<p>In 2006 there was a change in LMA (1994:37) that clarified the division of responsibility be-tween the Migration Board and the municipalities, concerning unaccompanied children. The social services should now be utmost responsible for the housing and care of these children, to assure that they gain the same standards and rights as all other children. The aim of this essay has been to examine how the division of responsibility has influenced the work of the social services and how they interpret their responsibility for the unaccompanied children. How do the social services investigate and make decisions concerning these children? Do these chil-dren have the same rights as other children? To answer these questions a legal study was made, followed by qualitative research interviews with four social services that receive unac-companied children. The study was made from a legal sociologist perspective, which involves analyzing the results from the interviews with the legal results, together with earlier research on unaccompanied children. The results show that the division of responsibility still is indis-tinct and that the investigations concerning these children often are brief and simplified. In two of the interviewed municipalities the view was that unaccompanied children did not have the right to efforts according to SoL (2001:453), which in practice means that the unaccom-panied children are discriminated.</p>

<p>In 2006 there was a change in LMA (1994:37) that clarified the division of responsibility be-tween the Migration Board and the municipalities, concerning unaccompanied children. The social services should now be utmost responsible for the housing and care of these children, to assure that they gain the same standards and rights as all other children. The aim of this essay has been to examine how the division of responsibility has influenced the work of the social services and how they interpret their responsibility for the unaccompanied children. How do the social services investigate and make decisions concerning these children? Do these chil-dren have the same rights as other children? To answer these questions a legal study was made, followed by qualitative research interviews with four social services that receive unac-companied children. The study was made from a legal sociologist perspective, which involves analyzing the results from the interviews with the legal results, together with earlier research on unaccompanied children. The results show that the division of responsibility still is indis-tinct and that the investigations concerning these children often are brief and simplified. In two of the interviewed municipalities the view was that unaccompanied children did not have the right to efforts according to SoL (2001:453), which in practice means that the unaccom-panied children are discriminated.</p>

<p>Studien syftar till att undersöka hur kuratorerna som verkställer vård inom socialtjänsten ser på denna påföljd och på sin roll i verkställandet av densamma, samt hur ungdomar som genomfört vård inom socialtjänsten upplever samma påföljd. Syftet avgränsas genom följande frågeställningar: (i) Hur ser kuratorerna på Ungdoms- och familjeteamet i Örebro kommun på vård inom socialtjänsten och på sin egen roll i verkställandet av denna påföljd utifrån den lagstiftning som reglerar vård inom socialtjänsten, samt den lagstiftning som reglerar socialtjänstens insatser för unga? (ii) Hur har ungdomar som genomfört vård inom socialtjänsten på Ungdoms- och familjeteamet i Örebro upplevt påföljden utifrån samma lagstiftning, och finns det någon skillnad i upplevelsen före och efter genomförandet av denna? En vidare angränsning är att jag har valt att fokusera studien på ungdomar som har blivit dömda för misshandel. För att besvara uppsatsens syfte och frågeställningar har jag genomfört kvalitativa forskningsintervjuer med personalen på Ungdoms- och familjeteamet, samt med ungdomar som har genomfört vård inom socialtjänsten där. Intervjuerna gjordes utifrån på förhand sammanställda intervjuguider och utgick ifrån uppsatsens syfte, frågeställningar samt den lagstiftning som utgör uppsatsens teoriavsnitt. Resultatet visar att kuratorerna inte ser någon konflikt i verkställandet av påföljden vård inom socialtjänsten, främst beroende på arbetsfördelningen mellan dem och socialkontoren. Vidare upplevde inte ungdomarna, i stort, påföljden som ett straff. De skillnader som ändå fanns mellan upplevelsen före och efter påföljden, tycks i mycket handla om en dålig information i samband med rättegången. Slutligen upplevde de flesta ungdomar i studien att påföljden hade gjort skillnad; ett fåtal menade att rättegången och böter hade haft en avskräckande effekt, men de flesta pekade på vårdprogrammet som det som hade gjort skillnad.</p> / <p>The purpose of this paper is to examine how the social welfare officers, who enforce the sentence Treatment within the Social Services, look at this form of sentence and their own role when it comes to enforcing the sentence, and how juveniles who have carried out this penalty look at the same. The purpose is defined by the following questions: (i) How do the social welfare officers at the Youth and Family Team in Örebro look at Treatment within the Social Services and their own role in enforcing this sentence, regulated by law within the social services treatment and within the social services programme for juveniles? (ii) How do the juveniles who have carried out the sentence Treatment within the Social Services at the Youth and Family Team in Örebro experience the treatment, and do they feel that it has made a difference? Another definition I have made is a choice to focus my study on juveniles sentenced for assault and battery. In order to answer the purpose and questions I have performed qualitative research interviews with social welfare officers at the Youth and Family Team and juveniles who had carried out Treatment within the Social Services with them. The interviews were performed according to guides based on the purpose and questions, and the legislation presented in the theoretical section of this paper. The result shows that the social welfare officers notice no conflict within enforcing the sentence Treatment within the Social Services, mainly due to the division of labour between them and the social services offices. Further, most of the juveniles did not find the sentence a punishment. Nevertheless, the difference in the experiences before and after serving the sentence seems to be lack of information about the meaning of the sentence by the time of the legal proceedings. Finally, most of the juveniles in the study find that the sentence has mad a difference; a few of them find that the trial and fine had an intimidating effect, but most om them point out the treatment programme as the factor that has made the difference.</p>

