet visar även att individuella bedömningar främst görs när en klient misskött sin planering och riskerar avslag på sin ansökan om ekonomiskt bistånd. Vidare visar resultatet att handläggning av ansökningar om och utbetalning av ekonomiskt bistånd är en prioriterad arbetsuppgift då den anses vara viktigast för klienterna samt resulterar i störst konsekvenser för både socialsekreterare och klienter om den inte utförs.

In this study the resemblances in the preparatory work that was conducted before the introduction of the Social Welfare Act (socialtjänstlagen) in 1982 as well as before the current legislation that came into power in 2001 has been studied. The aim of this study has been to examine the similarities and differences in preparatory work originating from two contrasting time periods using the model for thematic analysis suggested by Braun & Clarke (2006). The theories that were utilized discuss power, principles of governing and distribution of responsibilities, neo-liberalism, street-level bureaucracy and stigma. An important theoretical component consists of Bacchi and Evelines (2010) “WPR-approach” which brings up how the problem is handled linguistically. The empirical findings spanned over three levels: government, municipality and individuals and demonstrate theoretical models of explanation for these. In the empirical material no solutions on a structural or individual level were presented, instead moral and personal responsibility was accentuated as the path out of poverty. This study showed that the individual is subjectified, stigmatised and renounced which make it even more difficult to break free from the terms of aid.

Through the assistance of a literature study, the purpose of this degree project is to investigate if a hierarchical status order within social work exists and where the work with financial aid and its employees are located in this status hierarchy. Another goal is to compile knowledge around if the status has the opportunity to develop. A part of the literature has shown a clear lack of knowledge regarding the work with financial aid which causes prejudice about the employees and how they carry out their tasks. This ignorance may be due to the lack of research in the field which underestimates the services in financial assistance and instead prioritizes other forms of social work therefore contributes to the low status. The central queries of this project are to examine firstly the adding factors to the subordinate status of the social worker and the organization in terms of work with financial aid, secondly to investigate how the work itself is viewed by outsiders such as politicians, other social workers, the general population including media and lastly to inspect if there are any possibilities of increasing the current status. The main results of this report that have been found identify four main factors such as workload, external prestige, mobility and clientele, which contribute to the organization's status and have an impact on how individual social workers experience the low occupational status. Finally, the researchers demonstrate some proposals on how status can be raised with the help of actual job descriptions, investment in resources and greater differences in educational levels that also aim at further education for the role of executive.

Syftet med denna uppsats var att undersöka organiseringen av socialarbetares förändringsarbete med unga vuxna som mottar ekonomiskt bistånd, samt vad för hinder och möjligheter socialarbetarna själva upplever att det finns i arbetet. För att undersöka detta valdes en kvalitativ metod i form av intervjuer som genomfördes med sex socialarbetare. En kvalitativ innehållsanalys gjordes på insamlat datamaterial och resultatet analyserades med hjälp av tidigare forskning, organisationsteori samt teori om samverkan. Resultatet visade att organiseringen av arbetet kring målgruppen unga vuxna på ekonomiskt bistånd är en minimal sådan och att socialarbetarnas upplevelse är att de största hindren i förändringsarbetet medmålgruppen är svag samverkan, begränsat handlingsutrymme på gräsrotsnivå men också de unga vuxna själva. Resultatet uppmärksammade socialarbetarnas missnöje med samverkan, både med andra myndigheter och inom hierarkin på den egna myndigheten. Det begränsade handlingsutrymmet var också ett framträdande hinder och socialarbetarna uttryckte frustration över skillnaden i vad de kan erbjuda målgruppen, i relation till vad de ser för behov. Socialarbetarna hänvisade också till målgruppens attityd och motivation som ett stort hinder, speciellt tillsammans med ovannämnt: svag samverkan och begränsat handlingsutrymme. Detta då det framlades att insatser som arbetar med just attityd och motivation är otillräckliga. Avslutningsvis fastslogs det att möjligheter i arbetet med målgruppen ligger främst i bättre samverkan med andra aktörer och inom myndigheten för att kunna erbjuda bättre stöd för de unga vuxna som står längst ifrån arbetsmarknaden. / The purpose of this essay was to examine the organization of social workers’ work with young adults who are recipients of welfare, and what obstacles and possibilities the social workers themselves see in the work. To do this, a qualitative method was chosen, and five social workers were interviewed. A qualitative content analysis was used on the collected data, and the results were analyzed using previous research, organizational theory, and theory of cooperation. The results showed that the organization of work with the target population of young adults who are recipients of welfare is minimal. In addition, the social workers’experience is that the biggest obstacles in their work with the target population is weak cooperation, limited capacity for action at a grassroot level, and the young adults themselves.The results pointed out a discontent amongst the social workers in relation to cooperation, both regarding other agencies as well as within their own agency. The limited capacity for action was also a prominent obstacle, and the social workers expressed frustration over the difference in what they can offer the young adults in proportion to what they see is needed. Moreover, the social workers also noted that the target populations’ attitude and motivation is a huge obstacle, especially along with previously stated hurdles: weak cooperation and limited capacity for action. This is because according to the social workers, the support offered regarding working with attitude and motivation is inadequate. Lastly, the social workers established that the possibilities within this kind of work lies in better cooperation with other agencies and within their own ranks to be able to offer better support to the young adults who are furthest away from the labor market.