Evidensbaserad praktik inom socialtjänsten förutsätter att de professionella ställer sig positiva till forskningsbaserad kunskap om insatser och användandet av bedömningsinstrument. I vår studie undersöks vilken tilltro socialarbetare på vuxenenheten i en mindre stad har till bedömningsinstrumentet Addiction Severity Index (ASI). Studien är en kvalitativ undersökning och semistrukturerade intervjuer valdes som metod för att besvara syfte och frågeställningarna. Sammanlagt har sex respondenter intervjuats varav fyra handläggare, en projektledare samt enhetschefen på verksamheten. Forskning visar att handläggare upplever olika fördelar och nackdelar i användandet av ASI. Av resultatet framgår att handläggarna använder ASI Grund regelbundet i sitt arbete men att det finns svårigheter med att implementera ASI Uppföljning. Samtliga handläggare upplever att ASI Grund är tidskrävande och har en del invändningar mot vissa av frågorna. Trots detta uttrycker de ändå att användandet av ASI kan bidra till ett rättsäkerhetsperspektiv, ett strukturerat arbetssätt och en bra grund inför behandlingsplaneringen. I studien diskuteras även förbättringsområden inom ASI. / Evidence-based practice in social services presupposes that the professionals are in favor of research-based knowledge on services an the use of assessment instruments. The purpose of this study is to examining the confidence of social workers in an adult unit, in a small town has to assess the instrument Addiction Severity Index (ASI). The study is a qualitative survey ans semi-structured interviews were chosen as a method to answer the purpose and research questions. A total of six respondents were interviewed; four social workers, one project manager and the head of unit in operation. Research shows that social workers experience different advantages and disadvantages in the use of ASI. The results show that social workers use the ASI on a regular basis in their work, but there are difficulties in implementing the ASI follow-up interview. All social workers feel that the ASI base interview is time consuming and has concerns with some of the questions. Nevertheless, they express that the use of the ASI can contribute to a legal security perspective, a structured approach and a good basis for treatment planning. The study also discusses areas for improvement in the ASI.

Unemployment and long term unemployment is a reality for a large number of people in Sweden. This may be the result of structural changes in the labor market, but involves a wide range of issues. Along with other actors, the social services are obliged to support the long term unemployed to find a job. The aim of this study was to describe and analyze the work done by social workers towards the long term unemployed, 25-49 years old, in two municipalities. We performed altogether six qualitative interviews. In each municipality we selected two social workers and the head of the work unit. The interviews were recorded and transcribed. We used a social constructionist perspective and organizational theory for the analysis. Results show that the social workers believe that they have almost twice as many clients as they can handle with a good quality in social work. We also present, in the study that a considerable coordination with other units of the social services and other authorities is taking place, but that the social workers are partly negative towards its functioning.

Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka socialtjänstens perspektiv på hur föräldrar förändrar sina roller för att på bästa sätt kunna ta sitt föräldraansvar efter en separation, speciellt om en förälder brister i sin omsorg kring barnet och hur socialtjänsten ser på sin roll i den processen. Vi har genomfört tre fokusgruppsintervjuer; en barnutredningsgrupp och två grupper från familjerätten. Alla enheter vi besökte ligger i Stockholm. Respondenterna har i fokusgrupperna fått reflektera och diskutera sina uppfattningar kring temana föräldraansvar, oro kring den andre förälderns förmåga, roller i och kring familjen samt socialtjänstens roll. Vårt resultat har analyserats med hjälp av rollteorin och mentaliseringsbegreppet. Resultatet visade att i omskapandet av föräldrarollerna efter separation är samarbete samt att minimera konflikter mellan föräldrar grundläggande. I de fall socialtjänsten är i kontakt med föräldrarna så har även de en roll i föräldraansvaret, de strävar efter att vägleda föräldrarna mot ett fullgott ansvarstagande och se till att föräldrarna behåller barnperspektivet med barnets behov i fokus. Om en förälder har förmågan att mentalisera en annan människas situation och ser dennes behov så underlättar det omskapandet av föräldrarollen efter separation precis som det vidare underlättar om föräldrar har en fungerande kommunikation mellan varandra. Den roll som är mest komplex enligt oss är den som en orolig förälder har kring barnets vistelse hos den andra föräldern. Oavsett hur relationen till den andre är så ligger det i bådas ansvar att alltid säkerställa att barnet har det bra och inte far illa. / The purpose of this paper is to examine the perspective of the Swedish social services with regard to how parents change their roles in order to best take parental responsibility following separation. We particularly examine the perspective of the social services with regard to cases in which a parent has shortcomings in his or her care of the child and how the social services view their own role in this process. We conducted three focus group interviews: one involving a child protection investigation group and two involving family law groups. All of the units visited were in Stockholm, Sweden. The respondents in the focus groups were asked to reflect and discuss their views on the themes of parental responsibility, concern about the other parent’s capacity, roles in and involving the family, and the role of the social services. Our results were analysed using role theory and the concept of mentalisation. The results showed that in changing parental roles following separation, cooperation and minimising conflict between parents is fundamental. In cases in which the social services have contact with the parents, they too have a role in parental responsibility since they endeavour to guide the parents towards taking an adequate level of responsibility and ensure that the parents maintain a children’s perspective in which the needs of the child are in focus. If a parent has the ability to mentalise another person’s situation and see his or her needs, the changing of the parental role following separation is facilitated. Likewise, it also is beneficial if parents are able to communicate with each other. The role that is most complex, in our view, is that of a concerned parent with regard to the child staying with the other parent. Regardless of the nature of their relationship, it is the responsibility of both parents to always ensure that the child receives adequate care and does not come to harm.

Authors: Carolina Magnusson and Johanna Magnusson Title: The balance between research and practice. A study of family therapist’s knowledge retrieval and the application of evidence-based practice. Supervisor: Jan Petersson Assessor: Peter Hultgren During our research we discovered that a very small amount of research had been conducted about the effect of the social services. It inspired us to fulfill this study. The aim of the study is to describe and analyze what knowledge family therapists in two Swedish municipalities use in family therapy work. We were also interested in which methods they consider having the best effect for social services. Our data collection consisted of qualitative semi-structured interviews conducted with family therapists in two Swedish municipalities. Our primary focus of the study has been the meeting that is taking shape within the family treatment and which components are key elements. Based on the results we have also been able to draw conclusions about how the function of the social services family therapy can be improved and how the work process is characterized by an evidence-based practice. We discovered that family therapist’s knowledge acquisition was extremely haphazard and not on a systematic basis, which the evidence-based model requires. Keywords / Nyckelord Evidence based social work, families/children in social care, knowledge, competence, protective and risk factors and social service. Evidensbaserad praktik, familjebehandling, familjer/barn i socialtjänsten, kunskap,kompetens, tidiga insatser och risk och skyddsfaktorer.

Abstract Authors: Carolina Magnusson and Johanna Magnusson Title:  The balance between research and practice. A study of family therapist’s knowledge retrieval and the application of evidence-based practice. Supervisor: Jan Petersson Assessor: Peter Hultgren During our research we discovered that a very small amount of research had been conducted about the effect of the social services. It inspired us to fulfill this study. The aim of the study is to describe and analyze what knowledge family therapists in two Swedish municipalities use in family therapy work. We were also interested in which methods they consider having the best effect for social services. Our data collection consisted of qualitative semi-structured interviews conducted with family therapists in two Swedish municipalities. Our primary focus of the study has been the meeting that is taking shape within the family treatment and which components are key elements. Based on the results we have also been able to draw conclusions about how the function of the social services family therapy can be improved and how the work process is characterized by an evidence-based practice. We discovered that family therapist’s knowledge acquisition was extremely haphazard and not on a systematic basis, which the evidence-based model requires.

No description available.

