Denna studie syftar till att undersöka hur socialarbetare upplever kulturella skillnader i kommunikation med sina kollegor. Studiens deltagare är socialarbetare som arbetat minst 6 månader inom samma arbetsgrupp. Datainsamlingen är gjord utifrån en kvalitativ metod där empirin samlats in genom semistrukturerade intervjuer. Resultaten framställs genom en tematisk analys där vi lyfter olika områden. Utifrån vår studie kan vi utläsa att våra respondenter upplever att det finns en upplevd kulturell skillnad i kommunikationen med kollegor samt att dessa yttrar sig på olika vis. Respondenterna berättade om olika kommunikationssituationer där både språk och handling varit de områden som visat de kulturella skillnaderna mest. Respondenterna berättade även om upplevda för- och nackdelar med kulturella skillnader och hur dessa kunde påverka kommunikationen med kollegorna på arbetsplatsen. / This study aims at investigating how social workers experience cultural differences in communication with their colleagues. The students of the study are social workers who have worked for at least 6 months in the same working group. The data collection is based on a qualitative method where the data was gathered through semi-structured interviews. The results are then produced through a thematic analysis where we highlight different areas. Based on our study, we can state that our respondents feel that there is an experienced cultural difference in communication with colleagues and that they express themselves differently. Respondents talked about different communication situations where both language and action were the areas that showed the most cultural differences. Respondents also told about the pros and cons of cultural differences and how these could affect communication with colleagues in the workplace

Syftet med examensarbetet är att undersöka hur socialsekreterare definierar barns delaktighet och hur eventuella utmaningar påverkar socialsekreterares arbete med att göra barnen delaktiga. För att besvara vårt syfte intervjuade vi åtta socialsekreterare inom två kommuner i Mellansverige för att ta del av deras uppfattning kring barns delaktighet, vilka eventuella utmaningar de möter samt hur socialsekreterare gör barnet delaktig i praktiken. Vår data analyserades utifrån Shiers delaktighetsmodell, tre av BBIC:s grundprinciper samt tidigare forskning. Resultatet som framkom visade att socialsekreterare har en liknande definition av vad barns delaktighet innebär. Det skiljer sig dock huruvida i vilken utsträckning barnet blir delaktig. Informanterna är alla överens om att barnet bör bli mer delaktig. Det har även framkommit ett flertal utmaningar som förhindrar socialsekreterares arbete att involvera barnet i utredningsprocessen. Dessa utmaningar kan vara barnets föräldrar, barnet själv samt socialsekreterares uppfattning om sig själv och sin arbetsmiljö. Det visade sig även i vårt resultat att socialsekreterare har olika tillvägagångssätt för att göra barnet delaktig i utredningsprocessen. Vår slutsats utifrån de intervjuer vi utfört samt tidigare forskning är att barnen i dagsläget inte anses vara tillräckligt delaktiga i sin egen utredningsprocess. Det är främst utmaningar, såsom föräldrar, barnet själv, tidsbrist och socialsekreteraren, som förhindrar barnets delaktighet. Detta då socialsekreterare, på grund av detta, upplever en svårighet att involvera barnet från första början. / The purpose of our essay aims to explore how social workers define children’s participation and how possible challenges may affect the social workers work to make the children participated. In order to answer our purpose we interviewed eight social workers within two municipalities in the middle of Sweden, to get a acquainted with their perception about children’s participation. As well as possible challenges they may encounter and what social workers do to involve children in practice. Our data were analyzed on the basis of Shier’s ”Pathways to participation”, BBIC’s fundamental principles and previous research. The result that emerged showed that social workers have a similar perception about the meaning of children’s participation. It differs however, regarding the extent to which the child is participated. The informants all agree that the children should be more participated. It was also discovered that there are multiple challenges that prevent the social workers to involve children in their investigationsprocess. These challenges might be the parents of the children, the child itself and the social workers perception of them self and their work environment. Our result also showed that the social workers have different approach in how they participate children in their investigationprocess. Our conclusion based on the interviews we conducted, as well as previous research is that children today aren’t considered to be enough participated in their own investigationprocess. It is primarily the possible challenges, as the child’s parents, the child itself, the lack of time and the social worker itself, that prevent the children’s participation, this because social workers feel a difficulty to involve and make the child participated from the beginning.

