This is a candidate’s thesis for the programme for Social Workers at the Linneaus University in Växjö. This study has the purpose to understand what protective-factors that may be important for children who grow up in a risk environment. This has been done through reading autobiographies written by adults who have been born and raised in destructive environments. The data has been collected with the use of a narrative analysis. The result has then been viewed and analyzed with the help of attachment-theory, a salutogene perspective and with ecological systems theory. The results from this candidate’s thesis shows that we have been able to identify protective factors in three major categories; Individual attributes, relationships and factors that exists outside of the family environment. These factors have been analyzed and explained through the perspective of attachment-theory, a salutogene perspective and with ecological systems theory. Our findings suggest that there exists several important relationships between our result, the previous research and what the theories suggest is important for children as protective factors. They are: basic need of security, need of development and understanding and finally an importance in the needs for children to have a sense of coherence.

Föreliggande kvalitativa studie visade professionellas beskrivning av hur barnets röst framförs vid nätverksmöten. Studien beskrev även vad som påverkar och vem som bedömer barnets deltagande på ett nätverksmöte. Tio terapeuter vid barn- och ungdomspsykiatrin i sydöstra Sverige intervjuades med hjälp av en semistrukturerad frågeguide. En slutsats är att nätverksmöten så gott som alltid kan anpassas så att barnet kan närvara. Resultatet innehåller därmed inte bara beskrivningar av metoder och tekniker, som kan hjälpa barn att höras, utan också reflektioner kring mötets utformande, för att överhuvudtaget möjliggöra barnfokus. I undersökningen framkom det känslomässiga klimatets betydelse för att barnets röst ska framföras och bli hörd. En annan slutsats är att barnet inte bör närvara i alla möten. Det framkom viss osäkerhet om vem som har det yttersta ansvaret i bedömningen av barnets delaktighet. / The present qualitative study showed descriptions from professionals, how the voice of the child was carried forward during network meetings. The study also described what is influencing and who is judging the child’s participation in a network meeting. Ten therapists at the child- and youth psychiatry department in south-east Sweden were interviewed by means of a semi-structured question guide. One conclusion is that network meetings almost always may be adapted in a way that the child is able to attend. Hence, the result does not only include descriptions of methods and techniques which may assist in listening to the child, but also reflections around the structure of the meeting, in order to, on the whole enabling a child focus. In the investigation an emotional climate appeared to be important in order for the voice of the child to be carried forward and to be understood. Another conclusion was that the child should not attend in all meetings. There appeared some uncertainty about who has the ultimate responsibility in the judgement of the participation of the child.

