published_or_final_version / abstract / Social Work and Social Administration / Master / Master of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / abstract / Sociology / Master / Master of Philosophy

This study aimed to identify the type, extent, and predictors of civic and political participation among addiction professionals. A sample of 633 addiction professionals participated in an online survey using the Citizen Participation Study’s survey instrument. Twenty-two political activities were measured as well as three predictors of political participation: resources, psychological engagement, and recruitment networks. Political participation and predictors of participation were analyzed for the full sample and compared among subgroups--social workers vs. those who were not social workers; those who reported they were recovering from alcohol and other drug (AOD) addiction vs. those who were not recovering; and those who held a professional addiction certification vs. those who were not certified and those who were certified plus held other professional credentials. The mean political participation index for participants who were not certified was significantly lower than for participants with a certification and those with a certification plus other professional credentials. No significant difference was noted in the mean political participation index for recovering participants and those not recovering from AOD addiction; and social workers and participants who were not social workers. Hierarchical multiple regression was used to assess the influence of resources, psychological engagement, and recruitment networks on political participation while controlling for recovery status, professional credentials, age, race, and gender. Resources, psychological engagement, and recruitment networks were all significant predictors of political participation. Recruitment networks was the strongest predictor for the full sample and for subgroups who were not social workers, certified, not certified, certified with other professional credentials, and not recovering from AOD addiction. Psychological engagement was the strongest predictor of political participation among individuals recovering from AOD addiction and social workers. However, the validation analysis did not replicate the findings for social workers, those not recovering from AOD addiction, and those who were certified. The significant role of recruitment networks in political participation has important implications for social workers and others interested in mobilizing addiction professionals for political participation. Recommendations for further research include the need to develop valid and reliable measures of political participation that capture civic activities and the use of technology. / text

M.A. / This study was aimed at analyzing the involvement of social workers in AIDS/HIV education, by analyzing their knowledge about AIDS/HT V infection, attitude towards the disease and their level of participation in AIDS/HIV educational activities. The results of this survey indicate that although some social workers are relatively knowledgeable about AIDSTHIV infection and have positive attitudes towards the disease, they are not fully and actively involved in educational activities to prevent the spread of this disease. Very few social workers indicated that they are involved.

The purpose of this study is to examine and understand social workers view on the relationship between children and social workers within Individual and Family care in Sweden, and how personnel turnover affects relationship-building with children.   Method: This study is based on a qualitative method, with semi-structured interviews as an approach to gather empirical data. The participants in the study are seven social workers from five different municipalities in Sweden, who work with placed children.   Theory: Our theoretical framework is the attachment theory and the accounts theory. This approach has helped us analyze the result and highlight the importance of essential attributes for a good relationship between social worker and child.   Result: The study is characterized by two different themes, Professional relationship-building and The organization of social work. Our results show that the attributes trustful, confiding, straight, predictable and respectful are essential for a good relationship. Further results indicate that continuity is of importance to build and preserve a healthy relationship. The study also shows that variety in the work force have negative impact on the relationship between social workers and placed children.

Syftet med denna studie var att förstå de strategier som användes av socialsekreterarna i hanteringen av en stor arbetsbelastning och undersöka deras nivå av känsla av sammanhang i hanteringen av nätverksfamiljehemsplaceringar av ensamkommande barn under 2015 och 2016. Studien varkvalitativ, och vårt empiriska material bestod av semistrukturerade intervjuer.Åtta socialsekreterare från sju mindre kommuner och två socialsekreterare från störrekommuner i södra Sverige, alla med erfarenhet av att arbeta med ensamkommande barn, deltog i vår studie. Vår ambition var att förstå hur, trots den stora arbetsbelastningen, socialsekreterarna hanterade sin arbetssituation. Vi försökte förstå de strategierna som bidrog till att göra det möjligt för socialsekreterarna att stanna kvar på sitt arbete trots omständigheterna. Vi fann att alla socialsekreterarna som intervjuades i vår studie hade en hög känsla av sammanhang som hjälpte dem att göra deras arbete meningsfullt och hanterbart. Den vanligaste coping strategi som socialsekreterarna använde sig av för att hantera deras arbetssituation var genom att sänka sina ambitioner och acceptera att deras arbete nådde en "good enough" standard. Socialsekreterare med stor arbetslivserfarenhet tenderade också att hantera den högre arbetsbelastningen mer framgångsrikt genom att acceptera, att trots att de inte alltid kunde följa rutiner och riktlinjer var avsikten fortfarande att göra gott i en svår situation. / The aim of this study was to create an understanding of the strategies used by the social workersin order to handle a large workload and to examine their level of sense of coherence intheir handling of kinship foster care placements of unaccompanied children in the years 2015and 2016. The study was qualitative, and our empirical material consists of semi-structuredinterviews. Eight social workers from seven smaller municipalities and two social workersfrom larger municipalities in southern Sweden, all with experience of working with unaccompaniedchildren, have participated in our study. Our ambition was to understand how, despitethe large workload, the social workers handled their situation. We have tried to create an understandingof the strategies that contributed to make it possible for the social workers to remainat work despite the circumstances. We have found that all the social workers interviewedin our study had a high sense of coherence that helped them make their work understandableand manageable. The most common coping strategy the social workers used was tolower their ambitions and accept that their administration reached “good enough” to handletheir workload. Social workers with a lot of work experience also tend to be able to handle ahigh workload more successfully by accepting that, in spite of not always being able to abideby routines and procedures, the intention is still to do good in a bad situation.