Supervision in social work is composed of educational, administrative and supportive functions. Supportive supervision is particularly important for child protection social workers, given their work with vulnerable children. Supportive supervision facilitates the child protection social worker’s reflection on practice issues with a designated supervisor who, through this process, addresses their personal and professional development as well as their emotional needs; this, in turn, contributes to sound ethical practice. The sparse literature available on the topic and practice observations pointing to the lack of supportive function in the area of Child Protection Services gave rise to this study. The purpose of this qualitative, exploratory, descriptive and contextual study was thus toenhance an understanding of the experiences of social workers in Child Protection Services in respect of supportive function of supervision within the public sector in the Nelson Mandela Bay region. A non-probability purposive sampling strategy was used to identify social workers working in the field of child protection for an uninterrupted minimum period of three years. The final sample consisted of ten child protection social workers. Data was collected through semi-structured, in-depth, individual, face-to-face interviews, which were guided by an interview schedule. The data was analysed using Tesch’s (1990) model as outlined in Creswell (2014:198). The trustworthiness of the research process and the findings was enhanced by using a range of data verification techniques. The main themes that emerged from the process of data analysis are: 1) Social workers’ experiences of working in Child Protection Services; 2) Social workers’ perceptions and experiences of social work supervision in general and supportive supervision in particular; and 3) Social workers’ recommendations on how supportive supervision needs can be addressed. The findings of this study yielded valuable scholarly knowledge in respect of the supportive supervision function in Child Protection Services.

The aim of the study was to investigate how social service administrators collaborate around persons that has dual diagnosis. In this study, we refer to people with mental disabilities along with addiction problems. We have used a qualitative method and collected our material using semi-structured interviews. The theoretical framework we have used to interpret the degree of collaboration is Ann Boklund's model of collaboration. We also proceed from Ervin Goffman's dramaturgical perspective to interpret parts of the material. The material is divided into two main categories: collaboration between social service administrators and the prerequisites for collaboration. The result shows that the collaborative process can vary and is linked together to how the administrators communicate, were they are geographically placed, and how well they know each other. The result also shows that there is a lack of guidelines and a common approach to collaboration issues. The obstacles to collaboration that was raised by the interviewees were the confidentiality, delegation succession and problems that may arise when the chemistry between the administrators doesn’t work. The conclusion in our study is that the administrators see there is a need for collaboration and a comprehensive view when it comes to persons with dual diagnosis, but also that there is lack of guidelines to direct collaboration. When guidelines are lacking, it’s up to each administrator to decide when and if a collaboration is needed.

M.A. (Social Work) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

M.A. (Social Work) / The study aimed at determining the nature of social work supervision in welfare agencies in the Sedibeng Region, Gauteng. The research was of an exploratorydescriptive nature. A questionnaire was used as a data collection tool and was self administered by the respondents. A total population of 57 social work supervisors are employed by non-governmental organisations (NGO), community-based organisations (CSO) and government departments in the Sedibeng region and were included in the study. Fifty one completed questionnaires were returned. The research revealed that the majority of the respondents held a management position within the organisation and it is therefore concluded that supervision of social workers formed part of their management function. In addition, the supervisors rendering social work supervision were in possession of a Social Work Degree, which indicated that supervisors met the basic educational requirement to supervise social workers. Fifty eight percent of supervisors had six or more supervisees under their span of control. This is above the current norm set by government of one supervisor to five social workers. Respondents felt they had the knowledge, experience, infrastructure and resources to supervise staff including relevant policies and procedures to guide supervision. Key supervisory roles and qualities that are relevant to supervision were identified by the respondents. Four key roles were identified by supervisors namely, motivating and inspiring staff (88%), facilitating skills development and increasing the knowledge of supervisees (84%), facilitating professional development of supervisees (76%) and developing the social worker to use him/herself more efficiently and effectively (76%). The most important qualities of a supervisor that were identified are: first, openness, Willingness to help and learn from others (76%), second, a supervisor should be calm, focused and goal-orientated (74%). Finally supervisors should be able to deal with conflict (70%). These three qualities were highly rated among the respondents. Barriers to supervision included: increasing work pressures and demands (74%), high staff turnover (54%) and the emphasis on quantity instead of quality social work services (56%). Recommendations included policies that set minimum norms and standards for supervision. The need to prioritise supervision as part of a management function in social welfare settings within Governmental and Non Governmental Organisations, forums to promote dialogue, capacity building and monitoring and evaluation tools are needed to assess the efficiency and effectiveness of supervision provided and its impact.