<p>This paper is a case study of a local labour market project. The aim of the study is to investigate the staff’s way of working with unemployed people, receiving social assistance, in order to reduce the payment of social assistance in four adjacent city districts of Stockholm. Other objectives of the study are to investigate which criteria the staff uses when selecting participants for the project, in which way the participants’ background affects the measures taken by the staff and how the staff experiences working as part of a project. A short summary of the social services development during the twentieth century and urban politics in the 1990’s in Sweden is used as a background for the local labour market project. The theories used deal with the social services strategies concerning unemployed receivers of social assistance, the participants’ background with particular emphasis on ethnicity and gender, project work and the special case of public projects. The study is based on interviews with four employees. Some of the conclusions are that the selection criteria are put up as criteria for not being selected as a participant and that the staff combines previously developed methods in order to reduce the payment of social assistance. The participants’ background is evaluated individually and the staff shows a certain reluctance to categorize the participants according to ethnicity and gender. The staff communicates an ambiguous image of working in a project by describing it partly as an inspiring challenge but also as involving some uncertainties regarding the terms of employment.</p> / <p>Uppsatsen är en fallstudie av ett kommunalt arbetsmarknadsprojekt och syftar till att undersöka hur personalen arbetar med arbetslösa socialbidragstagare för att minska socialbidragsuttaget i fyra närliggande stadsdelar i Stockholm. Syftet är därutöver att undersöka vilka kriterier personalen använder för urval av deltagare till projektet och hur deltagarnas bakgrund påverkar de åtgärder som personalen sätter in samt hur personalen uppfattar projektformen som arbetssätt. Det kommunala arbetsmarknadsprojektet förankras i socialtjänstens och storstadspolitikens historiska utveckling. De teoretiska utgångspunkterna tar fasta på socialtjänstens strategi gällande arbetslösa socialbidragstagare, deltagarnas etniska bakgrund och kön samt projekt som arbetsform och offentliga projekts speciella drag. I analysen används utsagor från djupintervjuer med fyra anställda. Några av slutsatserna är att urvalskriterierna formuleras som hinder för deltagande i projektet och att personalen kombinerar olika tidigare utvecklade metoder i sitt arbete för att minska socialbidragstagandet. Deltagarnas bakgrund bedöms individuellt och personalen visar en viss ovilja att kategorisera deltagarna efter etnicitet och kön. Personalen ger en ambivalent bild av projekt som arbetsform. Dels beskrivs arbetet i projektet som utmanande samtidigt som den tidsbegränsade projektanställningen upplevs som osäker.</p>

