Delegationsordningen påverkar socialsekreterares handlingsutrymme att leva upp till barnets bästa. Socialsekreterare styrs dagligen i sitt yrkesutövande av politiska beslut som utgörs av lagstiftning. Det politiska landskapet avser att bidra till en demokratisk process med avsikt att leda till likabehandling och rättssäkerhet för att stärka legitimiteten inom välfärden. Samtidigt är individer i behov av individuella lösningar och behovsanpassade insatser, något som lämnar socialsekreterare med ett handlingsutrymme att agera efter egen yrkesprofessionalism i försök att leva upp till barnets bästa. Socialsekreterare lever i ett mellanting mellan dessa två världar där organisationsprofessionalism och yrkesprofessionalism möts. Studiens resultat visar på svårigheter att definiera barnets bästa vilket medför en prövning av socialsekreterarens handlingsutrymme och flexibilitet i varje enskilt fall. Dessutom framgår det av det empiriska materialet att tillit utgör grundval för att handlingsutrymme ska bli önskvärt hos socialsekreterare. På barn- och utredningsenheten där studien utfördes upplever socialsekreterare generellt att de har tillit från ledningen på arbetsplatsen. Däremot framkommer det att delegationsordningen upplevs som ett ekonomiskt styrmedel för att reglera de offentliga utgifterna. Slutligen visar resultatet att socialsekreterare är oense om vem som ska vara yttersta beslutsfattare och efterfrågar expertkunskap i socialnämnden där de tyngsta besluten fattas. / The delegation of authority affects social workers discretion to live up to the best interests of the child. Social workers are affected daily by political decisions. The political landscape contribute to a democratic process with the intention of leading to equal treatment and the rule of law. At the same time, individuals are in need of individual solutions and needsadapted efforts, which leaves the social worker with the discretion to use occupational professionalism in an attempt to live up to the child's best of interests. Social workers act in between two worlds where organisational professionalism and occupational professionalism meet. The results of the study show difficulties in defining the best interests of the child, which challenges the social workers discretion in each single case. Trust is the foundation for making discretion desirable amongst social workers. At the child welfare unit, social workers feel that they have trust from their management. On the other hand, the delegation of authority is perceived as an economic instrument for regulating public expenditure. Finally, the results shows that the social workers disagrees on who should be the ultimate decisionmaker and demand expertise among the politicians in the social committee where the toughest decisions are made.

The aim of the study was to examine how staff and managers at private shelters define quality in the work with victims of violence. Furthermore, the study aimed to examine what quality means in terms of knowledge and competence and what conditions the business provides its staff to achieve these requirements. The results show that quality is often governed by laws and quality indicators, with a focus on standardized methods. This can reduce flexibility and increase bureaucracy, which in turn negatively affects the quality of work with the client. The study confirms that a strict organizational view of quality ignores immeasurable aspects such as self-reflection and self-awareness, which the informants emphasize as important factors for quality in work with clients. The work criticizes the current structure and proposes the development of quality indicators that include occupational professionalism values ​​to achieve sustainable quality within sheltered housing.