The aim of this study is to examine what working methods and active measures there are tomanage the ethnic discrimination of care staff working within elderly care, and how the unitmanager of nursing homes and home care in Kalmar county uses them. This objective is tocreate a deeper understanding of how the unit managers work to manage ethnic discriminationin elderly care. This study was done with a qualitative research method performed with semi-structured interviews where unit managers in their own words described their experiences oftheir complex work, their professional discretion and the occurrence of ethnic discriminationin the working place. The results show that unit managers identify different types of ethnicdiscrimination such as derogatory comments and a refusal to receive help from staff born inother countries than Sweden. The unit managers perception of their professional discretionvaries. Factors such as budget, organizational conditions, the personality of the unit managersand working experience can affect the management of ethnic discrimination of the care staffby the caretakers. Through the interviews, we have also observed the unit manager’spercieved lack of clear guidelines and aids that could support them in dealing with ethnicdiscrimination in their workplace. This also means that it becomes difficult to workpreventively to counteract ethnic discrimination. Unit managers can thus find their ownstrategies and working methods to support their staff and strengthen individuals. The unitmanagers have been shown to use methods such as increased participation and conversationswith the vulnerable person and the elderly, which are strongly linked to empowerment.

Fokus för den kvalitativa studien är att undersöka mellanchefers upplevelse inom vård och omsorg i en byråkratisk organisation med särskild fokus på krav, kontroll och stöd. Vi har intervjuat 8 enhetschefer som jobbar inom en byråkratisk organisation, respondenterna har svarat på frågor gällande vilka upplevelser de har kring deras arbetssituation. Våra intervjuer gjordes på ett semistrukturerat sätt. På grund av det stora avståndet mellan oss uppsatsförfattare har vi valt att utföra 4 intervjuerna var. Resultatet visar att samtliga respondenter känner att de har stora krav från samhället, medarbetarna och ledningen. De menar att kraven har ökat med tiden och fortsätter öka som ett resultat av samhällets utveckling. Utöver kraven känner de också att de har kontroll över sitt arbete mestadels av tiden, men att det ibland finns stressiga perioder där de upplever att dygnets alla timmar inte räcker till. Vi ställde frågan om de upplever att de får stöd i sitt arbete, vilket de upplevde. De får stöd i form av administrativt stöd eller i form av olika gruppchefer. Samtliga respondenter visade stor tacksamhet till det stöd som de får. Utöver kraven som förväntas av mellanchefer i arbetet har vi även valt att ta upp kraven som sätts på individens hantering av känslor, i uppsatsen har vi valt att kalla det emotionell aktivitet. Alla respondenter upplevde att de någon gång behöver gå in i roll för att kunna hantera en viss situation på jobbet. Sammanfattningsvis har vi kommit fram till att trots att mellanchefer har höga krav, har de även hög kontroll inom en byråkratisk organisation. Enligt Karasek och Theorells (1990) krav, kontroll och stödmodell hamnar mellanchefer i kategorin för aktivt arbete, vilka löper stor risk för trötthet och utbrändhet. / This qualitative study has focused on examining the middle managers' self-perceived situation in a bureaucratic organization, with a special focus on the experience of demands and control. We have interviewed 8 middle managers who have worked within a bureaucratic organization, where the respondents have answered eg number of questions regarding their self-perceived situation. Our interviews were conducted in a semi-structured manner. Due to the large distance between us writers, we have chosen to conduct the interviews on our own. The results show that all respondents feel that they have great demands from society, employees, management, etc. They believe that the demands have increased over time and that it continues to increase because we live in such a society. In addition to the requirements, they also feel that they have control over their work most of the time, but that sometimes there are stressful periods where they feel that all hours of the day are not enough. We were asking if they feel that they receive enough support in their work, which they experienced. They receive support in the form of administrative support or in the form of various group leaders. All respondents showed great gratitude for the support they receive. In addition to requirements that are expected of one in the work, we have also chosen to address the requirements that are placed on the individuals emotional activity. All respondents felt that at some point they need to enter into such a professional role in order to be able to handle a certain situation at work. In summary, we have come to the conclusion that despite high demands, you have high control as a middle manager in a bureaucratic organization. According to Karasek and Theorell (1990) requirements and control model, they fall into the category of active work, which runs the risk of being burnt out and fatigue.

