In January 2018 a new social law took effect in Sweden. The new law included gambling addiction as an area of responsibility for the Swedish social workers. Because the law is relatively new there is not a lot of studies about how the Swedish workers perceive gambling addiction. The aim of this study is therefore to understand how the social workers from different communes in Sweden perceive gambling addiction, and to find out if implementation of the law has succeeded and what the amendment has brought. The methods used in this study was qualitative e-mail interviews and a qualitative interview via Zoom. The results of this study showed that the social workers have a lack of knowledge concerning gambling addiction. Another result was that the communes had implemented the new law by offering treatments and financial support.

Generally, people tend to relocate to other countries that provide adequate facilities or social services. But due to the complexity of the migration process, people cannot easily move from one country to another. The migration problem, which includes refugees and people fleeing their home countries to seek asylum in other nations, is a globally acknowledged phenomenon that is linked with social work (Roestenburg, 2013, p.1). Every year, a lot of immigrants come to Sweden with a lot of risk and expense since it is a more liberal country with a developed way of life. According to one estimate in 1990, immigrants accounted up 9.22% of Sweden's total population, increasing from 11.31 percent in 2000 and 16.77% in 2015 (Sweden Immigration Statistics 1960-2022, 2022). In this study, the qualitative research method is applied where for primary data sources KIIs and interviews with social workers and immigrants are conducted. Therefore, the goal of this study is to analyse the role of social workers’ activities in the Swedish migration process and derive conclusions about the interplay between social workers and immigrants living in Sweden. By analysing the data, it can be said that through the execution of constitutional principles, the Swedish government should expand the number of social workers and provide a more effective social service to migrants while also removing some complexities of the migration process. However, care must be taken to guarantee that no immigrant employs deceptive or false information or tactics.

Syftet med studien var att med utgångspunkt i socialarbetares erfarenheter undersöka synen på och medvetenhet om makt i form av maktutövning och maktrelationer gentemot klienter. Vidare undersöktes om detta skiljer sig beroende på om socialarbetaren har en myndighetsutövande eller en behandlande roll och vilka arbetsuppgifter de utför. En kvalitativ metod i form av intervjuer användes. Totalt fyra yrkesverksamma socialarbetare intervjuades, två myndighetsutövare och två behandlare. Som teoretisk referensram användes begreppen frikoppling och sammankoppling samt en maktförhållande matris, vilket möjliggjorde att analysera maktrelationerna utifrån både mikro- och makronivå. Tillsammans med tidigare forskning användes de teoretiska perspektiven för att analysera studiens resultat. Resultatet visade att socialarbetarna hade olika uppfattningar om makt och den maktrelation som uppstår mellan dem och klienterna oberoende av deras yrkesroller. Exempelvis utgjorde lagstiftning en mer väsentlig del av myndighetsutövarnas arbete än behandlarnas arbete. Denna konkreta skillnad i de respektive yrkesrollerna antyder att maktpositionen i förhållande till klienten var tydligare i det myndighetsutövande arbetet än i behandling. Till skillnad från de myndighetsutövande socialarbetarna behövde de behandlande socialarbetarna inte förmedla svåra besked eller beslut till klienterna. Myndighetsutövarna har även med sin beslutsrätt i det dagliga arbetet mer makt-över, medan behandlarna utifrån sitt nära arbete med klienterna har mer makt-tillsammans. / The purpose of the study was to, based on the experiences of social workers, examine the view of and awareness of power in the form of exercise of power and power relations towards clients. It was further investigated whether this differs depending on whether the social worker has an executive or a therapeutic role and which tasks they performs. A qualitative method in the form of interviews was used. A total of four professional social workers were interviewed, two authorities and two therapists. Disconnecting and interconnecting, as well as the Matrix of power relations were used as a theoretical frame of reference, which made it possible to analyze the power relations from both micro and macro level. Together with previous research, the theoretical perspectives were used to analyze the results of the study. The result showed that social workers had various perceptions of power and the power relationship that arises between them and the clients, regardless of their professional roles. Legislation was a more significant part of the work of the authorities than the work of the therapists. This difference in the respective professional roles suggests that the position of power in relation to the client was clearer in the administrative work than in treatment. Unlike the authorities, the therapists did not have to convey difficult decisions to the clients. The authorities also have more power-over with their decision-making power in the daily work, while the therapists, based on their close work with the clients, have more power-together.

