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The overall aim of this study is to investigate how social workers who are dealing with financial assistance are experiencing discretion in their daily work. The aim of the study is also to examine how social workers who are dealing with financial assistance relates to the controlling and the supporting functions of their daily work and how this in turn affects the attitude to the client. In order to examine the aim of the study, qualitative method was used. Eight social workers have been interviewed and presented with two fictitious cases that they have been able to discuss. Theories regarding the street-level bureaucrat and its discretion have been used to interpret and understand the collected material. Kerstin Svenssons’ (2001) theory regarding the social worker’s position has also been used to analyse the study’s gathered material. The study shows that social workers consider themselves to have a relatively large discretion in their daily work. However, the majority of the social workers agree that despite the great discretion they can at times feel limited in their work. Findings of the study also show that social workers are either more controlling or more supportive in meeting with the client.

Sammanfattning Studien är ämnad för dem som är intresserade av socialt utvecklingsarbete. Genom att närmare studera insatsen placeringar av barn hos professionella fosterföräldrar som är ett nytt fenomen inom det sociala arbetet i Rumänien, målar studien upp en bild av hur socialt arbete återskapas i ett postkommunistiskt land. Uppsatsens syfte är att förstå socialarbetares praktiska arbete i Rumänien med placeringar av barn hos professionella fosterföräldrar. De två forskningsfrågorna som har besvarats är: vilken roll har socialarbetare i arbetet med placeringar av barn hos professionella fosterföräldrar? och vilket handlingsutrymme och makt har socialarbetare i det praktiska arbetet med placeringar av barn hos professionella fosterföräldrar? För att uppnå studiens syfte har det genomförts en kvalitativ studie med halvstrukturerade intervjuer. I analysen av den insamlade empirin har teorier om roller, gräsrotsbyråkrater, handlingsutrymme och makt används. Studiens resultat visar att socialarbetare anser sig ha en viss handlingsfrihet i arbetet med barnen och fosterföräldrarna. Organisationens ramar, budget och regelverket begränsar socialarbetarnas befogenheter som i sin tur inskränker deras handlingsutrymme och möjlighet att genomföra sitt arbete så som lagen föreskriver och som de själva önskar. Studiens resultat visar att socialarbetarnas roll skiftar från att vara antingen kontrollanter eller hjälpare eller både och samtidigt, beroende på vem som är klienten: barnet, fosterföräldern eller de biologiska föräldrarna.

The main purpose of this study is to examine and gain increased knowledge concerning the legal security of children taken into protective care. The purpose is also to enable contemporary social workers to reflect around phenomena in today´s social work, among other things how investigations are carried out surrounding children taken into protective care thought this historical study. To find out how social workers dealt with caretakings I have chosen to examine the personel files that the social workers compiled for each child and also interview a man who worked as a social worker at the time of the investigation. The paper is divided into two part studies were the first one studies legal security through Mattsson´s (2002) further development of KjÆnstad’s way to analyse legal security, namely through investigating the clarity of the law, procedural rules and the comtetenay of the social workers. The second part study focuses on the social documentation based upon the terminology real, substantial and adequate. The result of the study shows that the law was clear, but the language and terminology could be difficult to grasp. There were procedural rules but no outspoken demands for a particular education. The personal files were often to the point and contained substantial information but lacked in adequacy.

<p>The main purpose of this study is to examine and gain increased knowledge concerning the legal security of children taken into protective care. The purpose is also to enable contemporary social workers to reflect around phenomena in today´s social work, among other things how investigations are carried out surrounding children taken into protective care thought this historical study. To find out how social workers dealt with caretakings I have chosen to examine the personel files that the social workers compiled for each child and also interview a man who worked as a social worker at the time of the investigation. The paper is divided into two part studies were the first one studies legal security through Mattsson´s (2002) further development of KjÆnstad’s way to analyse legal security, namely through investigating the clarity of the law, procedural rules and the comtetenay of the social workers. The second part study focuses on the social documentation based upon the terminology real, substantial and adequate. The result of the study shows that the law was clear, but the language and terminology could be difficult to grasp. There were procedural rules but no outspoken demands for a particular education. The personal files were often to the point and contained substantial information but lacked in adequacy.</p>

Although  “naming and shaming” paedophiles are growing in Sweden, professionals working with the rehabilitation and treatment of paedophiles describe that the naming and shaming might not prevent child sex abuse. On the opposite naming and shaming alienates the perpetrator from any ordinary life. The alienation could lead them to only having other paedophiles as friends. Previous studies show that professionals are often distancing themselves from working with paedophiles, even if there is competence. Studies also show that paedophiles are seldom seeking help due to of fear of stigmatization. The aim of this study was to describe social workers perception of “paedophiles” and to find out the action contingency among social workers regarding clients that express such feelings. A qualitative method with semi-structured interviews was used. Seven social workers and one psychologist were interviewed. Previous research has been confirmed as many professionals actively choose not to work with perpetrators even though they believe the perpetrators deserve adequate help. The data was analysed referring to Hasenfelds theory of human service organizations and the concept of cognitive dissonance. Organizations that are not specifically built to treat perpetrators and paedophiles are apparently not prepared to help them.