The aim of this study was to understand what meaning the discretion of swedish social workers has for how support is given to pregnant women with alcohol or substance abuse. Initially in the work with this study we searched for previous research about social workers professional experiences in contact with pregnant women with alcohol and/or substance abuse. The previous research that we present in this study describe the subject from different point of views such as custodial care, working methods, cooperation and discretion. We also learned the theoretical meaning of discretion. To achieve the aim we also did our own research on how professional social workers work with these women by completing qualitative interviews with seven different social workers with varied professional roles. Our choice of interviewing seven professionals within social work was based on the aim to understand the meaning of their discretion in cases with the defined target group. Based on the answer of our respondents we identified four themes; pregnancy as a motivation factor, impact of the pregnancy on professional work, cooperation and interpretation of laws. We analyzed these themes against previous research, our theoretical take-off and our aim and issues. The main conclusion of our research was that social workers discretion while working with support for substance abusing pregnant women can be defined as wide, and with that comes both advantages and disadvantages. A wide discretion leaves room for individual-based judgements and support, but it also brings high demands for social workers to make fair and valid decisions.

Studien syftade till att undersöka hur socialsekreterare arbetade med barns delaktighet i socialtjänstens barnavårdsutredningar samt hur covid-19-pandemin påverkade detta. Kvalitativa intervjuer hölls med åtta socialsekreterare om deras erfarenheter av utredande arbete med barn innan och under covid-19-pandemin. Socialsekreterarna visade stort en­gagemang för barns delaktighet, men det framkom att delaktigheten främst handlade om att inhämta information från barn om deras situation. Resultatet visade att pandemin har haft negativ påverkan på barns möjligheter till delaktighet. Socialsekreterarnas handlings­utrymme påverkades i varierande grad beroende på verksamhetens förhållningssätt till riktlinjer och restrik­tioner. Det framkom stora skillnader mellan hur socialsekreterare har träffat och inkluderat barn både innan och under covid-19-pandemin. Av resultatet att döma var arbetet med barns delaktighet en utmaning sedan tidigare, men det har ställts på sin spets under covid-19-pandemin. För barn kunde situationen liknas vid ett lotteri för i vilken utsträckning de gjordes delaktiga, utifrån den socialsekreterare de tilldelats. / The aim of this qualitative study was to examine how social workers at child welfare agencies implemented the principle of children's right to participation in child protection investigations and how the covid-19-pandemic has affected it. Eight social workers were interviewed on their experiences before and during the covid-19-pandemic. The social workers showed much interest in children’s participation, but findings showed they mostly thought of it as acquiring information from children. The study found that the covid-19-pandemic had a negative effect on the possibilities of participation. Experiences of how the covid-19-pandemic affected discretion and relative autonomy differed between the social workers. Notable differences emerged regarding how they met and included children in investigations both before and during the covid-19-pandemic. The challenges of implementing children’s right to participation seems to persist. The situa­tion appeared much like a lottery, where children’s level of participation greatly depended on which social worker they were assigned.

Studiens syfte var att undersöka skolors och skolkuratorers arbete med att uppmärksamma, förebygga och motverka hedersrelaterat våld och förtryck. Intervjuer genomfördes med sex skolkuratorer i en kvalitativ intervjustudie. Resultatet visade varierande erfarenheter gällande skolans arbete med och kunskap om problematiken. En stor del av skolkuratorerna beskrev en avsaknad av en handlingsplan och riktade insatser specifikt mot hedersrelaterat våld och förtryck medan ett fåtal beskrev ett mer utvecklat och inriktat arbete mot problematiken. Mänskliga rättigheter och barnkonventionen visade sig vara grundläggande beståndsdelar i det förebyggande och motverkande arbetet och att kunskap och relationen till eleven är av vikt för att kunna uppmärksamma och upptäcka problematiken. Samverkan, organisatoriska faktorer samt sociala konstruktioner ansågs påverka handlingsutrymmet och arbetet med hedersrelaterat våld och förtryck. Resultatet visade även ett behov av ständig kompetensutveckling samt att det förebyggande och motverkande arbetet alltid måste utvecklas och uppdateras. / The aim of the study was to examine how schools and school counselors pay attention to, prevent and counteract honour related violence and oppression. Six school counselors were interviewed in a qualitative study. Results showed varying experiences regarding the school’s work with and knowledge of the problem. A majority described a lack of an action plan and specific interventions against honour related violence and oppression while a few described a focused work against the problem. Human rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child were fundamental components of the preventive and counteracting work and that knowledge and the relationship with the student are important to be able to pay attention to and identify the problem. Collaboration, organizational factors and social constructions affected the work and discretion. The results demonstrate a need for constant competence development and that preventive and counteracting work must always be developed and updated.

