Social workers in the Social Services are seen as professionals and they are associatedwith a substantial degree of freedom to carry out their work in order to interpret theSocial Services Act and make decisions. This freedom is referred to as discretion andis a central aspect of the role of the social worker. But the social worker is employedwithin an organisation that exists in an environment influenced of political decisionswhich sets boundaries to how far the freedom stretches. The general aim with thisthesis is to gain insight in how social workers within the Social Services experiencetheir discretion. Secondary this thesis also aims to explore how discretion is shapedand negotiated.

Although  ?naming and shaming? paedophiles are growing in Sweden, professionals working with the rehabilitation and treatment of paedophiles describe that the naming and shaming might not prevent child sex abuse. On the opposite naming and shaming alienates the perpetrator from any ordinary life. The alienation could lead them to only having other paedophiles as friends. Previous studies show that professionals are often distancing themselves from working with paedophiles, even if there is competence.

The aim of this study was to gain insight into how two enterprises work with competence development and thereby study how the relationship between competence development and workers, employees, look like. The focus was on the workers motives and motivation towards a participation in a competence development course, their attitude to education, and how the transfer of skills gained from the course, into the workplace looks like. Further on, the work situations influence on the workers competence development has been taken into account.In the study, six people were interviewed in the role of either manager, coach or course participant who are employed in two different enterprises in the south of Sweden.The results showed that the participants were motivated by a strive for personal development or that the participants viewed education implementation as a part of the professionalcareer, which has resulted in a positive attitude towards the competence development course. The managers? motive for decisions about education was to change the prevailing attitude among the staff for the better and thereby strengthen the company?s brand. The work situation has encouraged the desire to participate in developmental education as the feeling of control has encouraged the workers to further development.

This is a qualitative study on bachelor level at the School of Social Work. The aim of the thesis was to describe how selected municipal commissioners and social workers in Malmö view the complex of problems, and different solutions, concerning homelessness.Malmö, the third largest city of Sweden, is struggling with serious problems concerning homelessness. Possible solutions are being debated, and the opinions differ widely, depending on ideological standpoint. We wanted to find out how selected municipal commissioners and social workers view the complex of problems, related laws and local guidelines, and measures to improve the situation. In order to have a free discussion, but within limits we used semi-structured interviews.Our results show that both the municipal commissioners and social workers regarded homelessness mainly as an individual issue, related to dissocial aspects of the individual.

Today we spend a lot of time at our place of work. Changes in the Swedish labour market have caused illness for many people. This has contributed to that many people have been reported sick. The purpose with this study was to investigate and deskribe factors the staff, at a social insurance office, identify as important for health at a place of work. Ten employees at the social insurance office took part in the study.

According to the Conventions on the Rights of the Child, children have the right to make their voices heard and express their opinion in situations concerning them. With this paper the authors have chosen to explore social worker?s view?s on children?s participation and influence, and how these are manifested through the entire case process. The focus in this study has also been the positive and negative effects the children?s influence may have.To investigate this, a qualitative study using semi-structured interviews has been conducted.

The purpose of this essay is to illuminate in what aspects IKEA?s organizational culture in Ümraniye in Turkey differs alternatively resembles with IKEA?s organizational culture in Örebro in Sweden. The aim with organizational culture is to analyze the relationships between the leaders and co-workers and the relationships between the co-workers.The study is based on a combination of interviews and questionnaires. We have interviewed people in leading positions and made surveys among IKEA co-workers in two different stores located in two different countries. This combination of the methods gave us a better understanding for how the organizational culture is experienced from two different perspectives.

The study aims to describe and analyse the relationship between norm and practice regarding social services casework on honour-related problems. The relationship between norm and practice involves the difference between the way it is intended that social workers shall operate in these cases and how they perceive that this works in practice. We interviewed two focus groups of eight Swedish social workers, four in each group. We also held an individual interview with a social services business developer. Focus group interviews were based on two vignettes; one depicting an honour-related case and the second an "ordinary" case.

