The purpose of the study was to examine social workers who exercise public authority experiences of working and living in a smaller community, based on their experiences of working and living geographically close to their clients. A qualitative method was used, and the study is based on six interviews with social workers who exercise public authority and lives and works in a smaller community. The result was analyzed using Erving Goffmans dramaturgical perspective, role theory and symbolic interactionism. The result showed both benefits and challenges of living and working in a smaller community, the main benefit that was mentioned was shorter decision-making paths and more efficient work. The results showed that personal knowledge of a client, lack of anonymity and meeting clients in private contexts were the biggest challenges. The result also showed different strategies that the social workers used to facilitate working and living in a smaller community, both personal strategies and organizational strategies. The conclusion of the study was that working and living in a smaller community, geographically close to clients, could be both advantageous and challenging. The challenges did not have a major impact on the social worker´s, neither professionally nor privately. Therefore, the study did not show the same results as previous studies, which could be explained by the fact that this study was based on smaller Swedish communities while previous studies were based on international studies of rural areas. / Syftet med studien var att undersöka myndighetsutövande socialarbetares upplevelser av att arbeta och bo i en mindre kommun med geografisk närhet till klienter. I studien användes kvalitativ metod, sex intervjuer genomfördes med myndighetsyutövade socialarbetare som bor och arbetar i en mindre kommun. Datan analyserades genom kvalitativ innehållsanalys och resultatet analyserades med hjälp av Erving Goffmans dramaturgiska perspektiv och rollteori, samt symbolisk interaktionism. Resultatet visade att det finns fördelar och utmaningar med att bo och arbeta i en liten kommun, den främsta fördelen som belystes var korta beslutsvägar och ett effektivare arbete. Resultatet visade att tidigare kännedom om en klient, minskad anonymitet och att stöta på klienter på fritiden kan ses som utmaningar.  Resultatet visade också på olika strategier som socialarbetare använder för att underlätta att bo och arbeta i en mindre kommun, både egna strategier och organisatoriska strategier.  Studiens slutsats var att dubbla relationer förekommer men upplevs inte som problematiska, varken professionellt eller privat för socialarbetarna som deltagit i studien. Därav har studien inte fått samma resultat som tidigare forskning, vilket skulle kunna förklaras av det faktum att denna studie undersöker mindre svenska kommuner, medan tidigare forskning bygger på internationella studier av landsbygder.

Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka hur socialt arbete med barnavård framställs i media och hur porträtteringen påverkar enskilda socialarbetare inom yrkesfältet. Studiens genomförande bestod av att sammanställa tillgänglig forskning inom området genom en litteraturstudie. Materialet bearbetades genom tematisk analys, och analyserades sedan utifrån Meads teori om jaget och maskerna samt Goffmans dramaturgiska perspektiv. Resultatet visade att media generellt sett tenderar att framhäva misslyckanden och osynliggöra positiva aspekter av det sociala arbetet med barn och unga. Vidare framkom att socialarbetare verksamma inom området upplevde att en alltjämt negativ och ensidig bild av professionen framhävs i media. Detta har lett till ett undvikande förhållningssätt gentemot media bland socialarbetare. Något förvånande visade resultatet att allmänhetens förtroende och uppfattning inte tycks påverkas av negativ porträttering av socialarbetare i lika hög utsträckning som den påverkar enskilda socialarbetare. En övergripande slutsats var att socialarbetares förhållningssätt till media påverkar den offentliga bilden av professionen. Implikationer för det sociala arbetet diskuterades. / The purpose of this study was to investigate how child welfare social work is portrayed in the media and how the portrayal affects individual social workers within the professional field. The implementation of the study consisted of compiling available research in the field through a literature study. The material was processed through thematic analysis, and then analyzed based on Mead's theory of the self and masks and Goffman's dramaturgical perspective. The results show that the general perception among social workers is that the media tends to highlight failures and shortcomings in social work. Furthermore, it appeared that child welfare social workers feel that a negative and one-sided image of the profession is still emphasized in the media. Consequently, this has led to an avoidant approach among social workers in relation to the media. A somewhat surprising finding was that the public's trust and perception does not seem to be affected by negative portrayals of social workers in the media to the same extent as it affects individual social workers. An overall conclusion was that social workers' approach to the media have contributed to the public image of the profession. Implications for social work was discussed.