The social welfare committee has a responsibility to work with children and young people to prevent them from being harmed. In many municipalities, preventive work is carried out through an activity known as field work. More than half of Sweden's municipalities have field activities, but how the work is organized differs between municipalities. The purpose of the study is to investigate fieldworkers views and working methods in order to increase the understanding of fieldworkers goals and the conditions required to achieve these goals. The study is based on a qualitative approach with semi- structured interviews as a data collection method. Ten social workers with fieldwork as their explicit task have been interviewed about their perceptions and working methods. Analysis of their statements has then been made based on Bronfenbrenner's developmental ecological model, Askheim & Starrin's theory of Empowerment and Starrin's theory of Paternalism. The results of the study show that the fieldworkers goal is to discover the needs of young people, motivate them to help and create a long-term well-being of the individuals they meet. Fieldworkers believe that academic education, social skills and cooperation with others are important prerequisites for achieving these goals. In addition, it is important to have the trust of their organization, as the profession requires flexibility and results are difficult to demonstrate. The fieldworker strikes a balance between helping and controlling, aiming to help young people make wise choices and create long-term well-being.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate Feedback-Informed Therapy (FIT) (Miller & Bertolino, 2015) in the form of the Outcome Rating Scale (ORS) and Group Session Rating Scale (GSRS) scales when used in network therapy within the social services. The study is quantitative and is based on collected ORS and GSRS forms from 10 network therapies, including 94 people. The material is collected by network teams in four municipalities in Sweden; Norrköping, Enköping, Gothenburg and Botkyrka. The protagonists have completed an ORS on three occasions during the treatment period; before, during and after. The closest relatives, mainly parents, have made parallel estimates on the same occasions. In each network therapy, a network meeting and a follow-up network meeting have been held. All participants have completed a GSRS after the meetings. Of the study participants, 38% estimated a Clinical Significant Change in ORS after the network therapy. 50% estimated a positive change that did not exceed the limit of clinical significance. 12% estimated a small deterioration. In the cases of a Clinically Significant Change or major change, the meeting participants at the network meetings have estimated high on the GSRS (36.5 in the first meeting and 37.1 in the second meeting. In those cases with a small positive change or decrease, the participants have estimated lower on the GSRS (33.5 in first and 31.8 in others). The results indicate that network therapy gives a good effect if measured with ORS and that this effect appears early in the treatment. The study also indicates that the limit value for GSRS does not appear to be lower in Network Therapy than in other group therapy. Furthermore, the study points out that the network therapies that have network meetings with balance from the different sectors in the protagonist's life provide the best results both on the GRSR and ORS. / Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka Feedback-informerad terapi (FIT) (Miller & Bertolino, 2015) i form av skattningsskalorna Outcome Rating Scale (ORS) och Group Session Rating Scale (GSRS) när de används i nätverksterapi inom socialtjänsten. Studien är kvantitativ och utgår från insamlade ORS- och GSRS-formulär från 10 nätverksterapier som inkluderat 94 personer. Materialet är insamlat av nätverkslag i fyra kommuner i Sverige: Norrköping, Enköping, Göteborg och Botkyrka. Studiedeltagarna har fyllt i en ORS-skattning vid tre tillfällen under behandlingstiden; före, under tiden och efter. De närmast anhöriga, oftast föräldrar, har gjort parallella skattningar vid samma tillfällen. I varje nätverksterapi har det hållits ett nätverksmöte och ett uppföljande nätverksmöte. Samtliga deltagare har fyllt i en GSRS efter mötena. Av studiens deltagare skattade 38 % en klinisk signifikant förändring (KSF) på ORS efter nätverksterapin. 50 % skattade en positiv förändring som inte översteg gränsen för klinisk signifikans. 12 % skattade en försämring. I fallen med en klinisk signifikant förändring eller stor förändring har mötesdeltagarna på nätverksmötena skattat högt på GSRS (36,5 i första mötet och 37,1 i andra mötet. I de fall med liten positiv förändring eller minskning har deltagarna skattat lägre på GSRS (33,5 i första och 31,8 i andra). Resultaten pekar på att nätverksterapi ger god effekt om man mäter med ORS och att denna effekt visar sig tidigt i behandlingen. Studien pekar också på att gränsvärdet för GSRS inte verkar ligga lägre i Nätverksterapi än i annan gruppterapi. Vidare pekar studien på att de nätverksterapier som har nätverksmöten med balans från de olika sektorerna i huvudpersonens liv ger bäst resultat både på GRSR och ORS.

The aim of this study is to illustrate the experiences of school age educare teachers when it comes to group sizes in Swedish school age educare. The quality of the Swedish school age educare has decreased and one of many factors seem to be essential to this development – big groups.  There are not many studies in this field, only a few related to preschool and compulsory school as in class sizes. That is why it is of interest to study this area. The research questions bring up the teachers’ possibilities and restraints in relation to the size of the groups of children in school age educare.  The empirical data consists of both a qualitative survey and qualitative interviews. The data has been processed by using hermeneutic perspectives and categorized and divided into themes. To analyze and discuss the results I’ve approached theories about the ecological systems theory by Bronfenbrenner and Dahllöf’s frame factor theory.  The conclusion is that in school age educare managing large groups, the staff experience difficulties to create relations to the children and because of the lack of space they need to structure the time, spaces, and activities. Hence, a bigger group and narrow spaces can have negative effects on the social relations and the spare time of the children which are two important aspects within Swedish school age educare. The teachers believe that a smaller group of children is preferable as well as appropriate locals and enough space to be able to fulfill the curriculum and to increase the quality.

