From my own experience as a school counselor I have learned that the decision making processes in terms of supporting and helping the students is extremely hard and very individual. In different situations, a different approach between individuals is present. I thought about which factors effects the school counselor?s way of handling problematic situations. I soon realized that the individual has a great effect on the work itself.

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.