Syftet med denna studie var att öka kunskapen om hur professionella inom socialtjänsten bemöter och arbetar med unga vilka har sex som självskadebeteende. Behovet av studien baserades på att unga med sex som självskada har ökat och att socialtjänsten är en central aktör för att uppmärksamma denna målgrupp. Socialtjänsten ska verka för att unga växer upp under trygga förhållanden och särskilt uppmärksamma utvecklingen hos unga som visar tecken på ogynnsam utveckling. Uppsatsens ansats var kvalitativ där semistrukturerad intervjumetod tillämpats, vilket innebar möjligheten för intervjupersonerna att bidra till en nyanserad bild av studiens syfte. Resultatet tolkades tematiskt och analyserades sedan med hjälp av en teoretisk referensram för att bättre kunna förstå hur professionella inom socialtjänsten bemöter och arbetar med unga vilka har sex som självskadebeteende. Den teoretiska referensramen bestod av två teoretiska begrepp och ramverk: sex som social konstruktionoch relationens betydelse i professionellt arbete med människor. Uppsatsens resultat visar att de professionella inom socialtjänsten inte aktivt arbetar med unga som har sex som självskada, enbart vid fåtal tillfällen när problematiken är uttalat i ett ärende. Resultatet visar även att problematiken ännu inte har uppmärksammats inom socialtjänsten och att de professionella sällan eller aldrig för samtal kring det, varken inom verksamheten eller med de unga. Resultatet visar vidare att relationen är en förutsättning för att de unga ska berätta om denna typ av problematik och att de professionella behöver mer kunskap. / The aim of this study was to raise awareness of how professionals in social services treat and work with adolescents who have sex as self-injury behavior. The need for this study was based on the increased numbers of the adolescents who have sex as self-injury and also that social service is a key actor to notice these adolescents. Swedish social service should work for adolescents to grow up under safe conditions and pay special attention to adolescents who show signs of contrary development. In order to answer to the aim of this study the approach was qualitative in which semi structured interviewing was used. By using semi structured interviewing, the interviewees were given the opportunity to contribute to a nuanced aspect of the problem. The result was interpreted thematically and then analysed using a theoretical framework in order to better understand how professionals in social services treat and work with adolescents who have sex as self-injury behavior. The theoretical framework consisted of two theoretical concepts and frameworks: sex as a social construction and the significance of the relationship in professional work with people. The result of this essay show that professionals within social service do not actively work with adolescents with sex as self-injury, only when the problem is explicit in a specific case. The result also shows that the problem has not been addressed in social services and that the professionals rarely or never talk about it, either within the organization or with the adolescents. Besides that, the result also shows that the professionals need more knowledge about the problem and that the relationship is a prerequisite for the adolescents to tell professionals about this type of problems.

Syftet med denna studie var att genom en enkät kartlägga socialsekreterares upplevelse av beredskap och förekomst av möten med självmordsnära klienter inom socialtjänsten. I Sverige dör cirka 1100 människor årligen genom suicid och det klassas idag som ett folkhälsoproblem. Enligt forskning, kommer socialsekreterare inom socialtjänsten ofta i kontakt med suicidala klienter men hur dessa möten hanteras har inte studerats i någon större utsträckning. Studiens urval har avgränsats till Stockholm samt tre andra län och enheterna försörjningsstöd och vuxen/beroende valdes ut för närmare granskning. Forskning pekar på olika riskfaktorer för självmord, som exempelvis psykisk ohälsa, socioekonomisk utsatthet eller missbruk, därav valet av dessa enheter. Empirin bearbetades med hjälp av programmet SPSS, genom vilket bi- och univariata analyser utfördes. Resultatet analyserades sedan med hjälp av tidigare forskning, samt med teori om suicidprevention. Ett av studiens huvudresultat var att många socialsekreterare stöter på självmordsnära klienter. En majoritet av dessa socialsekreterare har träffat en eller flera självmordsnära klienter det senaste året. Vidare visade resultatet att de medverkande i viss utsträckning upplever sig beredda i möten med dessa klienter. En femtedel av de medverkande uppgav att de genomgått utbildning i suicidprevention och resultatet visade att sådan utbildning har positiv påverkan på deras upplevelse av beredskap. / The purpose of this study was to map out social workers’ preparedness and the occurrence of encounters with suicidal clients within the social services, through a survey. Nearly 1100 people in Sweden dies because of suicide every year and suicide is classified as a public health problem. According to research social workers often encounter suicidal clients, but how these encounters are handled have not been studied in any greater degree. The study’s selection was defined to Stockholm and three other counties. The units within the social services that were chosen for further examination were income support and adult/addiction. Research revolving suicide indicate that socioeconomic vulnerability, addiction and mental illness are risk factors connected to suicide, hence the choice of these units. The collected data material was processed by means of SPSS, through which univariate and bivariate analyses have been executed. The results were interpreted by means of earlier scientific findings, as well as theories concerning suicide prevention. One of the main findings that could be extracted from this study was that many social workers encounter suicidal clients. Most of the social workers have met one or several suicidal clients during the past year. The results also implies that the participants believe that they have preparedness to some extent in encounters with these clients. One fifth of the participants state that they have passed training in suicide prevention and the results show that training of such has a positive impact on their experience of preparedness.

