The aim of this study was to examine how staff at homes for care or residence (HVB-homes) work towards helping unaccompanied children to become self-sufficient. The study is based on a qualitative approach and we have done eight semi-structured interviews with staff from different HVB-homes. The study shows how staff in different HVB-homes uses different strategies to create opportunities for the children to integrate into Swedish society as well as the conditions that are necessary for the children to cope on their own. Our results have shown that routines help the unaccompanied children to manage their time efficiently and maintain a functional life with school, health and extra-curricular activities. By executing different tasks on their own such as cooking or doing their own laundry, the children learn to manage on their own. Staff shows the unaccompanied children how Swedish society works as well as the values and norms that exist to aid them in getting accustomed to their new environment. The staff motivates the children to go to school in order for them to acknowledge the beneficial aspects of education and to help develop their language. Trust, security and healthy relations have shown to be a prerequisite to maintain a functional relationship between the unaccompanied children and staff at the HVB-homes. Creating a network for the children by having them join different associations and extra-curricular activities such as soccer has also come to help the children integrate into Swedish society.

Varje år omhändertas ungdomar på grund av nutidens ungdomskriminalitet. Flera av dessa ungdomar placeras på HVB (hem för vård eller boende) i syfte att rehabiliteras från antisocialitet vilket kan förstås som en social hållbarhetsåtgärd. HVB har däremot kritiserats för att missgynna en hälsosam utveckling i och med en eventuell negativ socialiseringsprocess. Alla individer påverkas undermedvetet av sin omgivning vilket kan argumenteras vara mer påtagligt under ungdomsåren, därav kan konceptet av att samla flera ungdomar med liknande problematik på ett HVB ifrågasättas. Detta fenomen studeras utifrån teorier om social påverkan, konformitet, social inlärning, social identitet samt självbestämmandeteorin. Med hjälp av teorierna har studien som syfte att utforska behandlingsassistenters subjektiva erfarenheter av HVB-placerade ungdomars kriminella beteenden. Studien undersöker socialpsykologiska processer i form av interpersonella relationer och normkultur för att se hur de påverkar ungdomars upprätthållelse eller utveckling av kriminella beteenden. Med en kvalitativ design tillämpas semistrukturerade intervjuer med ett urval av 10 behandlingsassistenter i svensk kontext. Studiens tematiska analys identifierade tre huvudteman: “yrkesverksammas förhållningssätt”, “skyddsfaktorer” samt “riskfaktorer” med totalt 12 tillhörande subteman. Resultatet visar att en samling av antisociala ungdomar i samma sammanhang oftast bidrar till en negativ påverkan för ungdomarna. Hur ungdomarna påverkas av sin HVB-vistelse beror på vilka skyddsfaktorer samt riskfaktorer de besitter, men även hur behandlingsassistenter förhåller sig och arbetar med ungdomarna. / Every year, young people are taken into custody due to the youth crime prevailing in today's society. Several of these youths are placed in HVB (homes for care or residence) around Sweden to rehabilitate from their destructive lifestyles which can be seen as a concept of action from a social sustainability perspective. However, HVB have been criticized for disadvantaging the healthy development of youths due to a potential negative socialization process. All individuals are subconsciously influenced by their environment which can be argued to be more sensitive for youths, hence the concept of gathering several youths with similar issues in an HVB can be questioned. The social psychological theories underlying this issue include social influence, conformity, social learning, social identity, and self-determination theory. Using these theories, the study aims to explore caregivers' subjective experiences of HVB-placed youths' criminal behaviors. The study examines social psychological processes in the form of interpersonal relationships and norm culture to see how they affect youths' maintenance or development of criminal behaviors. With a qualitative design, the study uses semi-structured interviews with a sample of 10 caregivers in a Swedish context. Through thematic analysis, we have been able to identify three overarching themes:“professionals' approaches”, “protective factors”, and “risk factors” with a total of 12 associated subthemes. The results indicate that gathering a group of antisocial youths in the same setting often contributes to a negative influence for the youths. How the youths are affected by their residential care depends on the protective and risk factors they possess, as well as how caregivers engage with and work with the youths.