The purpose of this study was to study changes in the social work education programs, regarding the topics and themes, in Sweden from three different periods. The study is based on content analyses of education syllabies, and have analysed the results through a knowledge och professional theoretical concept. The key findings of the study were that practical and theoretical knowledge is increasingly integrated in social work programs. There is a requirement to integrate theoretical knowledge into practical skills, whether it is direct application or a critical approach. The relationship between theoretical and practical knowledge has thus been strengthened in social work programs, which means that social workers have strengthen their position as profession, in accordance with the concept of professionalism. In addition, social workers need to integrate different aspects into their intervetion assessments. This can mean that the scope of action has increased as they have several sources to use today, such as legislation, science, ethical considerations and own experiences. The uptake of these multiple perspectives in the performance of social work can also indicate the strengthening of the social workers`position as profession because knowledge systems of professions are abstract according to the concept of professionalism. / Syftet med studien var att utifrån en kvalitativ innehållsanaly av utbildnings- och kursplaner, och utifrån ett kunskaps- och teoretiskt perspektiv, studera förändringar i kunskapsprofilen inom socionomutbildningen i Sverige. De centrala resultaten i studien var att praktisk och teoretisk kunskap integreras alltmer i socionomutbildningen. Inom de flesta ämnen som studeras under utbildningen är kravet på att integrera dessa kunskaper i praktiken, vare sig det handlar om tillämpning eller ett kritiskt förhållningssätt. Förhållandet mellan teoretisk och praktisk kunskap har därmed förstärks inom socionomutbildningen, vilket innebär att socionomer stärker sin profession i enlighet med professionsbegreppet. Dessutom behöver socionomstudenter integrera olika aspekter i sina åtgärdsbedömningar. Det kan både innebära att handlingsutrymmet har ökat i och med att de har flera källor att utgå ifrån idag såsom lagstiftning, vetenskaplig fakta, etiska överväganden och egna erfarenheter. I övrigt kan anammandet av flera perspektiv i utförandet av socialt arbete också tyda på en abstraheringsoprocess av kunskapssysemet, och därmed förstärkning av socionomprofessionen. Detta eftersom kunskapssystem är abstrakta enligt professionsbegreppet.

The aim of this study is to examine Swedish social work students’ norms and values towards homosexuality and intimate partner violence in homosexual relationships, in order to establish an increased understanding for whether social work students contribute to or challenge the heteronormative beliefs that can occur in social work. Previous studies have shown that professional social workers tend to perceive individuals who are homosexual and exposed to intimate partner violence as less serious than individuals who are in a heterosexual relationship, and therefore individuals who are homosexual are more likely to receive a lesser support and treatment. Furthermore, studies show that heteronormativity is prevalent within social work education. In addition, studies show that social work education further needs to implement different sexualities and intimate partner violence, regardless the individual’s sexual orientation in the syllabus.The chosen method for this study was focus group interviews with a vignette about intimate partner violence, which was executed with social work students from two different universities in Sweden. The empirical material has been analyzed using previous studies and theoretical perspectives such as queer theory, heteronormativity and gender. The empirical material shows that social work students in Sweden do not show any heteronormative beliefs, however they tend to show and maintain biases about gender. Furthermore, the empirical material indicate that social work students have a general knowledge about intimate partner violence, however they disclose that they do not possess knowledge about the differences in intimate partner violence regarding homosexual relationships. Lastly the empirical material shows that social work students depicts that heteronormativity is prevalent within social work education, furthermore social work students claims the necessity of that the syllabus further implement a content regarding intimate partner violence and how the faculty refer to individuals who do not identify themselves as heterosexuals.