A research report submitted to the Department of Social Work, School of Human and Community Development, Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Occupational Social Work, 2016 / The primary purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of occupational stress among social workers employed by the Department of Social Development in Mpumalanga Province, Ehlanzeni District. Mpumalanga Province is predominantly rural and the assumption is that work-related challenges for social workers in rural areas are different from urban areas. There are theoretical basis suggesting that people view and respond to stress differently thus their coping strategies even in identical situations are different. The study has therefore focused on the experiences of occupational stress among social workers, the contributory factors that led to occupational stress, the impact of occupational stress, the social workers’ coping strategies with occupational stress; and the availability and effectiveness of organisational support offered to employees experiencing occupational stress as perceived by social workers. The research used both qualitative and quantitative methods. The researcher utilised a questionnaire consisting of open-ended questions, together with the Work-Related Quality of Life scale consisting of closed questions that measured work stress, administered to 40 social workers employed at Ehlanzeni District offices. One year’s working experience as a social worker in the Department of Social Development was a qualifying criterion in the study. Thematic content analysis and descriptive statistical analysis were used to analyse data. The findings of the study suggested that unsatisfactory salaries, working conditions, high workload, lack of recognition and a lack of support were the main stressors for social workers in this study. The research concluded with recommendations that will hopefully assist in improving the quality of work-life of the sound workers and facilitate a balanced understanding between the employees and the employer. / GR2017

Syftet med denna studie är att beskriva och analysera hur socialsekreterare förhåller sig till barns möjligheter att komma till tals i sociala utredningar. Vi valde att utgå från frågeställningarna: Hur definierar socialsekreterare barns möjligheter att komma till tals? Vilken betydelse tillskriver socialsekreterare barns möjligheter att komma till tals? Vad anser socialsekreterare påverkar barns möjligheter att komma till tals? Vilka arbetssätt, modeller eller verktyg använder sig socialsekreterare av för att möjliggöra att barn kommer till tals? För att besvara syftet har vi genomfört sex individuella intervjuer samt en fokusgruppsintervju med socialsekreterare som arbetar med sociala utredningar som rör barn. Det insamlade datamaterialet har sedan analyserats utifrån en kunskapsöversikt bestående av tidigare forskning och annan relevant litteratur samt Shiers delaktighetsmodell. Resultatet visar att socialsekreterare upplever att det är viktigt att barn ges möjlighet att komma till tals samt att det finns en rad olika faktorer som påverkar barns möjligheter att komma till tals. En framstående faktor kan kopplas till föräldrars attityder och inställningar till socialtjänsten. Även barnets förutsättningar har betydelse i form av exempelvis inställning, ålder och förmåga att uttrycka sig. Socialtjänsten kan också påverka genom vilka riktlinjer och rutiner en arbetsplats har och vilket tidsutrymme som finns för barnsamtal. Vidare visar resultatet att socialsekreterare har ett flertal praktiska hjälpmedel att tillgå för att underlätta barnsamtal. De viktigaste slutsatserna avser att barns möjlighet att komma till tals är något som bör främjas i sociala utredningar, att det är viktigt för socialsekreterare att ha ett flexibelt arbetssätt samt att barns möjligheter att komma till tals förändras i takt med stigande ålder och ökad mognadsnivå.

