Denna studie syftar till att undersöka socialsekreterares erfarenheter av hur barns behov och vårdnadshavares samtycke påverkar barnavårdsutredningars arbete och beslut. Studiens tidigare forskning behandlar bedömningar och beslut, samtycke och samarbete med föräldrar, barnets bästa och behov, barnets och föräldrars rättigheter samt socialsekreterares förutsättningar. Studien genomfördes med semistrukturerade intervjuer med sex socialsekreterare från två svenska kommuner, baserat på ett bekvämlighetsurval utifrån ett målstyrt urval. Resultaten visar att socialsekreterarna anser att deras bedömningar av barns behov inte påverkas av vårdnadshavares samtycke. Dock anses beslut om insatser påverkas av vårdnadshavares samtycke, så länge det inte finns skäl för tvångsåtgärder. Socialsekreterarna identifierar bemötande, motivationsarbete, kunskap om arbetets möjligheter och arbetslivserfarenhet som viktiga framgångsfaktorer. Socialsekreterarna upplever organisatoriska begränsningar, resursbrist, en negativ syn av socialtjänsten hos vårdnadshavare samt att rådande lagar är bristfälliga och motstridiga som viktiga motgångsfaktorer. Med grund i studiens resultat dras slutsatsen att vårdnadshavares samtycke kan väga tyngre än barns behov i barnavårdutredningars beslut och att barnets bästa därmed inte alltid har högsta prioritet. Det dras även slutsatsen att det finns mycket som kan begränsa socialsekreterare i deras arbete, men att det också finns många möjligheter inom dessa begränsningar som socialsekreterare kan arbeta utifrån. / This study aims to investigate social workers' experiences of how children's needs and parental consent influence assessments and decisions in child welfare investigations. The study's previous research addresses assessments and decisions, consent and cooperation with parents, the best interests and needs of the child, the rights of children and parents, and the conditions for social workers. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six social workers from two Swedish municipalities, using a convenience sample based on purposive sampling. The results show that social workers believe their assessments of children's needs are not influenced by parental consent. However, decisions regarding interventions are considered influenced by parental consent, provided there are no grounds for compulsory measures. Social workers identify treatment of clients, motivational work, knowledge of work opportunities, and work experience as key success factors. They see organizational limitations, resource shortages, negative perceptions of social services by guardians, and inadequate and conflicting laws as key obstacles. Based on the study's results, it is concluded that parental consent can outweigh children's needs in child welfare investigation decisions, and thus the best interest of the child is not always top priority. It is also concluded that while there are many limitations in their work, there are also numerous opportunities within these constraints that social workers can utilize.

Economic abuse does not always appear in the context of domestic abuse,there are other forms of abuse that are more mentioned in politics and inmedia, for example physical and psychological abuse. Previous researchshows that economic violence is often linked to psychological and physicalviolence and that it is mainly women who are overrepresented in terms ofvulnerability to violence. The consequences of economic violence have provento be many and big, in some terms even life-long for the women who havebeen exposed to the violence.The purpose of the study is to gain an increased understanding of socialworkers' experiences in working with women who have been exposed toeconomic violence by men they have a relationship with, as well as the socialand economic consequences the exposed women are left with. The theoriesused in the study are Yvonne Hirdman's theory of gender, as well as Goffman'stheory of stigmatization and social exclusion.Eight interviews of social workers have been conducted to get a picture ofwhat consequences women who are exposed to economic violence have andwhat obstacles and opportunities the social workers see in their work withwomen exposed to violence. The results show that men's economic violenceagainst women has major consequences for women's lives. The results alsoshow that social workers see both obstacles and opportunities in their work tohelp women exposed to economic violence.