Studien syftar till att undersöka hur kuratorerna som verkställer vård inom socialtjänsten ser på denna påföljd och på sin roll i verkställandet av densamma, samt hur ungdomar som genomfört vård inom socialtjänsten upplever samma påföljd. Syftet avgränsas genom följande frågeställningar: (i) Hur ser kuratorerna på Ungdoms- och familjeteamet i Örebro kommun på vård inom socialtjänsten och på sin egen roll i verkställandet av denna påföljd utifrån den lagstiftning som reglerar vård inom socialtjänsten, samt den lagstiftning som reglerar socialtjänstens insatser för unga? (ii) Hur har ungdomar som genomfört vård inom socialtjänsten på Ungdoms- och familjeteamet i Örebro upplevt påföljden utifrån samma lagstiftning, och finns det någon skillnad i upplevelsen före och efter genomförandet av denna? En vidare angränsning är att jag har valt att fokusera studien på ungdomar som har blivit dömda för misshandel. För att besvara uppsatsens syfte och frågeställningar har jag genomfört kvalitativa forskningsintervjuer med personalen på Ungdoms- och familjeteamet, samt med ungdomar som har genomfört vård inom socialtjänsten där. Intervjuerna gjordes utifrån på förhand sammanställda intervjuguider och utgick ifrån uppsatsens syfte, frågeställningar samt den lagstiftning som utgör uppsatsens teoriavsnitt. Resultatet visar att kuratorerna inte ser någon konflikt i verkställandet av påföljden vård inom socialtjänsten, främst beroende på arbetsfördelningen mellan dem och socialkontoren. Vidare upplevde inte ungdomarna, i stort, påföljden som ett straff. De skillnader som ändå fanns mellan upplevelsen före och efter påföljden, tycks i mycket handla om en dålig information i samband med rättegången. Slutligen upplevde de flesta ungdomar i studien att påföljden hade gjort skillnad; ett fåtal menade att rättegången och böter hade haft en avskräckande effekt, men de flesta pekade på vårdprogrammet som det som hade gjort skillnad. / The purpose of this paper is to examine how the social welfare officers, who enforce the sentence Treatment within the Social Services, look at this form of sentence and their own role when it comes to enforcing the sentence, and how juveniles who have carried out this penalty look at the same. The purpose is defined by the following questions: (i) How do the social welfare officers at the Youth and Family Team in Örebro look at Treatment within the Social Services and their own role in enforcing this sentence, regulated by law within the social services treatment and within the social services programme for juveniles? (ii) How do the juveniles who have carried out the sentence Treatment within the Social Services at the Youth and Family Team in Örebro experience the treatment, and do they feel that it has made a difference? Another definition I have made is a choice to focus my study on juveniles sentenced for assault and battery. In order to answer the purpose and questions I have performed qualitative research interviews with social welfare officers at the Youth and Family Team and juveniles who had carried out Treatment within the Social Services with them. The interviews were performed according to guides based on the purpose and questions, and the legislation presented in the theoretical section of this paper. The result shows that the social welfare officers notice no conflict within enforcing the sentence Treatment within the Social Services, mainly due to the division of labour between them and the social services offices. Further, most of the juveniles did not find the sentence a punishment. Nevertheless, the difference in the experiences before and after serving the sentence seems to be lack of information about the meaning of the sentence by the time of the legal proceedings. Finally, most of the juveniles in the study find that the sentence has mad a difference; a few of them find that the trial and fine had an intimidating effect, but most om them point out the treatment programme as the factor that has made the difference.