A surge in the debate regarding youth crime has lead to implications of the need to resolve issues with the help of different kinds of youth crime prevention programmes and interventions as well as stricter punishment methods. The aim of this study is to seek a deeper understanding of social workers work with the chosen focus group.The study uses semi-structured interviews where six social workers’ working in different types of crime prevention interventions revolving around youth. With the help of Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory and KASAM the respondents’ answers are analyzed. The results show that the respondents emphasize and value the importance of cooperation, early interventions, resources for staff and long-term relationship-building as core factors for diminishing youth crime. The conclusion also reveals the need for further research and evidence-based approaches that are needed to strengthen the socialworkers, in order to further understand the methods that are being used. Furthermore, there’s alsoa need for evidence that enables more tailored interventions and that’s applicable to today’s issueswith norm-breaking behavior at earlier ages. / En ökning i debatten kring ungdomsbrottslighet har lett till att behovet av att lösa problemen medhjälp av olika typer av brottsförebyggande program och insatser samt striktare straffmetoder har påpekats. Syftet med denna studie är att söka en djupare förståelse för socialarbetares arbete med den valda fokusgruppen. Studien använder semi-strukturerade intervjuer där sex socialarbetaresom arbetar med olika typer av brottsförebyggande insatser riktade mot ungdomar har intervjuats. Med hjälp av Bronfenbrenners ekologiska systemteori och KASAM analyseras respondenternas svar. Resultatet visar att respondenterna betonar och värdesätter vikten av samarbete, tidiga insatser, resurser för personal och långsiktigt relationsbyggande som kärnfaktorer för att minska ungdomsbrottslighet. Slutsatsen avslöjar behov av ytterligare forskning och nya evidensbaserade metoder för att stärka socialarbetarna samt för att ytterligare förstå de metoder som används.Vidare finns det även behov av evidens som möjliggör mer skräddarsydda insatser och som är applicerbar på dagens problematik med normbrytande beteenden i tidigare åldrar.

Barn och ungdomars psykiska hälsa gynnas av en meningsfull fritid. Syftet med studien var att undersöka socialarbetares upplevelse av hur en meningsfull fritid påverkar barn och ungdomars psykiska hälsa, samt att belysa socialarbetares integrering av meningsfull fritid i sitt dagliga arbete med barn och ungdomar. Metoden i denna studie var kvalitativa semistrukturerade intervjuer med sex socionomer. Med hjälp av riktad kvalitativ innehållsanalys identifierades teman utifrån teorin salutogenes samt begreppen KASAM och empowerment för att jämföra insamlade data och tidigare forskning. Resultatet visar att en meningsfull fritid är viktigt för barn och ungdomars psykiska hälsa, men vad som är meningsfull fritid är individuellt. Informanterna betonade bland annat socioekonomiska hinder och samhälleliga möjligheter som finns för att barn och ungdomar ska ha en meningsfull fritid. Resultatet visar även att socialarbetare ger barn och ungdomar verktyg att själv hantera sin psykiska hälsa. / Children and adolescents' mental health benefits from meaningful leisure activities. This study aimed to explore social workers' experiences of how meaningful leisure impacts the mental health of children and adolescents, and to highlight how social workers integrate meaningful leisure into their daily work with these groups. The method used in this study was qualitative semi-structured interviews with six social workers. Using directed qualitative content analysis, themes were identified based on the theory of salutogenesis and the concepts of Sense of Coherence and empowerment to compare collected data with previous research. The results indicate that meaningful leisure is crucial for the mental health of children and adolescents, but what constitutes meaningful leisure is individual. The informants emphasized socioeconomic barriers and societal opportunities for children and adolescents to engage in meaningful leisure activities. The findings also show that social workers provide tools for children and adolescents to manage their mental health independently.

The aim of this study is to find out the resources and support actions the social services in Stockholm offer women who are abused by men in partnerships and how the social workers experience their room to maneuver in order to help these women. In order to answer the aim of the study, we have analyzed interviews with staff who works in social services, specifically in family violence centers. To interpret our empirical data, we have used four different theories. These are power, empowerment, organizational theory and violence normalization process. The results of the study show that social services offer these abused women two types of aid and support; acute and long term support actions. The emergency/acute interventions are mainly sheltered housing. Long-term assistance efforts include counseling, housing priority, financial assistance and the protection of personal data. The results show that the social workers work is based on different methods and action plans in order to help abused women. Their work builds mainly upon the National Board of health and welfare guidelines and the social services law. However, their work is also based on motivational interviewing, CBT, SOC and empowerment. The results show that there are flaws in their work. Cooperation between various organizations, such as police and medical services are unsatisfactory. Time and resources in terms of money are insufficient to spread the knowledge about the problems and follow-up of cases after the end of a case.

Romani people came to Sweden in the early 16th century and is today acknowledged as a minority group. Today in Sweden there’s a large group of Roma EU-citizens who come to beg. Romani people has been an exposed and discriminated group since their arrival in Sweden – a pattern that’s still relevant regarding Roma EU-citizens coming today. One profession that faces Roma EU-citizens in their work is social workers. This study aims to describe and analyse how social workers experience working with Roma EU-citizens, what difficulties or opportunities they see and how this work can be developed in the future. Furthermore, the study examines what beliefs social workers feel exists in society surrounding this group. The study uses labelling theory and theories of cultural competence. Six interviews were conducted with social workers and the study uses a qualitative approach and a hermeneutic perspective. Study results indicate that cultural differences affects working with the group. Results also show that the social workers feel there’s a lot of prejudice against the group. The study concludes that cultural competence is important in order to perform a good social work with the Romani group. Another conclusion is that structural problems complicates working with the group.