Studiens syfte är att studera socialsekreterares upplevelser av barnsamtal inom ramen för arbetet inom den sociala barnavården. Med detta innefattas att undersöka vilka centrala faktorer som socialarbetaren upplever är gemensamma i professionella barnsamtal, hur samtalen utformas och genomförs samt vilka hinder och möjligheter som kan uppkomma. Studiens empiriska material har införskaffats genom sex semistrukturerade intervjuer med socialsekreterare. Studien grundar sig på en kvalitativ metod. Studiens teoretiska referensram baseras på Haldor Øvreeide (2010), Ann-Christin Cederborg (2000) samt Greta Marie Skau (2007) och kommer att användas för att analysera studiens empiri. Resultatet visar att det finns centrala faktorer som har en betydande roll i professionella barnsamtal, en faktor var samtalets omständigheter samt skapa en relation. Studiens resultat visar också på att socialsekreteraren använder olika metoder som exempelvis tejping och verktyg som bland annat dockor i genomförandet av barnsamtal. Resultatet identifierar hinder och möjligheter i samtal med barn, ett hinder som lyftes fram av socialsekreterarna var situationer där barnet inte ville delta. En möjlighet är att en bra samtalsmiljö ger mer utförlig information om barnets situation utifrån barnets perspektiv. Vidare diskuteras studiens resultat med utgångspunkt från tidigare forskning samt studiens teoretiska referensram, vilket bekräftar i stor utsträckning det som socialsekreterarna framhävde för studiens resultat. / The purpose of the study is to study social workers' experiences of communicating with children within the frame of child protection work. This includes the key factors that social workers experience in professional communication with children, how the conversations are designed and implemented, as well as the obstacles and opportunities that may arise in communication with children. The study is based on a qualitative approach, as the purpose of the study is to investigate the social worker's own experience and experiences of communication with children ´s. The empirical material of the study has been acquired through six semi structured interviews with qualified social worker in a children and family. The result shows that there are key aspects that play an important role in professional communication with children, one aspect was the importance of the circumstances and the environment of the conversation. The study shows that the social secretary uses different methods and tools in the implementation of child talks. The result identifies obstacles and opportunities in communication with children, an obstacle raised by social workers was situations where the child did not want to participate and an opportunity is a good conversation environment. Furthermore, the results of the study are discussed based on previous research and theoretical reference framework, which largely confirms what the social worker emphasized for the outcome of the study.

The aim of this study is to investigate and understand how social workers in social services work with abused women in intimate partner relationships in order to accommodate housing and how they are limited in their efforts to arrange accommodation for these women. The study is conducted through semistructured interviews and I have interviewed six social workers which belongs to four equal municipalities around middle Sweden. Each social worker work with abused women but it may differ in how they work with these women depending on the organization structure. Interest has been in describing restrictions and contradictions that the social workers encounter when providing accommodation to abused women in intimate partner relationships. The result was analyzed on the basis of previous research, Michael Lipsky ́s and Johansson Roine ́s theory of street-level bureaucrats and Svensson, Johnsson & Laanemets concept of discretion. The result shows that the social workers' scope of action is limited by various factors, for instance the organizational limitations, laws and housing shortages.