New family stuctures are constantly emerging in society. Are these changes mirrored in foster care practice? The aim of this study was to explore to what extent homosexual families are represented when a child is given a foster home. The nuclear family has throughout history been assured a stable position both in society as well as in the foster care practice. During the last ten years a homosexual relationship has been legaly accepted through different amendents and it has also been more integrated and accepted in society.

The purpose of this study is to highlight the situation for youths leaving foster care and entering adult life. The study examines the services provided by the social service in the Stockholm area when a youth is leaving foster care, and if a recent change in the legislation has had any impact on the operating procedures of the social service. The study includes interviews with youths who recently left foster care, as well as information collected from social service offices through a survey, supplemented by interviews with practicing social workers. All the assembled data have been analyzed using Ecological Systems theory with focus on the child perspective and the term significant others. The study shows that the respondent youth have trouble identifying the formal ending with social services, as well as the support they received or were offered.

The aim of this qualitative study was to investigate the participants experiences of a parent support group and the effect of their participation on their parental role from a learning perspective. As the parent support group takes place as a group activity, the focus was on the individual learning processes which, in turn, are influenced by both the group itself as well as the leaders of the group. The empirical data was collected from a focus group interview with four mothers, and analyzed using empowerment and coping theories. Based on the participants´ narratives, the result showed that the parent support group had a great social and pedagogic effect on the participants. As a result of the received knowledge in the group from both leaders as well as from other participants, they felt less stressed and more confident in their parental role.

The purpose of this essay was to study the family situation in connection to the absence of one parent due to participation in international peacekeeping and peace enforcement operations. Focus was on the temporarily absent parent's point of view. The study was based on five interviews with parents shortly after their returning home. The main questions has been how the parent described the child-parent relationship before, during and after the absence; the children's experience during this time according to the parent and the family's adjusting to and coping with the situation. Conclusions made from the study show that with a good stabile child-parent relationship and good parenting skills of both parents the families in this study were successful in coping with the situation.

Placing children in foster care is today considered the best alternative for children unable to stay in their biological environment. A nuclear family consisting of a father, a mother and a child is the most common family structure within foster care today. The purpose of this thesis is to gain insight on the family norms that control the foster care system. It's a qualitative study based on interviews with six professional social workers within the field of foster care. This method gave us empirical material, that was later analyzed from two main theories and one theoretical concept.

The aim of this study is to look into the correctional system?s work with parent ship of incarcerated mothers and fathers from a gender perspective. It is a qualitative study and two interviews have been done with employees from a prison for women and one interview from a prison for men. Two interviews have been done with two former incarcerated parents, one mother and one father. One interview has also been done with an organization which gives children with incarcerated parents support and an opportunity to meet other children in the same situation.

The educational underachievement of children in foster care has been known for a long time. This study aimed to compile and analyze the current knowledge about interventions, intended to improve foster children?s school achievements. The method used was a systematically undertaken narrative review. Despite a comprehensive searching strategy, only ten relevant studies were found, indicating that little has been done to improve the educational outcomes for children in public care.

The aim of this study is to examine social workers? experiences of how the ADHD-diagnosis affects their work with children and youths living in foster care and how it affects the individuals and families themselves. The study is built upon five qualitative interviews and the results are analyzed through a theoretical framework that constitutes ADHD as not only the symptoms and the medical disorder but also as a social phenomenon where the disorder is socially constructed by the current society, norms, and knowledge. The study shows that the social workers? do not rely on the sole ADHD-diagnosis in the understanding and guidance of the children and their Foster parents, but rather see the individual needs of each children.

The aim of this essay was to examine children's experiences of having a pathological gambler as a parent, which consequences this led to socially, economically and emotionally, if those children got any help and in that case where and what kind of help.Central questions asked where:* In what way did the child experience consequences from the parent's gambling?* How did the child experience the gambling parent during the gambling period?* In what way did the gambling affect the relationship between the parent and the child?* How did the parent's gambling affect the child socially, emotionally and economically?* How did the child handle this?* What help did the child itself think it required?* Where did the child got help?This is a qualitative study of nine today adult persons that grown up with a pathological gambler as a parent. The method is qualitative semi structured interviews.The results of the study are that all of them experienced large consequences socially, emotionally and economically. The consequences varied depending on the total situation in the family. The result shows that all of them have got coping abilities and they have applied more to emotion-focused forms of coping than to problem-focused coping..

The purpose of this study was to examine how the social services are applying the sections of the law concerning custody transfer within foster care. More specifically the aim was to find out what circumstances are underlying the social services decision to go through with a custody transfer within the foster care, and to find out which difficulties and possibilities the law offers when it comes to this process. The study was based on interviews with six respondents, within the social services, who have great experiences working with these issues. The study concluded that there are several factors which affects the decision whether to implement at custody transfer or not, and some of these are the child?s attachment, the child?s fundamental needs and consent from the involving parties in the case.

The parent-student-teacher conference presumes school responsibility of the development of the student. Teacher, student and parents are supposed to talk freely and in confidence, the conference should lead to a forward looking and long term plan. The parent-student-teacher conference should presume equality amongst the parties. The intention of this paper is to illuminate how the conference can be a way to clarify the process of learning. I intend to do this by showing the practice of four teachers, by making conclusions from their experiences they have made in their practice.

A large number of children and teenagers are placed in foster care for various reasons. Social services have a responsibility to follow up youths and ensure that they have the same opportunity for positive development as other young people. A qualitative study was conducted with an abductive perspective by gathering material from social workers in this particular field. The research design of this study is an interview study. The theoretical premise was Bronfenbrenners ecosystem theory and Maslows hierarchy of needs theory.

Children are said to be the future of our society. Hence, how we take care of our children is a cause of concern. This is evident in much of the social work that is carried out in Sweden. One of the times when we find children to be the most vulnerable is when they, for different reasons, are separated from their biological families and placed in foster care. Based on the fact that Sweden over the last century has experienced an increased immigration intake we wanted to take a closer look on how this change of the population dynamics has influenced foster care in the country.

AbstractMy aim for this study is to examine what the parent?s of the children attending pre-schoolwants to be a part of, by examining the parent?s description of the performance review andwhat their experience from them was. This study is based on earlier research and literature,which describes the pre-schools activities, how they work and the documented goals they tryto accomplish. I also did eight interviews with parents from two municipalities, which I theninterpreted based on my experience and understanding. The interviews focused on theparent?s description of their experience of how much influence on the work in their child'spre-school.

This essay discusses organizational culture and focus on corporate creativity and innovation. The aim is to see which organizational factors that foster creativity and innovation in organizations. The essay will provide answer on how organizational culture can encourage creativity and innovation and how organizations can promote the rise of a creative work environment. The research design of this essay is a qualitative case study with interviews at Gotland Energi AB (GEAB). The interviews provided insight in factors that can foster creativity and innovation in organizations.