Bakgrund: I socialtjänstens utredning om barn är barnen en viktig informationskälla. I svensk lagstiftning beskrivs det att barnets bästa ska betraktas när åtgärder rör dem. Socialarbetare känner sig ibland osäkra inför samtal med barn. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka vilken möjlighet socialarbetarna har gällande kompetensutveckling i att samtala med barn och behovet av verksamhets ut veck l ing för att förbättra samtal med barn. I studien ingår det två arbetsgrupper, socialarbetare som arbetar inom öppenvården och socialarbetare som arbetar med främst myndighetsutövning, mellan dessa grupper kommer det ske jämförelse för att se om det finns likheter och olikheter i upplevelsen av sin kompetens. Metod: Studien har genomförts med kvantitativ metod där datainsamlingen har bestått i online - enkäter. I studien är det totalt 10 av de totalt 13 tillfrågade kommunerna i Region Jönköpings län som har tackat ja till att vara med. Av tillfrågade 77 socialarbetare inom den sociala barnavården deltog 52 (65,7 procent) och av dessa arbetar 19 inom öppenvården och 33 arbetar med myndighetsutövning. Resultat: I studien framgår det att det finns förbättringsmöjligheter i samtal med barn för socialarbetare rörande utbildning och arbetsmaterial. I studien framgår det också att det inte finns några signifikanta skillnader mellan socialsekreterare och behandlare. Slutsats: Studien tyder på att socialarbetare är i behov av mer kunskap kring samtal med barn, samt att det finns områden som behöver förbättras för att känslan i samtalet med barnet ska bli mer positiv. / Background: Children are an important source of information in the investigations of the social services. Swedish law stipulates that the best interests of the child should be considered when measures concern them. Social workers sometimes feel insecure about speaking with children. The purpose of this study is to examine the opportunities of social workers for training in speaking with children, and the need for development of the organization in order to improve conversations with children. Two groups are included in the study, social workers that work with non-institutional care, and social workers that primarily work with the exercise of public authority. These groups will be compared to see whether there are similarities and differences in their perception of competence. Method: The study has been done by a quantitative method where data has been collected with online surveys. In total, 10 of the 13 municipalities in Jönköping County have participated in the study. Out of the 77 social workers in child welfare asked to participate, 52 (65.7 per cent) chose to do so, whereof 19 work with non-institutional care and 33 with the exercise of public authority. Results: The study shows that there is room for improvement of social workers’ conversations with children with regards to education and work material. The study also shows that there are no significant differences between different types of social workers. Conclusions: The study indicates that social workers need more knowledge of speaking with children, and that there are areas that need improvement for the conversation with the child to be perceived as more positive.

<p>The aim of this study was to enlighten social workers experiences of social networks direct influence in Swedish social services, and in which ways those influences are manifested. Some of the issues that are being explored in this study are: The separation of the private sphere and professional duties; boundaries and dual relationships that occurs inside social networks; the use of social networks as a control-instrument in authority exercise towards clients; and social networks arising impact on social work. The empirical material was collected with nine qualitative interviews with social workers stationed at different social service departments in a Swedish municipality. Also one qualitative e-survey was sent out to, and answered by four social workers with a managerial position in the same municipality.</p><p>The results reveal that several informants have experienced different problematic situations involving clients within the social networks. This study shows that the informants are very restrictive with what information (text and pictures) they publish on their facebook-profiles, because of their position of authority and the awareness of the possibility of always being watched. Several informants reveal a strong attitude against the use of social networks in social work and argue that information about clients fetched at social networks cannot be used. Yet some social workers use social networks at work to search information about clients and verify suspicions, for example in decision-making of governmental economical support. The power that the social workers hold against their clients is being exterritorialised inside the social networks and makes further way for an expanding control-society.</p>

