<p>Our study has its starting point in the Swedish social legislation (Socialtjänstlagen) and more specifically in the 6th chapter's 5th paragraph. That paragraph regulates that social workers should try to find a kinship care placement when they are about to do a placement of a child. Our purpose is to examine how social workers, before they do a placement of a child, understand the informal kinship that is not relatives, if they consider the informal kinship and if certain circumstances have an impact on the consideration. To get this information we have done five interviews with social workers. Recent studies show that social workers in past years have begun to think more positively of people's kinships and that they more often use the resources of the kinship. Our results shows that the social workers contact the informal kinship before they do a placement, they have positive attitudes towards these types of placements, they have similar understandings of who should be considered in the informal kinship, they do this consideration in most cases and many circumstances has an impact on this consideration. To get a deeper understanding of the results we analyzed them with social constructivism and the sociology of law.</p>

<p>Syftet med vår studie var att få en inblick i hur familjehemsföräldrar ser på sitt uppdrag utifrån följande frågeställningar:</p><ul><li>Vilka motiv och förväntningar finns till att vilja bli familjehem?</li><li>Hur har uppdraget som familjehem påverkat relationerna i familjen?</li><li>Har familjehemmen avlastning eller behov av det?</li><li>Vilken syn har familjehemmen på handledning?</li><li>Hur resonerar familjehemmen kring den ekonomiska ersättningen?</li></ul><p>Studien genomfördes med utgångspunkt i kvalitativa intervjuer, där vi tillsammans intervjuade 9 olika familjehem knutna till Kristianstads kommun. I 7 av intervjuerna medverkade båda familjehemsföräldrarna, i 2 intervjuer medverkade den ena familjehemsföräldern; sammanlagt 16 respondenter.</p><p>Intervjuerna transkriberades, analyserades och presenterades sedan på två olika sätt. Utifrån meningskategorisering presenterades resultatet dels i idealtyper samt tematiskt utifrån citat.</p><p>Familjehemsföräldrarna i vår studie har en samsyn som par i hur de ser på sitt uppdrag, och att de arbetar väl tillsammans. I vår studie fann vi 5 olika idealtyper, som illustrerar hur de ser på olika frågor. Många av familjehemmen ansåg att uppdraget som familjehem hade blivit ett sätt att leva, en livsstil. Det fanns även familjehem som såg uppdraget som en profession, där de placerade barnen samtidigt var en del i familjen. Familjehemmen i vår studie hade åtagit sig uppdraget som familjehem med anledning av personlig erfarenhet och kontakt med andra familjehem i sin närhet. Familjehemmen var överens om att behovet av handledning var störst i början av ett uppdrag. Synen på avlastning skilde sig åt mellan familjehemmen. Familjehemmen såg det som en självklarhet att få ekonomisk ersättning för sitt uppdrag.</p> / <p>The purpose of our study was to investigate how foster-parents regard their task based on the following:</p><ul><li>Which motives and expectations do foster-parents have to become a foster-home?</li><li>How does the task as foster-home influence the relations of the family?</li><li>Do the foster-homes have any need of alleviance from their task? </li><li>Do the foster-homes have any need of guidance in their task?</li><li>How do foster-parents think regarding the financial part of their task?</li></ul><p>The study was carried out from the basis of qualitative interviews, in which we together interviewed 9 different foster-homes connected to the council of Kristianstad. In 7 of the interviews, both foster-parents participated, in 2 interviews one of the foster-parents participated; in total 16 responders. The interviews were transcribed, analysed and thereafter presented in two different ways. From coding categories, the result was presented both in idealtypes and thematically from quotes.</p><p>The foster-parents in our study appear to have a common view as couples in how they regard their task, and that they work well together. In our study we found 5 different idealtypes, who illustrate how they regard various issues. The foster-homes felt that their task had become a way of living, a life style. There were also foster-homes that viewed their task as a profession, where the placed children at the same time were a part of the family.</p><p>The foster-homes in our study had taken on the task as foster-home because of personal experiences and contact with other foster-homes in their vicinity. Regarding their view of guidance, the foster-parents agreed that they were in need of guidance mostly in the beginning of a task. The opinions are somewhat varied among foster-parents, regarding alliviance. The foster-parents think that the financial part of their task comes natural.</p>