This paper is a case study of a local labour market project. The aim of the study is to investigate the staff’s way of working with unemployed people, receiving social assistance, in order to reduce the payment of social assistance in four adjacent city districts of Stockholm. Other objectives of the study are to investigate which criteria the staff uses when selecting participants for the project, in which way the participants’ background affects the measures taken by the staff and how the staff experiences working as part of a project. A short summary of the social services development during the twentieth century and urban politics in the 1990’s in Sweden is used as a background for the local labour market project. The theories used deal with the social services strategies concerning unemployed receivers of social assistance, the participants’ background with particular emphasis on ethnicity and gender, project work and the special case of public projects. The study is based on interviews with four employees. Some of the conclusions are that the selection criteria are put up as criteria for not being selected as a participant and that the staff combines previously developed methods in order to reduce the payment of social assistance. The participants’ background is evaluated individually and the staff shows a certain reluctance to categorize the participants according to ethnicity and gender. The staff communicates an ambiguous image of working in a project by describing it partly as an inspiring challenge but also as involving some uncertainties regarding the terms of employment. / Uppsatsen är en fallstudie av ett kommunalt arbetsmarknadsprojekt och syftar till att undersöka hur personalen arbetar med arbetslösa socialbidragstagare för att minska socialbidragsuttaget i fyra närliggande stadsdelar i Stockholm. Syftet är därutöver att undersöka vilka kriterier personalen använder för urval av deltagare till projektet och hur deltagarnas bakgrund påverkar de åtgärder som personalen sätter in samt hur personalen uppfattar projektformen som arbetssätt. Det kommunala arbetsmarknadsprojektet förankras i socialtjänstens och storstadspolitikens historiska utveckling. De teoretiska utgångspunkterna tar fasta på socialtjänstens strategi gällande arbetslösa socialbidragstagare, deltagarnas etniska bakgrund och kön samt projekt som arbetsform och offentliga projekts speciella drag. I analysen används utsagor från djupintervjuer med fyra anställda. Några av slutsatserna är att urvalskriterierna formuleras som hinder för deltagande i projektet och att personalen kombinerar olika tidigare utvecklade metoder i sitt arbete för att minska socialbidragstagandet. Deltagarnas bakgrund bedöms individuellt och personalen visar en viss ovilja att kategorisera deltagarna efter etnicitet och kön. Personalen ger en ambivalent bild av projekt som arbetsform. Dels beskrivs arbetet i projektet som utmanande samtidigt som den tidsbegränsade projektanställningen upplevs som osäker.

In 2006 there was a change in LMA (1994:37) that clarified the division of responsibility be-tween the Migration Board and the municipalities, concerning unaccompanied children. The social services should now be utmost responsible for the housing and care of these children, to assure that they gain the same standards and rights as all other children. The aim of this essay has been to examine how the division of responsibility has influenced the work of the social services and how they interpret their responsibility for the unaccompanied children. How do the social services investigate and make decisions concerning these children? Do these chil-dren have the same rights as other children? To answer these questions a legal study was made, followed by qualitative research interviews with four social services that receive unac-companied children. The study was made from a legal sociologist perspective, which involves analyzing the results from the interviews with the legal results, together with earlier research on unaccompanied children. The results show that the division of responsibility still is indis-tinct and that the investigations concerning these children often are brief and simplified. In two of the interviewed municipalities the view was that unaccompanied children did not have the right to efforts according to SoL (2001:453), which in practice means that the unaccom-panied children are discriminated.

In 2006 there was a change in LMA (1994:37) that clarified the division of responsibility be-tween the Migration Board and the municipalities, concerning unaccompanied children. The social services should now be utmost responsible for the housing and care of these children, to assure that they gain the same standards and rights as all other children. The aim of this essay has been to examine how the division of responsibility has influenced the work of the social services and how they interpret their responsibility for the unaccompanied children. How do the social services investigate and make decisions concerning these children? Do these chil-dren have the same rights as other children? To answer these questions a legal study was made, followed by qualitative research interviews with four social services that receive unac-companied children. The study was made from a legal sociologist perspective, which involves analyzing the results from the interviews with the legal results, together with earlier research on unaccompanied children. The results show that the division of responsibility still is indis-tinct and that the investigations concerning these children often are brief and simplified. In two of the interviewed municipalities the view was that unaccompanied children did not have the right to efforts according to SoL (2001:453), which in practice means that the unaccom-panied children are discriminated.