Syftet med studien var att undersöka vilka erfarenheter socialarbetare verksamma utanför en storstadskontext har av att arbeta med ungdomar involverade i gängkriminalitet. En kvalitativ metod användes med semistrukturerade intervjuer som datainsamlingsmetod. Sex intervjuer genomfördes med socialarbetare som hade erfarenhet av att arbeta med ungdomar involverade i gängkriminalitet och materialet analyserades med hjälp av tematisk analys. Den teoretiska tolkningsram som användes för att förstå studiens resultat var generell strainteori. Studiens resultat visar att socialarbetare arbetar relationsskapande och individanpassat för att möta ungdomarnas specifika behov. Vidare visar resultatet att respondenternas erfarenhet är att majoriteten av ungdomarna lever i ett utanförskap och söker sig till gängen för att finna en gemenskap. Slutsatsen som kan dras är att det inte räcker med engagemang från enskilda socialarbetare för att motverka att ungdomar involveras i gängkriminalitet utan att det krävs mer resurser för att kunna arbeta förebyggande på flera nivåer. / The aim of the study was to examine what experiences social workers have of working with gang-involved youth outside a big city context. The study used a qualitative method with semi structured interviews as its data collection method. Six interviews were conducted with social workers who had experience of working with gang-involved youth and the interviews were analysed using thematic analysis. To understand the study result general strain theory was used. The study results show that social workers use relationship building in their work to meet the specific needs of every youth. Further the results show that the respondents experiences are that the majority of the youth are living in social exclusion and are therefore drawn to gangs for a sense of community and inclusion. The conclusions drawn from the study are that commitment from individual social workers are not enough to prevent youth from joining criminal gangs but that more resources are needed for the ability to do preventive work on several levels.

Sweden is often seen as a pioneer when it comes to children’s rights. Despite this, there is a lack of children's participation in issues that affects them. The aim of this study is to explore how social workers in the Swedish social services enable children’s participation in assessments and which factors that can affect this. The study has used a qualitative method with semi-structured interviews with six social workers. The interviews have been analyzed by using Shier’s pathways to participation model and Lipsky ́s theory of street level bureaucrats. The result shows that social workers enable children's participation by using different methods and tools, the two most common being BBIC and Signs of Safety. Factors that can affect the work with children’s participation are implementation of different methods into the organisation which have a positive effect and a lack of time due to a high workload which have a negative effect. The conclusion of this study is that the social workers have a lot of methods and tools to enable children’s participation but that factors like lack of time due to a high workload makes it impossible for the social workers to enable children’s participation in the way that they should.

The aim of this study was to investigate how counselors at BUP describe their experiences of mindfulness training in the workplace. Using a qualitative approach with semi-structured interviews, we interviewed six social workers employed as counselors and therapists at a child and youth psychiatric center in south Sweden. The analysis was based on Antonovsky’s salutogenic approach and three key elements of his Sense of Coherence concept: comprehensibility, manageability, and meaningfulness. The social workers’ descriptions indicate that they describe that mindfulness training has strengthened all three elements of Sense of Coherence, in their professional roles. This was expressed as follows: 1) A strengthened awareness of thoughts and mental states increased comprehensibility, experienced as a heightened sense of focus and structure in performing work tasks. 2) The ability to stay present and relax improved manageability as a tool to cope with stress in challenging situations. 3) Focusing on the positive aspects of the work and the appreciation of small steps of progress increased meaningfulness.

