Ensamkommande barn
En studie om socialarbetares upplevelse av arbetet med utredning av behov och möjligheten till individanpassade insatser
Social workersUnaccompanied childrenNeedsPersonalized interventionsDiscretionSocialarbetareEnsamkommande barnBehovIndividanpassade insatserHandlingsutrymme
Because of the situation around the world with war and poorness many people need to leave their homeland and find safeness in other countries. A big amount of this group is children without company of an adult, so called unaccompanied children. The numbers of unaccompanied children who seek safeness in Sweden grow every year. The aim of this study was to investigate how social workers in four municipalities in south of Sweden experience their work with investigating the needs of unaccompanied children. The aim was also to investigate how the social workers experience their opportunities to meet the children?s needs with personalized interventions. The study is built on semi-structured interviews with six social workers who all have experience or are now working with investigating unaccompanied children. The results of the interviews were analyzed using a system theory perspective and Andrew Abbotts profession theory. We also used the terms grassroots bureaucrats and discretion. The results of our study has shown us that the social workers often feel a certain restriction when it comes to their ability to meet the children?s needs because of the lack of available accommodations. The study also shown that the social workers experience a limitation when it comes to the authority they have as their decisions must be approved by others and not based solely on the individual workers assessment. The social workers in our study also experience that their work is not taken as seriously as others investigation of children from Swedish families which influence the status and legitimacy that they describe that their profession should have.