The aim of this study was to examine the perceptions within social services regarding men who are victims of domestic violence based on how gender, sexuality, masculinity and victimhood was constructed in the social workers' statements. Eight qualitative interviews were conducted with nine social workers who work within the social services and meet people who are victims of domestic violence. A social constructionist scientific approach has permeated the study and theories of gender, heteronormativity, masculinity and the ideal victim has served as the study’s theoretical views. The results of the study showed that some of the social workers ascribed men specific characteristics such as strength and fearlessness. This showed how gender and masculinity was constructed in the social workers' statements. Furthermore, the results showed that their statements often based on a heterosexual norm and on the assumption that the woman was the victim and the man the perpetrator of domestic violence. Thus, sexuality and victimization were constructed in relation to gender. This showed that the social workers had certain perceptions regarding vulnerable men, meaning that men often were made ​​invisible as victims of domestic violence in the social workers' statements. At the same time, this may be because of the fact that the social workers mostly or exclusively have met women who are exposed to violence by their male partner. In addition to this, all social workers expressed an openness and awareness that even men are victims of domestic violence in same-sex and different-sex relationships. / Syftet med denna studie har varit att undersöka vilka föreställningar som finns inom socialtjänsten om män som utsätts för våld i nära relation utifrån hur kön, sexualitet, maskulinitet och offerskap konstrueras i socialarbetares uttalanden. Åtta kvalitativa intervjuer har genomförts med nio socialarbetare som är verksamma inom socialtjänsten och möter personer som utsätts för våld i nära relation. Ett socialkonstruktionistiskt vetenskapligt synsätt har genomsyrat studien och teorier om genus, heteronormativitet, maskulinitet och det idealiska offret har tjänat som studiens teoretiska utgångspunkter. Studiens resultat visade att en del av socialarbetarna tillskrev män specifika egenskaper, såsom styrka och orädsla. På så sätt konstruerades kön och maskulinitet i socialarbetarnas uttalanden. Vidare visade resultatet att socialarbetarna ofta talade utifrån heteronormen och utifrån kvinnan som offer och mannen som förövare av relationsvåld. Detta visade hur sexualitet och offerskap konstruerades kopplat till kön. Socialarbetarna hade således vissa föreställningar om utsatta män, innebärande att män ofta osynliggjordes som offer för relationsvåld i socialarbetarnas uttalanden. Detta kan tänkas bero på att socialarbetarna mestadels eller uteslutande hade mött kvinnor som utsätts för våld av sin manliga partner. Samtliga socialarbetare gav dessutom uttryck för en öppenhet och medvetenhet om att även män utsätts för relationsvåld i samkönade och olikkönade relationer.

With this study, our purpose has been to achieve profounded knowledge and understanding regarding the use of discretion among social workers specialized in social allowance issues. The Social Services Act, structured as a framework law in the Swedish context, provides the social worker with a certain degree of discretion, in order to enable accommodated decisions depending on client case specifics. This study problematizes these aspects of legal security, and our intention has been to examine which factors impact the assessments social workers carry out in statutory decisions of social allowance applications. To attain this, we narrowed down our intention into a number of distinct and delimitated research questions: (1) Which elements of the client case impact the social worker’s assessment? (2) Which external aspects influence the social worker’s assessments and decisions? (3) How do social workers decide the client’s credibility?   In order to establish answers to our research questions, we have utilized a qualitative approach of research by exerting qualitative interviews in addition to a vignette study. We have conducted five interviews with social workers specialized in social allowance issues. The empirical material was analyzed and illustrated in the view of Lipsky’s descriptive theory of street-level bureaucracy, and in the light of different theories of authoritarian power, as constituted by Lukes and Foucault.   Within the municipality subject to our research, our vignette study establishes the fact disparities exist among the assessments social workers decide from an application of social allowance. The result of our study exhibit social workers’ grounds of assessment are influenced by a number of aspects. These facets of impact compose internal factors existing within the client case frame. Related to the unique characteristics of a client’s situation, the internal factors also depend on the relation created between social worker and client. Furthermore, the social worker’s assessment is affected by external factors including colleague consultation, supervisor influence and contemporary work load levels. Additionally, our study implies aspects influencing decision-making of social workers occurring on a meta level, which we have opted to denominate semi-external factors. These factors embrace levels of client credibility as well as aspects of power present in the social worker – client relation.