| 1. |
- Andersson, Peter, 1980-, et al.
(författare)
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Revitalizing residential care for children and youth. Cross-national trends and challenges. Whittaker K.J., Holmes, L., Del Valle J.F., & James, S. (red.) Oxford University Press: Oxford. (2023)
- 2023
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Ingår i: Socialvetenskaplig tidskrift. - 1104-1420 .- 2003-5624. ; 30:2, s. 672-674
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Recension (refereegranskat)abstract
- Institutionsvård för barn och ungdomar (kollektiv vård och behandling dygnet runt) är en ofta ifrågasatt insats. Att föra samman barn med stora behov är förenat med risker och det finns ont om forskningsstudier som tydligt kan visa institutionsvårdens nytta för barns utveckling. Vårdformen präglas återkommande av skandaler och i Sverige rapporterades nyligen om våld och övergrepp vid Statens Institutionsstyrelses (SiS) särskilda ungdomshem. EU (Europeiska unionen) förordar “avinstitutionalisering” som överordnat mål och många länder, inklusive Sverige, prioriterar vård i familjehem framför institutioner. Samtidigt har institutionsvård en befäst position inom samhällsvård världen över. I Sverige är omkring vart fjärde barn i samhällsvård placerad vid ett HVB- eller SiS-hem. Svensk institutionsvård (SiS-hemmen undantagna) utförs på en löst sammanhållen marknad där vårdutbudet till stor del bestäms av privata aktörer.I antologin Revitalizing residential care for children and youth. Cross-national trends and challenges (Oxford University Press, 2023) diskuteras institutionsvård i sexton västländer (inklusive Argentina). Boken gör nedslag i så skilda länder som USA, Spanien, Israel, Finland och Tyskland (dessvärre ingår inte Sverige i antologin). Syftet med boken är att ge en bild av hur institutionsvård används i olika länder, men även att identifiera framgångsrika praktiker.
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| 2. |
- Pålsson, David, 1986-, et al.
(författare)
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A Policy Decoupled from Practice : Children’s Participation in Swedish Social Assistance
- 2021
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Ingår i: British Journal of Social Work. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0045-3102 .- 1468-263X. ; 52:2, s. 964-981
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In many countries, there are calls for children to be allowed to participate in social work decision-making. This article analyses child participation vis-à-vis social assistance (SA), which is a municipal cash benefit representing the last safety net. In Sweden, SA is part of the professional field of social work and national policy recommends that children are consulted. The aim is to analyse local policies and practices regarding child participation, and the data are based on case studies in six social service offices. Unlike most participation studies, children’s participation is conceived as an institutional pressure and the concept of decoupling is used to examine how local authorities relate to participation. The findings show that in local policies there is a general openness towards participation, but in practice no efforts are being made to promote participation. The absence of participation is analysed as deriving from organisational barriers (practices are adult-centred and child welfare units are seen as responsible for participation) and the scepticism of social workers (participation is an infringement on parental obligations and children should be protected from involvement in financial issues). The article ends with a discussion on the decoupling and adequacy of children’s participation in settings comparable with Swedish SA.
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| 3. |
- Pålsson, David, 1986-, et al.
(författare)
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A professional field? Educational attainments, gender and age among staff in Swedish residential care
- 2023
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Ingår i: Residential Treatment for Children & Youth. - 0886-571X .- 1541-0358. ; 40:4, s. 497-516
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this article, we discuss residential staff in Sweden. Here, residential care is part of the municipal child welfare system, which covers services targeting juvenile delinquency as well as other residential care services. Children and young people placed in Swedish residential care have diverse needs, from mainly supportive needs to advanced behavioral problems, and the field consists of open and secure residential care units. There is limited knowledge about the staff working in residential care. This article helps to fill this knowledge gap by giving an overall picture of staff educational attainments, age and gender in Swedish residential care between the years of 2008–2020. To reason about staff qualifications, we use theoretical concepts from sociological theory on professions. Findings show that residential care in Sweden can be analyzed as a pre- professional field, dominated by staff with low levels of educa-tion. In addition, we show that the field is dominated by women – even if the proportion of men is higher than in other areas of social work – and that the majority of staff are between 30 and 64 years old. Some differences between open and secure residential care were found, the most notable concerning edu-cational levels and gender.
