Förtroende för socialtjänsten
TrustAttitudeSocial servicesSocial workOnline surveyFörtroendeSocialtjänstenAttityderSocialsekreterareEnkätundersökning online
The purpose of this essay is to examine trust, or lack of trust, in the social services. Previous research considering this topic is limited, which, in our point of view, implies the need of further studies. A quantative method was used, consisting of an online questionnaire containing statements about the social services. The statements were designed using a five level Likert-scale which required the respondent to rate their level of agreement. The questionnaire was published on five webcommunities directed to parents. We found, as previous research has shown, that the majority of the public, who lack personal experience of the social services, find it difficult to respond to statements about institutions such as the social services. Our results also indicates that the social services fail to gain the trust of a majority of the respondents and more then half of the respondents are of the opinion that the social services is in absence of the knowledge that they need to carry out their work. Despite these results half of the respondents would initiate a contact with the social services if they felt the need to do so.