Syftet med denna kvalitativa studie är att belysa hur brukare som har kontakt med socialtjänsten på grund av missbruksproblematik upplever och beskriver sitt inflytande över den egna behandlingen. Studien utgår från den hermeneutiska forskningstraditionen och har en kvalitativ ansats - sex semistrukturerade intervjuer har genomförts med brukare som har kontakt med socialtjänsten på grund av missbruksproblematik. Resultatet tolkades utifrån den nyinstitutionella teorin och visade att brukarna upplever att de har inflytande i sin kontakt med socialtjänsten, men på vilket sätt och i vilken omfattning varierar och påverkas till stor del av vilken socialsekreterare brukaren träffar. När vård enligt LVM ligger nära till hands upplever brukarna att kommunikation och information brister från socialsekreterarens sida. Samtliga brukare framhåller att kommunikation och delaktighet underlättar behandlingsarbetet och ökar den egna motivationen. En god relation till socialsekreteraren innebär ett fungerande inflytande, även om några brukare upplever att de inte alltid vågar vara helt ärliga med sina tankar på grund av oro för inskränkningar i inflytandet. Brukarens underläge i en ojämlik relation är närvarande, om än inte uttalat.

Synen på föräldrar med lindrig utvecklingsstörning har förändrats över tid. Den utveckling som skett har lett till att normaliseringsprincipen förutsätts gälla när människor med lindrig utvecklingsstörning blir föräldrar. Syftet med vår uppsats var att undersöka hur socialsekreterare förstår och arbetar med föräldrar som har en lindrig utvecklingsstörning där de misstänker att deras barn far illa. Vi har genomfört en kvalitativ studie i form av en fokusgruppsintervju med fem socialsekreterare som arbetar med utredning av barn. Resultatet visade på att socialsekreterarna upplever att föräldrar med lindrig utvecklingsstörning har vissa svårigheter i sin föräldraförmåga - som vilka föräldrar som helst. Samtidigt konstaterar socialsekreterarna att barnen till dessa föräldrar ofta är utsatta för ett flertal riskfaktorer. En av studiens viktigaste slutsatser är att det är känsligt och tabubelagt att ifrågasätta föräldraförmågan hos föräldrar med lindrig utvecklingsstörning. Detta medför ett hinder för socialsekreterarnas arbete med dessa familjer. / The perception of individuals with a mild intellectual disability as parents has changed over time. The devolpment has resulted in that the normalization principle is considered to be valid when these individuals become parents. This group of individuals has gone from being considered as incapable parents to being considered parents like anybody else. The purpose of this study was to examine the way social workers understand and work with this group of parents and their children if they suspect that the children is being maltreated. We conducted a qualitative study using a focusgroupinterview with five participants in whom all of them are social workers working with children and families that need support. The results show that social workers experience that parents with a mild intellectual disability have some problems in their parenting - like any other parent. They also experience that the children of these parents are exposed to several risk factors. An important conclusion of this essay is that it seems to be taboo to question parents with a mild intellectual disability's parenting skills. This makes it difficult for the social workers in their work with these families.

According to the Conventions on the Rights of the Child, children have the right to make their voices heard and express their opinion in situations concerning them. With this paper the authors have chosen to explore social worker’s view’s on children’s participation and influence, and how these are manifested through the entire case process. The focus in this study has also been the positive and negative effects the children’s influence may have. To investigate this, a qualitative study using semi-structured interviews has been conducted. The interviews of social workers has shown that children have influence, but the extent may vary due to various factors. There are different perceptions of what participation and influence really relate, something that both the interviewed social workers and previous research has pointed out. In doing so, it may be of great importance that social workers continue to talk about children's influence, as well as developing new and more effective methods to make children more involved and give them more influence. This is especially important because of the devastating effects it can have when children are excluded from the decision-making.