Syftet med vår studie var att få en inblick i hur familjehemsföräldrar ser på sitt uppdrag utifrån följande frågeställningar: Vilka motiv och förväntningar finns till att vilja bli familjehem? Hur har uppdraget som familjehem påverkat relationerna i familjen? Har familjehemmen avlastning eller behov av det? Vilken syn har familjehemmen på handledning? Hur resonerar familjehemmen kring den ekonomiska ersättningen? Studien genomfördes med utgångspunkt i kvalitativa intervjuer, där vi tillsammans intervjuade 9 olika familjehem knutna till Kristianstads kommun. I 7 av intervjuerna medverkade båda familjehemsföräldrarna, i 2 intervjuer medverkade den ena familjehemsföräldern; sammanlagt 16 respondenter. Intervjuerna transkriberades, analyserades och presenterades sedan på två olika sätt. Utifrån meningskategorisering presenterades resultatet dels i idealtyper samt tematiskt utifrån citat. Familjehemsföräldrarna i vår studie har en samsyn som par i hur de ser på sitt uppdrag, och att de arbetar väl tillsammans. I vår studie fann vi 5 olika idealtyper, som illustrerar hur de ser på olika frågor. Många av familjehemmen ansåg att uppdraget som familjehem hade blivit ett sätt att leva, en livsstil. Det fanns även familjehem som såg uppdraget som en profession, där de placerade barnen samtidigt var en del i familjen. Familjehemmen i vår studie hade åtagit sig uppdraget som familjehem med anledning av personlig erfarenhet och kontakt med andra familjehem i sin närhet. Familjehemmen var överens om att behovet av handledning var störst i början av ett uppdrag. Synen på avlastning skilde sig åt mellan familjehemmen. Familjehemmen såg det som en självklarhet att få ekonomisk ersättning för sitt uppdrag. / The purpose of our study was to investigate how foster-parents regard their task based on the following: Which motives and expectations do foster-parents have to become a foster-home? How does the task as foster-home influence the relations of the family? Do the foster-homes have any need of alleviance from their task? Do the foster-homes have any need of guidance in their task? How do foster-parents think regarding the financial part of their task? The study was carried out from the basis of qualitative interviews, in which we together interviewed 9 different foster-homes connected to the council of Kristianstad. In 7 of the interviews, both foster-parents participated, in 2 interviews one of the foster-parents participated; in total 16 responders. The interviews were transcribed, analysed and thereafter presented in two different ways. From coding categories, the result was presented both in idealtypes and thematically from quotes. The foster-parents in our study appear to have a common view as couples in how they regard their task, and that they work well together. In our study we found 5 different idealtypes, who illustrate how they regard various issues. The foster-homes felt that their task had become a way of living, a life style. There were also foster-homes that viewed their task as a profession, where the placed children at the same time were a part of the family. The foster-homes in our study had taken on the task as foster-home because of personal experiences and contact with other foster-homes in their vicinity. Regarding their view of guidance, the foster-parents agreed that they were in need of guidance mostly in the beginning of a task. The opinions are somewhat varied among foster-parents, regarding alliviance. The foster-parents think that the financial part of their task comes natural.

Our study has its starting point in the Swedish social legislation (Socialtjänstlagen) and more specifically in the 6th chapter's 5th paragraph. That paragraph regulates that social workers should try to find a kinship care placement when they are about to do a placement of a child. Our purpose is to examine how social workers, before they do a placement of a child, understand the informal kinship that is not relatives, if they consider the informal kinship and if certain circumstances have an impact on the consideration. To get this information we have done five interviews with social workers. Recent studies show that social workers in past years have begun to think more positively of people's kinships and that they more often use the resources of the kinship. Our results shows that the social workers contact the informal kinship before they do a placement, they have positive attitudes towards these types of placements, they have similar understandings of who should be considered in the informal kinship, they do this consideration in most cases and many circumstances has an impact on this consideration. To get a deeper understanding of the results we analyzed them with social constructivism and the sociology of law.