This study aimed to investigate how social workers within the domestic violence team in the city of Stockholm experience their knowledge and discretion. To answer the purpose, three questions were formulated: 1. How do social workers experience their competence in matching interventions with client's needs? 2. How much discretion do social workers experience regarding designing interventions? 3. Which organizational challenges do social workers recognize in their work with domestic violence? This study is based on a qualitative method where six semi structured interviews were conducted with professional social workers. The theoretical point of departure were Lipsky's theory of street level bureaucracy, the term discretion and previous research in the field. The results showed that social workers experienced good knowledge, however they were limited in their interventions which affected the help they could offer. The social workers described their discretion as wide, but the delegation system and limited interventions were factors that restricted their discretion. Economy and cooperation were described as organizational challenges. The economy limited the help social workers could offer. Cooperation was described as necessary but difficult to achieve, both because it required a lot from oneself and because other social work units lacked knowledge about domestic violence.

Vårt huvudsyfte med denna studie var att öka kunskapen om hur socialsekreterare förhåller sigtill barnperspektivet i sitt arbete med ekonomiskt bistånd. Vi undersökte hur socialsekreterarnaupplevde det nuvarande arbetet, samt hur de önskade att arbeta med barnperspektivet. Studienvar en kvalitativ intervjustudie där empirin grundade sig på sju respondenter, vilka alla varverksamma inom ekonomiskt bistånd som socialsekreterare. För att bearbeta och analysera detinsamlade materialet gjordes en kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Vi har analyserat empirin med stödav Lipskys teori om gräsrotsbyråkrater och handlingsutrymme. Resultatet visade på attbedömningar utifrån, och beaktande av barnperspektivet skedde på olika sätt och i olika storutsträckning av socialsekreterarna. På flera av respondenternas arbetsplatser fanns det enavsaknad av kunskap i tillämpningen av barnperspektivet. Det uttrycktes, utifrån avsaknad avkunskap kring tillämpningen, ett önskemål om att utöka den. Resultatet visade också på attrespondenterna sällan hade någon direktkontakt med barnen, vilket bekräftade den tidigareforskningen. Därmed framkom ett behov av ett utökat underlag och forskning kring hur man påbästa möjliga sätt bör arbeta med barnperspektivet inom ekonomiskt bistånd i Sverige. / The aim of this study was to contribute to the knowledge of how social workers approach thechild’s perspective in their work with financial aid. We investigated how the social workersexperienced the current ways of work, and how they wished to work, with the child’sperspective. The study was a qualitative interview study where the empirical data was based onseven respondents, which all were operating within financial aid as social workers. To processand analyze the gathered material a qualitative content analysis was done. The data wasanalyzed with the support of Lipsky's theory about street-level bureaucrats and discretion. Theresults showed that the social workers made assessments from, and took consideration of, thechild perspective in different ways. In several of the respondent’s workplaces, there was a lackof knowledge in the application of the child’s perspective, which many of the social workersexpressed a desire to expand their knowledge about. The results also showed that therespondents rarely had any direct contact with the children, which confirms previous research.The conclusion of the study was therefore that there was a need for an expanded basis andresearch on the best possible way of working regarding the child’s perspective in financial aidin Sweden.

From the filing of an application to evict to the final execution of an eviction order is a long and complicated process. This raises questions about how the actors involved experience and act during this process. The general aim of the study was to describe and analyse this process from the respective perspectives of the landlords, the social services and the individuals (families) facing eviction in three municipalities in the county of Stockholm. The issues discussed are how the landlords and the social welfare offices are organised, their work procedures, respective scopes of action and resources, and how individuals facing eviction cope with their life situation. The material for the study consists of qualitative interviews with nine handling officers at six landlord offices, fifteen social workers at three social welfare offices, twelve individuals who were facing eviction and fifteen observations of conversations between social workers and individuals who were facing eviction. The analytic framework used consists of perspectives and concepts derived from organisation theory – Human Service Organizations and street-level bureaucrats – and theories on coping. A main result of the study is that the work procedures of the professionals are standardised in many ways and are characterised by similar procedures for classifying and categorising the individuals facing eviction, irrespective of how the three municipalities have organised their work. Another main result is that the primarily interests of the individuals facing eviction are to meet what they experience to be their children’s needs, and to avoid eviction. Further, the individuals experience as stressful their life situation marked by the threat of eviction in combination with reduced financial resources that make it difficult for them to meet their children’s needs. The study has identified two types of strategies that individuals facing eviction use in order to cope with their life situation and to achieve their interests. These are emotion-focused strategies and problem-focused strategies, which are described and discussed.