The purpose of this study was to examine the discourses that can be identified in medias representation of social services. To answer the purpose we made a critical discourse analysis using Faircloughs three-dimensional model. The choice to focus our study on a local newspaper was based on earlier research that found it possible that a local paper has a greater impact on readers than a national newspaper. Readers can more easily connect with what's happening in the immediate environment than what is written nationally. We used articles published in 2013 containing “social services”. We found four discourses about collaboration, economy, criticism and work practices and procedures. We found social services mentioned in contexts involving money, resources, complaints, cooperation, collaboration, support, routines and responsibilities. The social services was briefly depicted, descriptions of their work was often omitted. The descriptions we found was often negative and contained assumptions that were not explained. / Syftet med detta examensarbete var att undersöka vilka diskurser som kan identifieras i medias framställning av socialtjänsten. För att besvara syftet gjorde vi en kritisk diskursanalys med Faircloughs tredimensionella modell. Vi valde att fokusera vår studie på en lokaltidning då tidigare forskning funnit att det kan ses som möjligt att en lokaltidning har ett större inflytande på läsarna än en rikstäckande tidning då läsarna lättare kan knyta an till det som händer i närmiljön än det som skrivs nationellt. Vi använde oss av artiklar publicerade under 2013 och som innehöll ordet socialtjänst. Studien resulterade i fyra diskurser; samverkansdiskursen, ekonomidiskursen, kritikdiskursen och diskursen om arbetssätt och rutiner. Vi fann att socialtjänsten nämns i sammanhang som berör pengar, resurser, klagomål, samarbete, samverkan, stöd, rutiner och ansvar. Sättet socialtjänsten benämndes på var kortfattat, beskrivningar av deras arbete utelämnades ofta. De beskrivningar vi fann var ofta negativa och innehöll antaganden som inte förklarades.

This thesis aim was to investigate how social workers reflect around their communication with children who live with parents or guardians who have addiction problems. How the social workers manage to enable the child’s legally right to be heard in a decision-making process. What methods the social workers are using and what that is perceived as limitations and capabilities in the communication with children who live with parents with addiction problems. The method used in the study is qualitative with interviews. There were five interviews conducted with social workers within the same municipality. Theories for analysing were Family System theory and Attachment theory. Primarily the study has called for a deeper understanding of how complex social work and authority assessing is when related to children. This study reveals how difficult it is for social workers to enable for children to be heard about their situation without their parent’s permission and approval to communicate with the social worker. Importance was also emphasised and expressed on building and maintaining a trusting relationship with the child and stakeholders involved. In the municipality where the study took place they all stated that they are working according Swedish legislation and got training in and used the method Signs of Safety, which enables to get an image over the children's situation. Other methods for communicating with children were used different by different social worker due to different trainings, abilities and depending on the needs from the individual child.