Denna kvalitativa intervjustudie syftar till att undersöka vuxna biologiska barns erfarenheter av att vara familjehem och hur familjehemsplaceringarna har påverkat de biologiska barnen. Studien undersöker om den psykosociala utvecklingen har påverkat de biologiska barnen, hur erfarenheterna av att växa upp som biologiskt barn i familjehem har påverkat de vuxna individernas nuvarande livssituation och hur de biologiska barnen upplevde sin delaktighet i beslut gällande familjehemsplaceringar. Studien genomfördes genom semi-strukturerade intervjuer där sju intervjupersoner mellan 19–44 år som hade vuxit upp som biologiskt barn i familjehem fick besvara frågor om deras upplevelser av olika områden av deras uppväxt i familjehem. Tematisk analys användes som analysmetod i studien.Resultatet av intervjuerna visar på att biologiska barn som växer upp i familjehem påverkas i olika grad av de barn som blir familjehemsplacerade hos dem. En del av intervjupersonerna nämner känslor av att hamna i skymundan, då de placerade barnen prioriterades när det gäller uppmärksamheten av vårdnadshavarna. Även skolgången påverkades negativt för en del av intervjupersonerna där dålig sömn var en avgörande faktor för de biologiska barnen, då sömnen gjorde att de presterade sämre i skolan. Även bortprioritering av egna skoluppgifter på grund av de placerade barnens behov att få hjälp i skolan påverkade de biologiska barnens skolgång åt det sämre då de inte fick tillräckligt med tid åt egna uppgifter. Intervjupersonerna nämner däremot hur de blivit mer förstående för när individer har det jobbigt och har enklare att finnas där för andra, detta på grund av uppväxten i familjehem. Majoriteten av intervjupersonerna uppger att de är positivt inställda till familjehem, men är däremot inte villiga att själva bli det som vuxna. / This qualitative interview study aims to investigate adults' biological children's experiences of being in a family home and how the family home placements have affected the biological children. The study examines whether the psychosocial development has affected the biological children, how the experiences of growing up as biological children in family homes have affected the adult’s current life situation and how the biological children experienced their participation in decisions regarding family home placements. The study was conducted through semi-structured interviews where seven interviewees between the ages of 19–44 who had grown up as biological children in family homes answered questions about their experiences of various areas of their upbringing in family homes. Thematic analysis was the chosen analysis method in the study. The results of the interviews show that biological children who grow up in family homes are affected to varying degrees by the children who are placed in family homes with them. Some of the participants mention experiences of being overlooked, when the children placed in family homes was prioritized the guardian’s attention. The education was also negatively affected for some of the interviewees, where poor sleep was a decisive factor for the biological children, as sleep made them perform worse at school. De-prioritization of own school tasks due to the placed children's need for help at school also affected the biological children's education for the worse as they did not get enough time for their own tasks. The participants, on the other hand, mention how they have become more aware when individuals are having a hard time and find it easier to be there for others, this due to growing up in a family home. Most of the interviewee’s state that they have a positive attitude to family homes, but are, on the other hand, not willing to become one themselves as adults.

The purpose of this essay is to investigate and analyze how specifically appointed social workers – barnsekreterare work within the foster care with foster placed children and their network and how specifically appointed social workers specifically work with the best interest of the child in their daily work and in relation to attachment theory within foster placement for children and how they prioritize the attachment between children, foster parents and biological parents throughout foster placements. For this essay there will be documented research of the topic and earlier studies, together with the theory done on attachments theory. This essay will also include the point of view of the best interests of the child throughout the text.  Three semi-structured interviews are going to be held with three different specifically appointed social workers within one big city in Sweden. Sixteen open questions are going to be asked which are divided in between the work social workers do with biological parents versus foster parents. The result will then be documented, consisting of quotes from the social workers, a summary of their answers. With the documentation, an analysis will continuously be made with the purpose of finding similarities and differences between the earlier studies made and the answers of each social worker.  From the gathered information and the analysis of the empirical material the conclusion was made that the specifically appointed social workers work very thoroughly with upholding the law stated rights of every individual within the child’s network, but due to the variety of errands and cases it is a constant moral dilemma for most social workers. The importance of the attachment however is something that is never forgotten but modified to best suit the child’s needs within the foster home.