The Swedish community and social services face major challenges regarding the management of honor-related violence and oppression. Lack of knowledge and an ambiguous understanding of violence affect the work of social services and may complicate the situation of vulnerable individuals. The main purpose of this study was to investigate social workers, within the section of children and family in a Swedish municipality, perceived knowledge and confidence in honor-related cases and the need for support in their work. The social workers’ views on honor-related violence and oppression were also investigated. The survey was based on a quantitative approach and questionnaires were used for data collection. The main results demonstrate that the social workers to some extent perceive themselves as having expertise in the field of honor. Nevertheless, they feel insecure in the work with honor-related cases. Furthermore, it appears that social workers are in need of specific support from the organization such as education and case supervision. Regarding the view of honor violence, a majority indicated that a gender perspective and a cultural perspective were important to understand the problem. / Samhället och socialtjänsten står inför stora utmaningar gällande hanteringen av hedersrelaterat våld och förtryck. Bristande kunskap och en tvetydig förståelse för våldet påverkar socialtjänstens arbete och kan komma att försvåra situationen för utsatta individer. Det huvudsakliga syftet med denna studie var därför att undersöka hur socialarbetare, inom sektionen barn och familj i Falu Kommun, upplever sin kunskap och trygghet i hedersrelaterade ärenden samt behovet av stöd i arbetet. Vidare kartlades socialarbetarnas syn på hedersrelaterat våld och förtryck. Undersökningen utgick ifrån en kvantitativ ansats, där enkäter användes som datainsamlingsmetod. Resultatet påvisar att socialarbetarna i viss mån upplever sig ha kunskap inom området hedersvåld. Dock känner de sig otrygga i arbetet med hedersrelaterade ärenden. Vidare framkom det att socialarbetarna är i behov av specifikt stöd från verksamheten såsom utbildning och ärendehandledning. Gällande synen på hedersvåld angav majoriteten ett könsmaktsperspektiv och ett kulturellt perspektiv som viktiga för att förstå problemet.

Trots många års larmande av den rådande arbetsmiljön för socialarbetare har inte kommunerna agerat tillräckligt, vilket har lett till svårigheter att rekrytera och få personal att stanna kvar i socialtjänsten. Detta har bidragit till att konsulter inom socialtjänsten har ökat markant de senaste åren. Den här studien handlar om konsulters erfarenheter av sina nya arbetsvillkor då de valt att stanna kvar och arbeta i socialtjänsten inom Individ- och familjeomsorg (IFO). Syftet med studien är att öka kunskapen om vilka positiva och negativa faktorer som konsulter erfar med sina villkor i sitt arbete. Vi har utgått från en kvalitativ design och gjort semistrukturerade intervjuer med sex konsulter. De teoretiska analysverktyg vi använt oss av är rollteori, organisationsteori samt push-and-pull modellen. Dessa analysverktyg ger olika synvinklar på konsulters villkor inom IFO och lyfter fram olika faktorer i deras arbetsvillkor samt förklarar hur det är att stå utanför socialtjänsten som organisation samtidigt som de arbetar i den. I studien har vi kommit fram till att konsulternas förändring ger både positiva och negativa erfarenheter i deras arbetsvillkor som konsulter i IFO. Positiva faktorer som konsulterna erfor i sina arbetsvillkor var: Den ökade lönen, tidsbegränsningen i uppdraget, den minskade tid för antalet obligatoriska möten som genererade i ökad tid till klientarbete. De erfor mer självständighet och personlig utveckling. Det dubbla chefskapet från arbetsplatsen och konsultbolaget kunde upplevas positivt med exempelvis uppskattning och stöd i gränssättning av arbetsmängden från konsultchefen. De negativa faktorerna som konsulterna kunde uppleva i deras arbetsvillkor var ensamarbete och för höga förväntningar på prestation samt att konsulterna fick en mindre påverkningsmöjligheter i organisationen. Vi tolkade även att det kunde bli en större anpassning från konsulten till hur chefen vill att arbetet ska utföras. / Despite many years of alarming environment within the current workplace of social workers the municipalities have still not acted accordingly, which have caused hardship in recruiting as well as keeping people in the social services. This has also lead towards a large growth of consultants within the social services under the last few years. This study is about consultant’s experiences of their new work conditions when they have chosen to stay within the Individual- and family care sector (IFO). The purpose of the study is to further increase the knowledge of which negative and positive aspects consultants experience within their work conditions. We have worked with a qualitative design and made semiconstructed interviews with six different consultants. The theoretical analysis tools we have used during this study is roll theory, organization theory and the push-and-pull model. These analysis tools give different viewpoints of consultant’s conditions within IFO and brings forward the factors in these conditions, as well as describes how it can be to stand on the outside of the social services as an organization but at the same time work in it. We have concluded that these changes have caused both positive and negative experiences in consultants work conditions within the IFO. The positive factors that the consultants described were: Increased pay, limits in the assignment, the reduced time for obligatory meetings which resulted in more time for client based work as well as feeling more of a personal development. Having two employers was described as being positive with examples as appreciation and support in setting limits for a reasonable amount of work from the consulting firm. The negative aspects we found that the consultants could experience was feelings of working alone and expectations on high performance as well as having less influence in the organization overall. We concluded that the consultant was more influenced by their employers in how their work should be performed.   Keyword: consultant, social worker, profession, social service, roll theory, organisation theory, push-and-pull-model.