I arbete med flyktingar är resiliens en viktig faktor för att bli hållbar i en extremt pressad situation i socialt arbete. I denna fallstudie kom vi fram till vilka faktorer inom individ- organisation- och på samhällsnivå, det vill säga på mikro-, meso- och makronivå, som påverkade socialarbetarens resiliens i arbetet med flyktingar i Grekland. Empirin bestod av semistrukturerade intervjuer med socialarbetare som arbetade i Grekland inom frivilliga hjälporganisationer. Syftet med vår kandidatuppsats är att öka kunskapen om vad som påverkar olika professioners resiliens i socialt arbete som befinner sig i komplexa och svåra situationer.   Studien utgick från nationell och internationell forskning, dels om begreppet resiliens och resiliens i socialt arbete. Vi använde oss av ekologisk systemteori för att förklara socialarbetarens interaktion i de olika kontexterna som påverkade deras resiliens.  Resultatet visade att kön, arbetslivs- och livserfarenhet, utbildning, tro, egenomsorg, gränssättning, självkänsla, skyddsmekanismer, attityder och egenskaper hade påverkan på socialarbetarens resiliens på individnivå. På organisationsnivå var det ansvarsfördelning inom organisationen, stöttning av kollegor på arbetsplatsen, handledning och att prata om sitt resiliens inom organisationen, som hade inverkan på deras resiliens. Resultatet visade även att om de arbetade som volontär eller socialarbetare påverkade det individen på olika sätt. På samhällsnivå visade vårt resultat att det som påverkade socialarbetarens resiliens var politik och attityder. Religionen i landet hade inte påverkan på socialarbetarens resiliens. Resultatet visade på flertalet påverkansfaktorer som går i linje med tidigare forskning. Socialt arbete är ett riskyrke och därför är behovet att medvetandegöra resiliens inom utbildning viktigt för att få en ökad hållbarhet inom socialt arbete. / Resilience is an important factor in working with refugees for becoming sustainable in an extremely stressed situation. In this case study, we found which factors within the societal organization and at the individual level that affected the social workers resilience in the work with refugees in Greece. The empirical study consisted of semi-structured interviews with social workers who worked in Greece within NGO’s. The purpose of our master’s thesis is to increase knowledge about what affects the social worker's resilience in complex and difficult situations.  The study was based on national and international research, partly on the concept of resilience, and resilience in social work. We used ecological system theory to explain the social workers interaction in different contexts that affected their resilience.  The result showed at the individual level that gender, work life and life experience, education, belief, self-care, boundary, self-esteem, protection mechanisms, mindset and characteristics had an impact on the social worker's resilience. At the organization level, it was the division of responsibility within the organization, supporting colleagues at the workplace, supervision and talking about their resilience within the organization, which had an impact on their resilience. The result also showed that if they worked as a volunteer or social worker, it affected the individual’s resilience in different ways.  What influenced the social worker's resilience at the societal level was politics and attitudes. The religion in Greece did not affect the social worker’s resilience. The results showed the majority of influence factors that are in line with previous research. Social work is a risky profession and therefore the need to raise awareness of resilience in education is important in order to achieve increased sustainability in social work.

The aim of this essay was to study how social workers work with clients who suffer from addiction problems. The study enlightens how the legal framework concerning the legislation of social services can be seen as either a possibility or restriction in terms of processing social welfare. Furthermore the purpose with the study was to examine what demands that are set at clients with addiction problems. To work with the clients motivation is a reacurring theme that contains both social workers latitude and the demands that are made on the clients. The empirical data is based on interviews with four social workers within the administration of social welfare in commune X. The data in the study was transcribed and organized to be able to analyze. The outcome of the study shows that the legislation fills a fundamental importance in the daily work of the social workers. This is set into seeing that the assignments in the daily work of the social workers appear to be relatively complex. It is shown to be clear that the legislation entails problems regarding differences in the social workers decision making which can raise dissatisfaction among the clients. Additionally, the result in the studie shows the importance of good relations between social workers and clients to promote the work and use the good prerequisites. Consequently, the study does also illuminate some positive aspects in relation to the social workers ability, within their authority, making individual assessment.