Intresset till studien uppkom genom att en webbgemenskap upptäcktes i vilken fäder söker stöd från varandra i förhållande till socialtjänsten, det väckte vår nyfikenhet kring vad orsaken och syftet är till att fäder söker sig till webbgemenskapen. Syftet med studien är att söka förståelse för varför fäderna vänder sig till webbgemenskapen på internet, att beskriva vilka föreställningar som skapas kring socialtjänsten i webbgemenskapen samt hur föreställningar begripliggörs och förklaras av fäderna. För insamling av empiri har en kvalitativ observationsstudie på internet genomförts där empirin som legat till grund för resultatet är texter och kommentarer publicerade av personer som utger sig för att vara fäder. En kvalitativ innehållsanalys har använts för att bearbeta den empiri som insamlats och bland annat tre övergripande teman har identifierats: föreställningar kring socialtjänsten, begripliggörande av föreställningarna samt mobiliseringens orsak och syfte. Studien har genomgripande ett genusperspektiv och resultatet av innehållsanalysen analyserades med hjälp av de teoretiska utgångspunkterna: kön som konstruktion – skapandet av genus samt homosocialitet. Resultatet i studien beskriver föreställningar kring att socialtjänsten bedömer fäder och mödrar olika utifrån kön samt reproducerar föreställningar kring traditionella föräldraroller och maskulinitet. Fäderna erhåller inget stöd och känner sig maktlösa utifrån att socialtjänsten privilegierar mödrar, detta leder till att fäderna söker sig till webbgemenskapen för att erhålla olika typer av stöd. Slutsatsen är att socialarbetare måste medvetandegöra föreställningar kring kön, maskulinitet och föräldraskap för att kunna motverka att föreställningar befästs och reproduceras. För detta krävs verktyg som direkt kan appliceras i det praktiska arbetet med fäder, men socialarbetare behöver också vara mer tydliga och lyhörda för att kunna identifiera behov hos fäder för att möjliggöra stödgivande. / The interest of this study were awakened when webcommunities whose purpose is to support fathers against the social services were found. This raised our curiosity about why such webcommunities are needed. The purpose of this study is to seek understanding for why fathers are turning to the webcommunity, also to describe conceptions about the social services which are created in the webcommunity and how those conceptions are understood and explained by the fathers. The method used for collection of data was a qualiatitive obervational study on the internet where the empirical base for the results are published texts and comments by people purporting to be fathers. A qualitative content analysis were used to process the empirical findings and three main themes were developed: conceptions about the social services, understanding of these conceptions and the cause and purpose of the mobilization. This study has a pervasive genderperspective and the result of the content analysis has been analyzed with the theoretical base of: ”doing gender” and homosociality. The result of this study reveals conceptions fathers have about the social services, that the social services assess fathers and mothers on different basis because of their sex. The fathers also claims that the social services reproduces conceptions about traditional parenting-roles and masculinity. The fathers doesn’t recieve the support they need and feel powerless because the social services privileges mothers, which instead leads fathers to seek support from eachother in the webcommunity. The conclusion is that social workers need to be more aware of conceptions they have on gender, masculinity and parenthood to be able to work against these conceptions. To do this social workers needs tools that can be applied in their daily practical work with fathers. But social workers also need to be more distinct and responsive to be able to identify fathers needs and thus offer support.

This thesis emerged as a result from the desire to know how the Public Service of Malaysia is coping up with the demands of quality services from the public. The Public Service, in meeting the aspirations of the Government, on providing quality services to the public, has introduced a number of quality programmes. In spite of this positive move to inculcate a quality work culture among the Public Service employees, the public is said to be still complaining about public services. In this situation, investigations are required to determine the true status of the level of quality of services delivered by the Public Service. These investigations involved measuring service quality and the SERVQUAL instrument of measuring service quality, which has been tested for its reliability, has been introduced. After obtaining the measurements, shown in the form of service quality gaps, further investigations was carried out to identify the cause of the service quality gaps. It was discovered that service quality can be affected by the internal service gaps and in this case, the service performance gap is the main cause of the service quality gap. Further investigations narrowed down the cause of the service quality gap to performance appraisal. Therefore insight was gained about the improper implementation of performance appraisal which can affect quality. The invaluable findings obtained from the thesis about the Public Service prompted suggestions to be made about ways of improving quality services delivered by the Public Service.