Social workers are uniquely positioned to facilitate early intervention services that minimize the impact and burden of Type 2 diabetes. There is little evidence on the specific role that social workers play in addressing the psychosocial factors that exacerbate the condition or impact treatment outcomes. The purpose of the study was to examine the role of social workers in facilitating early interventions for clients with Type 2 diabetes. The theories of role and organizational systems provided the conceptual framework. Data was collected from interviews with eight participants with Master'€™s degrees in Social Work in a large Southwestern state in the United States. An open coding method analysis was used to identify the themes. The study findings showed that early interventions are scarcely provided in social work services for persons diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. However, social workers typically assume the role(s) of: educator; resource broker; change agents for clients; counselor; advocate and community change agent, in early intervention services. Recommendations for improving social work early intervention in the treatment of Type 2 diabetes include giving recognition to social workers'€™ position, creating opportunities that foster their ability to deliver that are beneficial to the patients, and providing more experiential-based learning and advanced training in medical conditions. The findings could positively impact social change by providing useful knowledge for social workers, nurses, and other health workers who are searching for direction in decreasing the rising risks for complications, and exacerbation of diabetes.

Domestic minor sex trafficking (DMST) is a social problem affecting children between the ages of 12 and 17 years old. The issues related to DMST present challenges for social work practitioners because they often lack knowledge regarding how to identify and provide specialized services to this population. The purpose of the qualitative study was to collect and analyze data to develop an understanding of how social workers in the northeastern region of the United States identified challenges and thereby improved their practice skills when intervening with this vulnerable population. An epistemological paradigm, with a constructivist perspective employing Nguyen's systems theory, was used to understand the phenomena. The practice-focused research question posed to 5 clinically licensed social workers (LCSW) asked about the perceived barriers hindering social work practice when identifying victims of DMST. In addition, upon recognition of DMST victims, participants described existing community services that addressed their social work practice needs. The LCSWs attended 3 hour-long audio-recorded focus groups, offering their knowledge and experiences related to DMST in the designated region. Constant comparison was used to analyze the data provided by the participants during the focus groups. The key findings indicated a lack of proper identification tools and specialized services for this community. Findings can be used to recommend social change efforts, which included increasing communication about the victims between jurisdictions and communications with policy makers and service providers regarding the need to develop and implement training on various related topics.

A significant percentage of undocumented immigrants who come to the United States include women suffering from trauma and abuse. In Southwest Texas, many immigrant women begin their stay in the United States, as residents of an immigration Residential Detainment Center (RDC). Social workers in RDCs are challenged to understand their roles and responsibilities in treating the mental health need of these women. The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of social workers, in RDCs, regarding their roles and responsibilities in meeting the mental health needs of immigrant women with a history of personal trauma. Using action research methodology, 3 focus group discussions were conducted with 4 licensed clinical social workers (LCSW) who had experience working with immigrant women with histories of trauma and abuse, living in RDCs. The theoretical concept of ecosystems undergirded the analysis of the data collected from focus groups and explored the themes related to roles and responsibilities, types of trauma, aftercare, services, and social, political, and structural barriers. The outcomes of this research study suggested LCSW social workers recognized a need to expand service provisions beyond the walls of the RDC by helping immigrant women connect with community resources that will aid in their settlement in the United States, if granted asylum. When considering positive social change, the social workers considered how their intervention could affect access to goods and services, as well as the utilization of community mental health resources for the immigrant women, with histories of trauma and abuse, and their families.

This dissertation was a qualitative study of school social workers who worked with special needs adolescent youth with emotional and behavioral disabilities in a public high school. This study centered on the experiences of 10 social workers in a public high school in New Jersey. All 10 school social workers were interviewed individually to uncover (a) how they perceived the school social worker's role within the public school setting, (b) the lived experiences of school social workers who worked with special needs youth with emotional and behavioral disabilities, and (c) why they desired to continue working with at-risk special needs youth based on their own experiences? Besides one-to-one interviews, each social worker completed a survey and wrote a personal statement reflecting on his or her work as a school social worker in the research setting. The researcher conducted interviews of each social worker at a mutual location decided by the researcher and the social worker. Results and findings may decrease misunderstandings and inconsistencies in the literature regarding school social workers and their role as they work with at-risk special needs youth in public schools. Social work practice and public school administrators may acquire new knowledge regarding the social worker's desire to continue working with this population group. The study should also contribute to existing literature regarding school social workers, adult social support, at-risk youth, special needs youth with emotional and behavioral disabilities, and qualitative studies aimed at understanding the lived experience working with the at-risk youth population. At the same time, this study should increase the researcher's personal and professional growth of how this population group perceived and acclimated to social work experiences.