The purpose of this study is to investigate whether the employability of newly graduated social workers is affected by the Supervised Practical Work Experience performed during the educational program. Four main questions were developed in order to establish an educated and concise theory: Does the newly graduated social worker?s choice of a specific Supervised Practical Work Experience affect their employability? Does the structure of the Supervised Practical Work Experience affect newly graduated social worker?s employability? What specific skills do employers within social work consider important for their organization? Is there a difference in how the representatives of various organizations within social work answer the aforementioned questions? The study was conducted through six qualitative semi-structured interviews. The people being interviewed work either as employers or recruiters in organizations from different areas within social work. Theories concerning organization and symbolic interactions were used during the analysis of the results.

The purpose of this study was to examine in which way personnel who work with LVM approach their client?s integrity, autonomy and their participation in decision making. We used a semistructured interview when we interviewed three social workers, one placement secretary and four care personnel who work at institutions for LVM. In the theoretical approach of this study we used the total institutions and the user influence by clients. The study has shown that personnel?s considerations to their client?s integrity, autonomy and participation in decisions are a convoluted problem.

The aim of this thesis has been to investigate women's experience of the Methadone maintenance treatment and what help they believe they need to be able to recover and to improve their social life and whether the medical- and social workers share the similar view.Our method of investigation has been qualitative interviews with four women in the program, two nurses and a counsellor at the methadone clinic and two social workers, who have female clients in the program.The questions at issue were:* how did the women describe their life situation during treatment, compared to the situation they had while they were addicted to narcotics,* did the women experience that the treatment they get in the methadone maintenance program is giving them a better social life situation,* did the employees at the clinic and at the social office share the similar view about the treatments as the female patients?Main problems seemed to be; meeting new non-addictive friends and finding something to do. We could se that, in different ways, they need more support. It wasn't always clear to the people who work with them whose responsibility it was, depending on workplace and/or personality..

What Places Adolescents and Adults, Respectively, in Need of Social Assistance? A Qualitative Study of How Social Workers Whom Administrate Financial Assistance for Adolescents and Adults, Respectively, Describe Reasons Behind the Need of Social Assistance Amongst Their ClientsThe purpose of this essay was to study and compare how social workers whom administrate social assistance for adolescents and adults, respectively, describe reasons behind the need of social assistance amongst their clients. This was done due to the use of qualitative interviews with a total of six social workers. Of these six, three administrated social assistance for adolescents while the other three did the same for adults. Prior research of poverty attribution greatly inspired this essay.

The aim of this study is to investigate the meaning of the librarycafé for its visitors as a place. By this study we want to see howimportant the library café is as a place. Our theoretical departurepoint is an adaption of the space and place-theory, by Fisher,Saxton, Edwards & Mai. By adapting the theory to a libraryperspective it helps us to understand how library users look uponthe library café as place.Using a qualitative approach the empirical material has beencollected through observations and interviews. We observed andcarried out interviews with six library café visitors at threedifferent library cafés.Our findings are that the library café is used in many differentways and by many different peoples.

This study, which was conducted in Sweden, was based on four qualitative semi-structured interviews. The aim of this study was to create an understanding of how a municipality designs the sanction for youth offenders called ?youth service? based on the law that establishes the existence of such a sentence. We interviewed social workers that work at the department of youth service in the municipality of Gothenburg, who exclusively deal with youth offenders? sentenced to youth service as their job assignment.

With the help of large amount of archive material I have examined how Gustavsberg in Värmdö were affected by the great labor migration in Gustavsberg porcelain factory during the period 1869-1924. I have chosen to investigate how the municipality dealt with the poverty relief issue out of the labour immigration perspective. To my surprise I found out that Värmdö was not responsible for Gustavsberg in the poverty issue. The workers belonged to the factory, which had a relatively well-developed system of poverty relief in place. This is not to say that the workers received any support from the factory to any great extent.