Because of the situation around the world with war and poorness many people need to leave their homeland and find safeness in other countries. A big amount of this group is children without company of an adult, so called unaccompanied children. The numbers of unaccompanied children who seek safeness in Sweden grow every year. The aim of this study was to investigate how social workers in four municipalities in south of Sweden experience their work with investigating the needs of unaccompanied children. The aim was also to investigate how the social workers experience their opportunities to meet the children’s needs with personalized interventions. The study is built on semi-structured interviews with six social workers who all have experience or are now working with investigating unaccompanied children. The results of the interviews were analyzed using a system theory perspective and Andrew Abbotts profession theory. We also used the terms grassroots bureaucrats and discretion. The results of our study has shown us that the social workers often feel a certain restriction when it comes to their ability to meet the children’s needs because of the lack of available accommodations. The study also shown that the social workers experience a limitation when it comes to the authority they have as their decisions must be approved by others and not based solely on the individual workers assessment.   The social workers in our study also experience that their work is not taken as seriously as others investigation of children from Swedish families which influence the status and legitimacy that they describe that their profession should have.

The aim of this study is to illuminate social worker’s perception of social class within the Swedish social service system. This study therefor examine if social class contributes to the production and reproduction of the client and what impact social class has on the interaction between client and social workers. The study was conducted with qualitative semi-structured interviews with social workers from three different departments of social service. The theoretical approach is Yeheskel Hasenfeld’s theory about moral practices in welfare organisations, Michael Lipsky and Roine Johansson’s theories about client construction and Pierre Bourdieu’s class theory. The conclusion of this study is that social class affects individual conditions and opportunities in Swedish social service. Social worker’s perceptions of social class have an impact on the construction of clients and will affect what level of service a client receives.

I denna studie har jag beskrivit delar av socialarbetares emotionella arbete i mötet föräldrar och/eller barn. Jag undersöker på vilket sätt personer som jobbar i eller i anslutning till socialtjänsten arbetar emotionellt i mötet med sina klienter, samt hur detta påverkar dem. Jag har även undersökt huruvida stöd från kolleger och ledning underlättar det emotionella arbetet. Studien har genomförts med utgångspunkt i emotionssociologisk forskning. De teoretiska begrepp som studien utgår från är framförallt emotioner, emotionellt arbete, tillit samt emotionshantering. Detta för att skapa förståelse för intervjupersonernas emotionella situation på arbetsplatsen. Arbetet har genomförts med hjälp av sex stycken semistrukturerade intervjuer. Intervjupersonerna är personer som jobbar inom eller i anslutning till socialtjänsten, direkt eller indirekt med barn och familjer. De huvudsakliga resultaten visar att socialarbetarna väljer de att försöka trycka bort sina egna emotioner i mötet med klienter. Detta kan de ta igen i efterhand exempelvis genom att diskutera med sina kolleger, och att släppa fram känslor exempelvis genom att gråta. En svårighet de upplever är att inte bara behöver hantera sina egna emotioner, utan även klienternas.Socialarbetarna påverkas av arbetet genom att de har svårt att släppa arbetet på fritiden och har ibland sömnsvårigheter. De upplever ett stort ansvar som kan vara svårt att släppa. De menar trots allt att det egna livet ändå rullar på, vilket gör att de lär sig hantera tankar på jobbet med tiden och mer erfarenhet.Nära relationer till kolleger är viktiga för välmåendet, medan relationer till chefer tycks vara sekundärt i den aktuella studien. Goda relationer på arbetsplatsen tycks underlätta de svårigheter som kan uppstå. De hanterar sina känslor på olika sätt, men att ha avlastning av kolleger och i form av handledning tycks vara två av de viktigaste delarna. / In this study I have described parts of social workers emotional labout i the meeting with parents and/or children. I have studied the way people who work with social services work with their emotions in relations with the clients, and how this effects the social workers. I also studied in what way support from colleagues and manegement can help with the emotion labour. The study has been implemented with the base in sociologic research with emotions in centre. The theoretic concepts that has been used is first and foremost emotions, emotional labour, trust and handling emotions. I have used these concepts to try and create understanding for the inteviewees emotional situation in the workplace. In this study I have done six semi-structured interviews. The interviewees is people who work with or in close contact to the social services, direct or indirect with children and families. The primary results shows that social workers chose to try and hide their own emotions in the meeting with clients. They can compensate this afterward, for example by talking with colleagues, and let their emotions some forward for example by crying. One thing they say is hard is dealing with not only their own emotions, but also the clients.The social workers are affected by their work in the way that they have a hard time to let the work go when they go home for the day, and sometimes they have trouble sleeping. They experience a big responsability that can be hard to let go. Although, they say their own life runs it course, which makes it easier to learn to handle thoughts about work. Time and experience also helps. Close relationships to colleagues are important for their wellbeing, but the relation to manegers seems to be less important in this study. Good relations on the workplace seems to make hardships easier. They handle their emotions in different ways, but support by colleagues and by guidance appears to be two of the most important parts.

The focus of this research is to investigate how the client's emotions can affect the social worker and how the social worker manages these feelings in order to make the right decisions. We have used a qualitative approach in our investigation. We have interviewed six social workers at social welfare bureaux in southern Sweden. Our theories are ‘Naïve Theory’ and ‘Affect Theory’. The social workers have told us about their experiences in meetings and how they handle the clients' feelings. According to the social workers that we have been in contact with, the clients can show all sorts of emotions, ranging from clients that are happy to those that are angry. It is more common that clients show irritation or frustration against the social worker. The main conclusions are that it is important that the social workers are aware of the feelings that they encounter in meetings with clients, and that they may be affected in different ways. The co-worker of the social workers is important when it comes to the handling of emotions. A client's emotions can affect a social worker and if the social worker does not pay attention to these feelings and learn how to handle them, this may cause the social worker unable to perform their work or that they bring the emotions home.