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| 4. |
- Pålsson, David, 1986-, et al.
(författare)
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Barnperspektiv och ekonomiskt bistånd : I vilken utsträckning kan generositet respektive restriktivitet ses som ett uttryck för skilda strategier? [Child perspective and social assistance: To what extent are generosity and restrictiveness expressions of different strategies?]
- 2022
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Ingår i: Socialvetenskaplig tidskrift. - 1104-1420 .- 2003-5624. ; 29:1, s. 47-70
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Det ställs alltfler krav på svenska samhällsinstitutioner att i sitt beslutsfattande ta särskild hänsyn till barn. Inom socialtjänsten är ett uttryck för detta att begreppet barnperspektiv har blivit ett viktigt ledord. Ett verksamhetsområde som statliga myndigheter menar ska präglas av ett barnperspektiv är ekonomiskt bistånd. Det är emellertid inte självklart vad det innebär att inta ett barnperspektiv i en traditionellt vuxencentrerad verksamhet som ekonomiskt bistånd. Denna artikel bygger på fallstudier i sex kommuner med låg respektive hög beviljande- och generositetsgrad till barnfamiljer. I enlighet med nyinstitutionell teori analyseras begreppet barnperspektiv som en idé som är föremål för översättning på det lokala planet. Syftet är att beskriva och analysera arbetssätt och värderingar i förhållande till barnfamiljer samt om, och i så fall hur, kommuner med låga respektive höga utgifter skiljer sig åt. Det empiriska underlaget utgörs av kommunala riktlinjer, intervjuer (n=24) med socialtjänstföreträdare samt information från personakter (n=344). Studiens huvudsakliga resultat är att det förekommer en mångfald tolkningar av vad som utgör ett barnperspektiv inom ekonomiskt bistånd. Samtidigt fokuserar kommunernas organisation och arbetssätt i förvånansvärt liten utsträckning barn och det kan ifrågasättas om de strategier som likväl kan urskiljas faktiskt påverkar barns tillvaro. Vidare är de skillnader som syns mellan kommuner med hög respektive låg beviljande- och generositetsgrad överlag små. I diskussionen relateras resultatet till teori och tentativa förklaringar ges till de (om än små) skillnader som identifierats mellan kommunerna.
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| 7. |
- Pålsson, David, 1986-, et al.
(författare)
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Licence Loss : Revocations of Residential Care Licences in Four Nordic Countries
- 2024
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Ingår i: Child & Family Social Work. - 1356-7500 .- 1365-2206.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- With placement in residential care, society assumes overall responsibility for a child's daily care, well-being and development. How public authorities respond to poor care quality is of crucial importance. To guarantee quality care and minimise risks, welfare states increasingly develop different mechanisms and systems to supervise out-of-home care. In this article, we analyse how central inspectorates in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden deal with what can be conceived as the last supervisory measure, namely, the revocation of licences. The aim is to describe and analyse how frequently and why national inspectorates in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden withdraw residential care licences. The findings are based on an analysis of all available documented reports on revocation decisions between 2017 and 2021. The findings reveal that, between 2017 and 2021, there were 53 licence suspensions or revocations across the four countries, albeit with variations among the nations. Furthermore, the study shows that residential care units (RCUs) generally have a documented history of interactions with inspectorates. Revocation decisions were often attributed to several reasons, with safety, staff-related concerns and documentation deficiencies being the primary factors. The findings are discussed based on concepts and theory on regulation and supervision.
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| 8. |
- Pålsson, David, 1986-, et al.