Föreliggande arbete kommer att behandla problemet barnfattigdom, vi kommer att belysa problemet genom att se på hur barnkonventionen format beslutsfattandet av ekonomiskt bistånd. Syftet med uppsatsen är titta på hur socialsekreterares handlingsutrymme har formats sedan barnkonventionen blivit svensk lag 1 januari 2020. De centrala frågeställningarna vi vill besvara är för det första hur använder socialsekreterare det relativt nyförvärvade handlingsutrymmet, för det andra har socialsekreterarnas handlingsutrymme formats för att möjliggöra bedömningar utifrån tillämpningen av barnperspektivet? För det tredje har barnkonventionen nått en handlingsmässig tyngd i det arbete som en socialsekreterare på ekonomiskt bistånd utför i ärenden som rör barn? Resultatet visar att socialsekreterarnas handlingsutrymme har förändrats genom att de kan bevilja ekonomiskt bistånd utifrån barnkonventionen men också att handlingsutrymmet är begränsat utifrån organisationens riktlinjer och att professionens ansvar läggs över på föräldrarna. Handlingsutrymmets förändring ligger också på den yrkeserfarenhet och kunskapen en socialsekreterare har. Resultatet visar också att barnkonventionen inte har nått en riktigt handlingsmässig tyngd för att den inte tillämpats tillräckligt i handlingsutrymmets olika delar. Arbetets resultat visar på en önskan om tydligare riktlinjer och en konkretisering av barnkonventionen som verktyg för att beslut om ekonomiskt bistånd ska vara kunna tas som den kräver. / The present work will address the problem of child poverty. We will discuss the problem by looking at how the Convention on the Rights of the Child is shaped by the decisions on financial assistance. The purpose of the essay is to look at how the discretion of social workers has been shaped since the Convention on the Rights of the Child became Swedish law on the 1st of January 2020. The key questions we want to answer are firstly how social workers use the relatively newly acquired discretion found in the convention, in the practice of using a child perspective? Thirdly, has the Convention on the Rights of the Child reached a weight of action in the work carried out by a social worker in financial assistance in matters concerning children? The results show that the social worker’s use of discretion has changed in a way in which they can grant financial assistance based on the Convention on the Rights of the Child. But also, that the discretion is limited based on the guidelines of the organization and that the responsibility is transferred to parents rather than onto the responsibility of the professional. The change in the discretion is also based on the professional experience and the knowledge a social worker has. The results also show that the Convention on the Rights of the Child has not reached a real weight of action because it is not yet applied sufficiently in the various parts that make up the discretion of a social worker. The results of the paper show a desire for clearer guidelines and a concretization of the Convention on the Rights of the Child as a tool for decisions on financial assistance. This is required if we are to use the convention to the extent it needs.

Intentionen med denna studie har varit att genom en kvalitativ metod undersöka huruvida personer som arbetar inom hemtjänsten i Malmö stad upplever och uppfattar mötet med äldre där det uppkommer problem för personalen i deras arbete på grund av att den äldre har konsumerat alkohol. Detta genom att intervjua åtta hemtjänstpersonal angående deras förutsättningar att leva upp till lagen och den nationella och den lokala värdegrunden i Malmö stad. Vi vill även utröna om de anser att de har tillräckligt med kunskap inom området för att leva upp till dessa intentioner. Den insamlade empirin har bearbetats utifrån Aristoteles kunskapsteori med hjälp av de tre begrepp episteme, techne och fronesis samt utifrån teorin om handlingsutrymme. Det framkom i studien att intervjupersonerna inte främst uppger att det är deras kunskap som begränsar dem i att uppnå de intentioner som finns i lagar och värdegrunder, det som uppges vara de begränsande faktorerna är den äldres självbestämmande och organisationens resursbrist. Intervjupersonerna uppger att kunskapen de har och vilken de använder sig av i sitt arbete kommer främst från deras arbetslivserfarenhet vilket också styrks av tidigare forskning. När det i studien beskrivs hur det kan vara i mötet med de äldre som åsyftas i studien beskrivs detta att det kan se väldigt olika ut, där en del av intervjupersonerna beskriver att det i kan vara en tuff miljö att arbeta i. Då där det har förekommit rädsla för att utsättas för övergrepp. / The intention with this essay has been to study through a qualitative method whether or not people who is working in the homecare in Malmö city experience and perceive the meeting with elderly where there are problems for the staff in their work due to the fact that the elderly have consumed alcohol. By interviewing eight homecare staff regarding their prospects of living up to the law and the national and local value base in Malmö city. We also wanted to find out if they think they have enough knowledge in the area to live up to these intentions. The collected empiric has been processed from Aristotle's theory of knowledge using the three concepts episteme, techne and fronesis, and from the theory of “handlingsutrymme”. It was found in the essay that the interviewees do not primarily state that it is their knowledge that limits them in achieving the intentions contained in laws and the values, which is said to be the limiting factors, is the self-determination of the elderly and the organization's lack of resources. Interviewers state that the knowledge they have and which they use in their work comes mainly from their work experience, which is also supported by previous research. When it in the essay describes how it may be in the meeting with the elderly as referred to in the essay, this may look very different, some of the interviewees describe that in some cases it may be a tough environment to work in. Where they have occurred fear of being subjected to abuse.