Sammanfattning Syftet med studien, som grundar sig i en kvalitativ ansats, är att genom semistrukturerade intervjuer få uppfattning om vilka positiva och negativa aspekter det finns med privatisering av barn- och ungdomsvård. Dessutom grundar sig studien på att upptäcka socialarbetare upplevda skillnader i uppföljningsarbetet hos kommunalt utredda familjehem respektive konsulentstödda familjehem. Utifrån tidigare forskning framgår det att barn och vuxna är väldigt beroende av kontinuitet gällande att träffa samma socialarbetare för att uppleva situationen på ett bra sätt. Stor omsättning av socialarbetare leder till att upplevelsen med dessa inte blir lika bra och att förtroendet för socialarbetaren sjunker.   Genom tematisk analys framkom det att uppföljningen av placerade barn skiljer sig beroende på om barnet är placerat i kommunal eller privat verksamhet. I studien framkommer det att socialtjänsten besitter det yttersta ansvaret för det placerade barnet men saknar insyn i de privata aktörernas arbete. Det finns inte heller någon granskning från IVO gällande de privata verksamheterna. Detta skapar en osäkerhet om barnets behov tillgodoses på rätt sätt. / Abstract The purpose of this study is to get an idea through a qualitative method based in semi-structured interviews of which positive and negative aspects exist with the privatization of child and youth care. In addition, the study is based on discovering social workers perceived differences in the follow-up work of municipally investigated family homes and consultant-supported family homes. Previous research conclude that children and adults are very dependent on continuity in meeting the same social worker to experience the situation in a good way. A high turnover of social workers generates a bad experience and a lack of trust between the social worker and client.  Through thematic analysis, it emerged that the follow-up of placed children differs depending on whether the child is placed in a municipal or private operation. In the study it appears that the social service has the ultimate responsibility for the placed child but lacks insight into the work of the private operations. This creates uncertainty as to whether the child’s needs are being met in the right way.

Denna studie undersöker hur skolpersonalen uppmärksammar och arbetar med barn som växer upp med en förälder eller flera föräldrar med ett skadligt bruk av alkohol eller andra droger. Studien undersöker även hur skolpersonalen upplever tillgången till resurser för detta arbete och syftar till att lyfta fram det sociala arbetet i skolan. Med hjälp av intervjuer med de yrkesverksamma i skolan studeras deras perspektiv på förebyggande arbete i relation till barn i utsatta miljöer. Intervjupersonerna arbetar på grundskolan i Stockholms samt Västerås län och har olika yrkesroller. Empirin i denna undersökning omfattas av en kvalitativ intervjustudie och därmed har data samlats in genom semistrukturerade intervjuer. Resultaten visar att skolpersonalen understryker betydelsen av relationsskapande med barn som lever med en eller flera föräldrar med skadligt bruk. Resultatet framhäver även att brist på resurser för skolans arbete med dessa barn minskar möjligheterna att förstärka skyddsfaktorer som kan hindra framtida problem hos barnen. Synliggörande av barnens egna beteenden menas vara betydelsefullt i arbetet med att kunna identifiera och fånga upp de barn som lever i skadliga levnadsförhållanden. Den utvecklingsekologiska teorin används som en ram för denna studie då teorin centrerar kring barnets sammanhang. Begreppet risk- och skyddsfaktor har haft stor relevans för vår studie eftersom den hjälper oss att förstå barnens beteenden, de riskfaktorer som barnet utsätts för och hur skolan kan vara en skyddsfaktor. Begreppet ökar även vår förståelse för barnet som individ på en social och strukturell nivå. Studiens slutsats kan delas upp i tre delar och kopplar till de teman denna undersökning fått fram utifrån den tematiska analysen: (1) Förekomsten av bristande resurser i det förebyggande sociala arbetet i skolan; (2) betydelsen av relationsbyggande mellan elever och skolpersonal; (3) och observationer av barns avvikande beteende. / This study investigates how school personnel notice and work with children who grow up with one or more parents with harmful use of alcohol or other drugs. The study also examines how the school staff perceives the availability of resources for this work and aims to highlight the social work in the school. With the help of interviews with the professionals in the school, their perspective on preventive work in relation to children in vulnerable environments is studied. The interviewees work at primary schools in Stockholm and Västerås counties and have different work roles. The empirical work in this investigation is covered by a qualitative interview study and thus the data has been collected through semi-structured interviews. The results show that school staff emphasize the importance of relationship building with children who live with one or more parents with harmful use. The result also highlights that a lack of resources for the school's work with these children reduces the opportunities to strengthen protective factors that can prevent future problems in the children. Making the children's own behaviors visible is said to be important in the work of being able to identify and catch the children who live in harmful living conditions. The developmental ecology theory is used as a framework for this study as the theory centers around the context of the child. The concept of risk and protective factor has had great relevance to our study because it helps us understand the children's behavior, the risk factors the child is exposed to and how the school can be a protective factor. The concept also increases our understanding of the child as an individual on a social and structural level. The study's conclusion can be divided into three parts and links to the themes that this research has produced based on the thematic analysis: (1) The existence of a lack of resources in the preventive social work in the school; (2) the importance of relationship building between students and school staff; (3) and observations of children's deviant behavior.