Socialsekreterare är en utsatt yrkesgrupp med ansträngd arbetssituation. Inom kommunerna arbetar även inhyrd personal, socionomkonsulter. Studien syftade till att undersöka skillnaderna i den psykosociala arbetsmiljön mellan socialsekreterare och socionomkonsulter avseende socialt stöd mellan kollegor och chef, uppmuntrande ledarskap och socialt klimat. Det gjordes en webbenkät, utifrån QPS Nordic 34+, där 26 Socialsekreterare och 11 Socionomkonsulter svarade (n=37). På grund av få deltagare har några generella slutsatser inte varit möjliga. Dock visade studien vissa skillnader mellan gruppernas skattningar gällande stöd från kollega och chef samt socialt klimat. Detta är i linje med tidigare forskning som visar att inhyrd personal har färre sociala kontakter än fast anställda. Socialsekreterarna skattade högre än referensdata avseende socialt stöd. Flera andra faktorer påverkar dock den psykosociala arbetsmiljön och vidare studier behövs. / Social workers are an exposed profession due to strained working situation. The municipalities also use temporary agency workers in social authority work. The purpose of the study was to investigate the differences in the psychosocial work environment between regular social workers and agency social workers regarding social support between colleagues and managers, encouraging leadership and social climate. A web survey, QPS Nordic 34+ was done. 26 regular social workers and 11 agency social workers participated (n=37). Since it was few participants it has not been able to make any general conclusions. Significant differences were found for support from colleague and manager and social climate. Regular social workers estimated higher than reference data on the variables included in social support. Several other variables than social support affects the psychosocial work environment and further studies are needed.

Magister Philosophiae - MPhil

Syftet med studien har varit att öka kunskapen om hur utredande socialsekreterare ser på fenomenet barn som upplever våld mellan närstående och hur deras tolkningar förhåller sig till de lagar och riktlinjer som finns gällande barn som upplever våld. Studien har genomförts genom kvalitativa semistrukturerade intervjuer med sex yrkesverksamma barn- eller ungdomsutredare, vilka alla arbetar för socialtjänsten på förvaltningar inom Stockholm stad eller i kranskommuner till Stockholm. Intervjuerna har gett ett material som sedan analyserats mot Michael Lipskys teori om Street level bureaucracy, samt tidigare forskning. Studiens resultat visar att de socialsekreterare som intervjuats ser allvarligt på det faktum att barn upplever våld mellan närstående. Samtliga respondenter anser att barn som upplever våld mellan närstående själva är offer för psykisk misshandel. Dock framkommer det i studien att våldet i sig av vissa respondenter anses få för stort utrymme i arbetet, de menar att våldet kan vara ett uttryck för andra missförhållanden som riskerar att missas om allt för mycket fokus läggs vid att enbart utreda våldet. Vad gäller hur studiens respondenter förhåller sig till lagar och riktlinjer visar studiens resultat att kännedomen om riktlinjer är låg. Respondenterna uttrycker ingen avsaknad av rutiner och de argumenterar om eventuella för- och nackdelar vad gäller införandet av rutiner i deras arbete. Socialsekreterarna är överens om att arbetet genomsyras av individuella bedömningar och att det inte går att göra generaliseringar i arbetet. De menar att för att kunna utföra arbetet på ett tillfredställande sätt är det individuella synsättet en förutsättning. / The purpose of the study has been to increase the knowledge of investigative social workers view on the phenomenon of children who experience violence between related people and how their interpretations relate to the laws and guidelines that apply to children who experience violence. The study has been conducted through qualitative semi structured interviews with six professional children or youth investigators, all of whom work for social services at administrations in Stockholm city or in cranes to Stockholm. The interviews have given a material that has been analyzed against Michael Lipsky's theory of Street level bureaucracy, as well as previous research. The results of the study show that the social workers interviewed seriously look at the fact that children experience violence between their relatives. All respondents believe that children who experience violence between their relatives themselves are victims of mental abuse. However, it appears in the study that violence in itself is considered by some respondents to get too much space in their work, they argue that violence can be an expression of other misconceptions that are likely to be missed if too much focus is placed solely on investigating the violence. As regards how the respondents respond to laws and guidelines, the study results show that the knowledge about guidelines is low. Respondents express no lack of routines and they argue for pros and cons regarding the introduction of routines in their work. The social workers agree that the work is permeated by individual assessments and that generalizations at work not can be done. They say that in order to be able to perform the work satisfactorily, the individual approach is a prerequisite.

Please read the abstract in the section 00front of this document / Thesis (DPhil (Social Work))--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Social Work / unrestricted