Darbo tikslas: Įvertinti didžiųjų Lietuvos miestų socialinių paslaugų centrų klientų pasitenkinimą socialinėmis paslaugomis. Uždaviniai: 1. Įvertinti ir palyginti socialinių paslaugų organizavimo ypatumus Šiaulių ir Panevėžio miestuose pacientų su negalia požiūriu. 2. Įvertinti pasitenkinimą socialinio darbuotojo veikla socialinių paslaugų centrų klientų požiūriu. 3. Įvertinti socialinių paslaugų centrų klientų pasitenkinimą socialinėmis paslaugomis priklausomai nuo sociodemografinių charakteristikų. Tyrimo metodika: Tyrimas atliktas Panevėžio ir Šiaulių socialinių paslaugų centruose. Tyrimo objektu pasirinkti neįgalūs Panevėžio bei Šiaulių socialinių paslaugų centrų klientai. Nuo 2013–11–29 iki 2014–01–31 Panevėžio bei Šiaulių socialinių paslaugų centruose buvo atlikta anoniminė anketinė neįgalių klientų apklausa. Apklausta 210 respondentų. Tyrimo duomenų statistinei analizei buvo naudotas SPSS 17.0 for Windows duomenų apdorojimo paketas. Požymių ryšiams vertinti sudarytos susijusių požymių lentelės, požymių priklausomybei nustatyti skaičiuotas chi-kvadrat (χ2) kriterijus su jo laisvės laipsnių skaičiumi. Proporcijų lygybei tikrinti skaičiuotas z-kriterijus. Dviejų nepriklausomų imčių neparametrinių kintamųjų vidutinėms reikšmėms palyginti naudotas Mann-Witney U testas. Kai reikšmingumo lygmuo p<0,05, požymių skirtumas tiriamųjų grupėse laikytas statistiškai reikšmingu. Rezultatai: Tyrimo rezultatai parodė, kad dažniausia paslauga, kurią socialinių paslaugų centrai teikia... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Aim of the thesis: To evaluate customers’ satisfaction of social service centres in the major cities of Lithuania. Objectives: 1. To evaluate and compare specific organization peculiarities of social services for people with disabilities in the cities of Šiauliai and Panevėžys. 2. To evaluate client satisfaction with social workers' services. 3. To evaluate social service centres customer satisfaction level, based on the socio-demographic characteristics. Methods: The research was carried out in social service centres of Panevėžys and Šiauliai. People with disabilities who are the clients of social service centres in Panevėžys and Šiauliai served as research objects. Anonymous questionnaire survey of disabled people was carried out in social service centres of Panevėžys and Šiauliai, from 2013-11-29 to 2014-01-31. 210 respondents were questioned. SPSS data processing package 17.0 for Windows was used while making the statistical data analysis of the survey. A table of related symptoms was created in order to evaluate the features. Also, chi-squared (χ2) criterion with its degrees of freedom was used in order to identify the signs of correlation. Z-test was used to check the equality of proportions. Mann-Witney U test was used to compare the average value importance of two independent non-parametric and variable samples. The difference of evidence was considered to be statistically significant in research groups when the level of significance was p<0.05. Results: The results... [to full text]

Ethiopia is a country well endowed with a number of development related NGOs who have been involved in socio-economic development at national, regional and grassroots level. In a country like Ethiopia, where natural and man-made hazards persist, NGOs play a crucial role in terms of reducing poverty and other human sufferings. As one of the non-governmental organizations, the Ethiopian Kale Heywot Church Development Program (EKHCDP) has played an important role in supporting and encouraging the development aspirations of local communities in the areas of environmental rehabilitation, water and sanitation, agriculture, health, education, credit and saving schemes.<br /> <br /> The study focused on the Ethiopian Kale Heywot Church community development program in five selected project areas, namely Lambuda, Durame, Shashamane, Debraziet and Nazret. The analysis subsequently examined the nature and extent of community participation in the project planning, implementation and decision-making phases. Thereafter, the study brought into focus general observations gleaned from the investigation and provides recommendation to the EKHC and other stakeholders that have been involved in development activities.<br /> <br /> Quantitative and qualitative methods of research have been applied throughout the investigation. Accordingly, observation, in depth interviews, focus group discussions and structured and semi-structured questionnaires were used to gather information. The qualitative mode was employed to gather socially dynamic information on issues relating to beneficiaries&rsquo / perceptions of processes in order to gain a deeper understanding of the dynamics at play. On the other hand, the quantitative mode was used to test variables related to the research problem. <br /> <br /> The findings indicate that the Ethiopian Kale Heywot Church development program has played a significant role in terms of community development. Moreover, its development approach is responsive to local needs and able to mobilize local and external resources to support the poor, so that through empowerment and participation they will be released from the deprivation trap that they find themselves in. The study also indicates that the EKHCDP has good linkages and networks with other communities and partners. However, the study indicated that the intensity of community participation in decision-making is still low in certain cases. Meanwhile, the beneficiaries did not show a clear understanding of aspects such as project ownership. Finally, this study recommends that genuine community participation should be maintained because it is the core activity contributing to beneficiary empowerment and grassroots institutional capacity building and an essential ingredient for self-reliance and project sustainability.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Toronto, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 101-111).