This Master's thesis focuses on the cooperation between school and the Authority for Social and Legal Protection of Children (OSPOD) with the emphasis on neglecting school attendance in primary school. Cooperation of OSPOD with other authorities is a significant part of OSPOD employee's job description. At school, especially primary school, the undesirable effects of dysfunctional family environment or other socially pathological effects can be manifested on a child. Teachers also play a very important role because they can bring attention to potentially undesirable display of children's behaviour, such as neglecting school attendance. The quality of the cooperation between school teachers when dealing with the neglect of school attendance may have a significantly positive effect on a child's life. The thesis is divided into theoretical and empirical parts. The first part consists of the theoretical conceptualization of the problem. In the empirical part, qualitative data were collected through a case study which was focused on the cooperation between OSPOD and a selected primary school. Key words: OSPOD, school, absenteeism school attendance, primary school, cooperation, dysfunctional family environment, socio-pathological effects, teacher, social worker

Problematisk skolfrånvaro är ett omfattande problem som kan få sociala, emotionella och kunskapsmässiga konsekvenser för barn och ungdomar. Forskning visar att multimodala interventioner är effektiva i att öka skolnärvaro, vilka programstrategier inom interventionerna som fungerar i vilka kontexter saknas däremot kunskap om. En realistisk översikt genomfördes därför i syfte att undersöka vilka orsaker till problematisk skolfrånvaro som går att identifiera i tidigare forskning. Vidare var syftet att öka förståelsen för multimodala interventioner genom att specificera vilka programstrategier som leder till ökad skolnärvaro inom vilka kontexter. Efter en systematisk sökprocess inkluderades totalt 124 vetenskapliga artiklar. Resultatet av den realistiska analysen visade att trygghet, attityd, känsloreglering, social kompetens, motivation, föräldraförmåga, föräldrars föreställningar, kommunikation, tillit, familjedynamik, relationen mellan elev och lärare, skolklimat, skolorganisering, normativa föreställningar samt jämlikhet kan generera skolfrånvaro i särskilda kontexter. Inom de multimodala interventionerna identifierades åtta programstrategier som visat sig öka skolnärvaro i vissa kontexter. Mest empiriskt underlag förelåg för de strategier som arbetade med föräldra-förmågan och kommunikationen i elevens omgivning. Resultatet analyserades med hjälp av behavioristisk teori om operant betingning och systemteori. Översiktens slutsatser kan öka förståelsen för orsaker till skolfrånvaro och vägleda yrkesverksamma i vilka programstrategier som bör implementeras under vilka omständigheter. / Problematic school absenteeism is a comprehensive problem associated with social, emotional and cognitive consequences for children and adolescents. Research shows that multimodal interventions are effective in increasing attendance. However, there is a need to refine the contexts in which multimodal interventions are effective. Therefore, a realistic review was carried out in order to identify the causes underlying problematic school absenteeism in previous research. Furthermore, the purpose was to increase the understanding of multimodal interventions by specifying which program strategies lead to increased school attendance in which contexts. Following a systematic search process, a total of 124 articles were included. The results showed that security, attitude, emotion regulation, social skills, motivation, parent self-efficacy, parental beliefs, communication, trust, family dynamics, student-teacher relationship, school climate, school organization, normative ideas and equality can generate school absenteeism in specific contexts. Eight program strategies that generated attendance in different contexts were identified within the multimodal interventions. Most empirical support were found for the strategies related to parent self-efficacy and communication. The result was analyzed using behavioral and systems theory. The conclusions can advance the understanding of causes to absenteeism and guide professionals regarding which program strategies should be implemented under which circumstances.

Problematic school absenteeism is receiving an increasing amount of public attention in today's Sweden due to the impact it has on young people's health and their families. A relatively new profession, School Social Worker (SSW), constitutes a role in the intersection between schools, families, and the social services. The aim of this study is to examine SSWs experiences and how organizational conditions affect their work. The data was collected through nine semi- structured interviews and a thematic analysis was made based on the interviews using organizational theory and domain-conflict theory. Our findings are based on two main themes: The school social workers conditions and approaches and The social services in the pedagogical sphere. The results show that the SSW has a lot of freedom to shape their own professional role. The results also indicate that SSWs had different structures, goals and guidelines depending on the workplace. A common theme was preventive work, with the majority focusing on attendance-related issues. The results suggest a potential change in SSWs tasks if they fail to communicate clear boundaries with other professionals. The assignment's intent and adherence vary, especially regarding the issues SSWs are expected to address, such as handling twice the specified absenteeism rate.

I denna studie undersöks yrkesverksamma inom skola och socialtjänst perspektiv på problematisk skolfrånvaro ifrån yrkesverksamma inom skola och socialtjänst. Studien är en kvalitativ semistrukturerad intervjustudie där nio intervjuer genomförts och inkluderade tio deltagare. Intervjumaterialet har analyserats utifrån ekologisk systemteori och symbolisk interaktionism. Resultatet från studien visade på att problematisk skolfrånvaro ansågs uppstå av flera olika anledningar och att det inte är eleven som enbart är problemet utan att det är också samhället som brister när problematisk skolfrånvaro uppstår. Problematisk skolfrånvaro beskrivs som ett samlingsbegrepp för att elever inte är i skolan av olika anledningar eller inte hänger med i studierna. De insatser som studiens deltagare uppfattade vara mest effektiva mot problematisk skolfrånvaro var att kartlägga barnets situation, skapa en relation till barnet vårdnadshavare för att kunna ge rätt stöd och att personal gör sällskap med barnet till skolan. / This study explores problematic school absence through the perspectives of professionals from schools and social services. It is a qualitative semi-structured interview study involving nine interviews with ten participants. The interview material was analyzed through ecological systems theory and symbolic interactionism. The study indicates that problematic school absence is attributed to a variety of reasons and that the problem lies not solely with the pupils but also with society when problematic school absence occurs. Problematic school absence is described as an umbrella term for pupils not being in school for various reasons or not keeping up with their studies. The interventions perceived as most effective by the professionals interviewed were to map the child's situation, build a relationship with the child to provide the right support, and for staff to accompany the child to school.