(författare)
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Licence to Care – Licensing Terms for For-Profit Residential Care for Children in Four Nordic Countries
- 2022
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Ingår i: Nordisk välfärdsforskning | Nordic Welfare Research. - : Scandinavian University Press / Universitetsforlaget AS. - 1799-4691 .- 2464-4161. ; 7:1, s. 23-35
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Licensing is a public instrument used to control welfare services. One such service is residential care for children,which is targeted at children who experience maltreatment in their home environment and/or have behaviouralproblems and have been separated from their parents by the authorities. In Sweden, Finland, Norway and Denmark,residential care may be provided by public or private (not-for-profit or for-profit) providers. The aim of this articleisto explore and compare how public authorities in Sweden, Finland, Norway, and Denmark, license residential carefor children. The data consist of application forms and instructions for how to apply for a licence as well as interviewswith key staff responsible for licensing. The findings show differences in how national agencies license residentialcare providers. Licensing models may be centralised/general (Sweden, Finland) or regionalised/specialised towardsresidential care (Norway, Denmark). The process can be more investigative (Sweden, Norway) or consultative (Fin-land, Denmark), and the review of standards formality-oriented (Sweden, Finland, Norway) or content-oriented(Denmark). Finally, the models of supervision post-licence vary in terms of being non-intervening (Finland), semi-intervening (Sweden, Norway) or intervening (Denmark). The discussion centres on the possible contribution of thedifferent models to the regulation of the residential care markets.
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| 9. |
- Pålsson, David, 1986-, et al.
(författare)
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Missed opportunities? State licencing on the Swedish residential care market : [Förlorade möjligheter? Tillståndsgivning på marknaden för institutionsvård för barn]
- 2021
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Ingår i: European Journal of Social Work. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1369-1457 .- 1468-2664. ; 24:3, s. 393-404
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In many countries, residential care is subject to outsourcing and consequently, states are increasingly engaged in controlling activities. A central instrument is licencing; a procedure determining membership to markets. By analysing all formal applications submitted to the Swedish national Inspectorate between the years 2013–2016, the aim of the article is to describe the characteristics and influx of applicants as well as analysing how the inspectorate, conceptualised as a market agency, contributes to shape the residential care market. The findings show that applicants often are not forced to revise their care in conjunction with the licencing procedure, and slightly more than half of the applicants are granted a licence. Large companies are in general more successful than small companies, as are those presenting specialised target groups. The primary focus in licencing appears to be target group descriptions, management and ensuring the absence of methods with repressive elements. Licencing does not, or only to a limited extent, address issues such as schooling and health support, staffing levels, children’s contacts with the birth family, the scientific base of methods and measurement of client outcomes. The discussion focuses on how licencing contributes to the market formation as well as care aspects omitted in the controls.
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| 10. |
- Pålsson, David, 1986-
(författare)
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Supervising a family or a service? Social worker approaches to foster care supervision in six Swedish authorities
- 2023
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Ingår i: Nordic Social Work Research. - : Informa UK Limited. - 2156-857X .- 2156-8588.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In many countries, local supervision is the main activity to control foster care. In Sweden, the legislation stipulates that foster parents have a supervising social worker (SSW) and the foster child an assigned social worker (CSW). This article describes and analyses how child welfare authorities organize and social workers handle the supervision of foster care. The study is based on data (policy documents and 18 individual/group interviews with 43 managers/social workers) collected from six Swedish child welfare authorities. Analytically, the study assumes that the position of foster care between the private and the public spheres paves the way for different ideas regarding how to conduct supervision that can be broadly based on trust or control vis-à-vis foster homes. The findings show that supervision is differentiated and varies more between foster parents and children than between authorities. Supervision approaches are identified that can be analysed as being more or less trust-based (discreet and affirming) or control-based (compensating and interfering) towards foster parents and children, but overall trust-based approaches dominate. The approaches imply different levels of involvement in care and vary regarding emphasis on the private and the public aspects of fostering. The discussion focuses in particular on the potential impact of different supervision approaches on the foster care service.
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