Denna kandidatuppsats undersöker erfarenheter av tidigare familjehemsplacerade barn angående deras möjligheter att uttrycka åsikter och påverka beslutet om deras placering, samt det arbete socialsekreterare gör för att främja detta och det rättsliga överväganden som måste göras. Genom en kvalitativ forskningsmetodologi baserad på fem respondenter, varav tre tidigare familjehemsplacerade barn och två socialsekreterare analyseras detta.   Det framkommer från resultatet att både lagliga och sociala övervägande påverkar beslutet om placeringen, med fokus på att LVU-beslut ibland kan vara svåra att uppnå trots tydliga behov. Eftersom övergången från frivillig placering till tvångsplacering kräver starka skäl och noggrant övervägande. Kraven på familjehem diskuteras och hur viktig matchningen mellan barn och familj är för att säkerställa en trygg och positiv uppväxt i familjehem.   Genom intervjuerna med tidigare familjehemsplacerade barn får vi en inblick i deras upplevelser av att vara placerad i familjehem samt graden av upplevd delaktighet. Vissa uttryckte en brist på delaktighet i beslut som rör dem vid placeringen medan andra haft positiva erfarenheter av att deras åsikter beaktats och respekterats. Barnets delaktighet under processen framhävs, med användning av metoder som Norrköpingsmodellen för att säkerställa att barnets röst hörs och att deras behov beaktas.

The aim of this study was to receive a rapt understanding of how child-welfare officer’s reasons about the meaning of attachment theory, from the child´s best, in placements of a child. The aim was also to examine the possibilities child-welfare officer´s feel they have to work with the child´s best and attachment in focus. The study has a qualitative approach and the empirical material is collected thru semi-structured interviews. The theoretical framework used is attachment theory, the child´s best and street-level bureaucracy. The result of the study shows that child-welfare officers have equivalent knowledge, experiences and thoughts about the meaning of attachment theory for a favorable development in foster children. The study concludes is that more knowledge about attachment theory is necessary and child-welfare officers demands methods to better assess attachment patterns in children. The child-welfare officers express frustration when they talk about matters in the "grey area" and situations where different perspectives clashes and the child´s best end up in the background. / Studiens syfte var att erhålla en fördjupad förståelse för hur socialsekreterare i den sociala barnavården resonerar om anknytningens betydelse, utifrån barnets bästa, vid familjehemsplacering av ett barn. Syftet var också att ta reda på vilka möjligheter socialsekreterare upplever sig ha att arbeta med barnets bästa och anknytning i fokus. Studien har en kvalitativ ansats och materialet är insamlat genom semistrukturerade intervjuer. Den teoretiska tolkningsram som används är anknytningsteori, barnets bästa samt gräsrotsbyråkrati. Studiens resultat visar att socialsekreterare har likvärdiga kunskaper, erfarenheter och tankar om anknytningens betydelse för en gynnsam utveckling hos familjehemsplacerade barn. Studiens slutsats är att mer kunskap om anknytningsteori är nödvändig och socialsekreterare efterfrågar metoder för att bättre kunna bedöma anknytningsmönster hos barn. Socialsekreterarna ger uttryck för frustration när de berättar om så kallade gråzonsärenden och situationer där olika perspektiv är i konflikt och barnets bästa hamnar i skymundan.

The purpose of this study was to find out about the presence of unannounced home visits in foster families based on a survey of Swedish municipalities. The study also aimed at increasing knowledge about why unannounced home visits were made. In order to achieve the purpose of this study, mixed methods were used in both a quantitative and qualitative approach. The quantitative part of the study consisted of a census where all Swedish municipalities' guidelines and procedures for the prevention of foster homes were collected. Qualitative interviews were held with five social services, which stated in their guidelines that unannounced home visits should be made. To analyze both the study's quantitative and qualitative results, theories of legitimacy and power were used. The study concluded that the law on follow-up of foster homes gives municipalities a large margin of interpretation because the visits are regulated by the municipalities themselves. Another conclusion from the study was that no one knows which follow-up methods that really helps. Therefore, evaluations and research on follow-up of foster care must be established.

<p>The purpose of this study was to examine how some young mothers, who previously have been in foster care or residential care, describe the way motherhood has affected their lives and identities. Narrative interviews were conducted with three teenage mothers and one mother aged 23. As tools for analyzing the narratives, theories about narrative psychology and how people present themselves through story-telling and language were used. The results of the study show that becoming a mother was life-changing in a positive way, according to the young mothers. They described how they, since becoming mothers, had become more mature and now lived less risk-full lives. Motherhood had brought a new focus to their lives and had given them motivation to study and to become self-supporting. The mothers expressed a wish to give their children a better childhood, than they themselves had. The results of the study were similar with the results reported in previous, qualitative studies of the experiences of young mothers.</p>