1.
Goldschmidt, Tina, 1988-
(författare)
Immigration, Social Cohesion, and the Welfare State : Studies on Ethnic Diversity in Germany and Sweden
2017
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt) abstract
Can social cohesion and solidarity persist in the face of large-scale migration? One particularly contentious hypothesis states that native majorities will be unwilling to support the provision of government-funded welfare to those whom they do not consider to be part of their own sociocultural ingroup, especially when sociocultural or ethnic otherness and socioeconomic disadvantage overlap. Consequently, majorities’ willingness to accept disadvantaged immigrant groups as legitimate and trusted members of the welfare community is central to the social cohesion of societies diversifying through migration.The dissertation consists of a comprehensive summary, followed by four original studies addressing the interplay between migration-induced diversity and social cohesion through the lens of majority attitudes and the micro and macro contexts within which they are embedded. The studies focus on Sweden and Germany, two European societies that host strong welfare states and large immigrant populations. Together, they seek to answer two central questions:First, does social distance between native-born citizens and immigrants lead the former to withdraw support from all redistributive policies, or are some types of welfare more affected than others? Second, how does the migration-induced diversification of societies come to matter for majority attitudes toward the welfare state and, as they are closely related, for majority attitudes toward the trustworthiness of others?Looking at the case of Germany, Study 1 shows that the conflict between diversity and welfare solidarity is not expressed in a general majority opposition to welfare, but rather in an opposition to government assistance benefiting immigrants – a phenomenon sometimes referred to as welfare chauvinism.Study 2 turns to the case of Sweden and investigates three pathways into welfare chauvinism: via the first-hand experience of immigrant unemployment and putative welfare receipt in the neighborhood context; via exposure to immigrant competition at the workplace; and via negative prejudice against immigrants. We find that the direct observation of immigrant unemployment in the neighborhood increases natives’ preference for spending on other Swedes over spending on immigrants, while competition with immigrants at the workplace does not.Using the same Swedish data, Study 3 hypothesizes that ethnically diverse workplaces imply trust-fostering inter-group contact. Yet, like in Study 2, we find a negative relationship between majority Swedes’ exposure to certain immigrant groups in the neighborhood and their trust in neighbors, while diverse workplaces neither seem to increase trust nor to affect the negative neighborhood-level association.Both Studies 2 and 3 show that negative attitudes toward immigrants increase welfare chauvinism and lower trust, even disregarding majority Swedes’ actual experience of immigrant presence or unemployment. Study 4 thus turns to a social force outside the realm of first-hand experience and explores German online news media debates on the welfare deservingness of various sociodemographic groups – among them, immigrants (as refugees in particular). However, rather than observing the persistent and particular stigmatization of immigrants as undeserving recipients or untrustworthy abusers of welfare, we find much more nuanced descriptions in our vast corpus of news stories.
2.
Fjellfeldt, Maria, 1976-
(författare)
Choice as governance in community mental health services
2017
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt) abstract
In 2009, the Act on Freedom of Choice Systems (SFS 2008:962) wasestablished in Sweden, and this enabled municipalities to organise services aschoice models. This thesis describes and analyses the implementation of afreedom of choice system within community mental health services. Daycentre services were in focus, and a case study was conducted of a majormunicipality that sought to be a “world-class city” in regard to citizens’ choice.The experiences of policy makers, managers, professionals, and participantswere explored in interviews, and documents on a national, municipal, and citydistrict level, as well as homepages of providers of community mental healthservices, were all part of the study and were analysed using content-analysismethods.The results showed that the freedom of choice system aimed for two objectives– improvements at the individual level and financial efficiency. In practice,financial efficiency was experienced as the main objective. Increased varietyof services was aimed for by the competitive model, but such variety was notobserved. Instead, services tended to be more similar than specialised.Concerning new providers, they were characterised as committedprofessionals running companies with strained economies. Participantsaffected by the reform expressed anxiety and worries due to theunpredictability and uncertainty embedded in the competitive choice model.Choice within the system concerned where to go, whereas participantsemphasised a wish to be able to influence the choice aspects of who carriedout the service and how much time to attend the services.The conclusion was that the freedom of choice system was implemented as atechnology of governance to increase financial efficiency of services.Individual choice was not experienced as increased in any aspect except forthe choice of where to go. Instead, freedom of choice actually appeared todecrease due to standardisation and hierarchical structures. Aspects that werefound to be relevant when designing freedom of choice systems aiming toincrease individual freedom of choice were to address predictability andcontinuity, to address sustainable financial premises, to analyse the predictedimpact of administrative systems that are to be used, and to avoid the use of“hidden goals” in the policy-making process.
3.
Scarpa, Simone, 1976-
(författare)
The spatial manifestation of inequality : residential segregation in Sweden and its causes
2015
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt) abstract
The thesis examines the relationship between income inequality and residential segregation in Swedish cities. In recent years, in Sweden, much attention has been given to the direction of causality from residential segregation to income inequality. Residential segregation is considered to lead to a differentiation of opportunities between neighbourhoods and, therefore, to be a contributing factor to or even a major cause of income inequality in cities. The thesis focuses on the opposite direction of causality, from income inequality to residential segregation. In fact, residential segregation can also be seen as the spatial manifestation of existing disparities in income distribution, since residential location choices are always (although not exclusively) made within a predetermined framework of economic constraints.Specifically, two research questions are addressed in this thesis. What institutional factors, in the Swedish context, favour the transformation of the social divide between specific population subgroups into a spatial divide between those groups? To what extent and in what ways does income inequality contribute to the development of residential segregation in Swedish cities?The first part of the thesis explains why Swedish cities are characterized by higher levels of residential segregation than cities of other countries characterized by higher levels of income inequality. The historical and comparative analyses developed in the first two studies indicate that it is not so much the magnitude of immigration that accounts for this difference between Swedish cities and their more unequal counterparts in other countries but, rather, the institutional factors influencing the modes of incorporation of immigrants into cities.The second part of the thesis analyses how, in recent decades, the increase in income inequality has influenced residential segregation patterns in Malmö and in the three major Swedish metropolitan areas. The third and the fourth study show that, during the studied period, the widening of income disparities between neighbourhoods mirrored the general upward trend in income inequality in the population. The growth of the immigrant population contributed only slightly to this trend and income inequality was primarily driven by changes in the distribution of market incomes. During the late study period, however, income sorting processes have played a steadily more important role in contributing to economic residential segregation. Therefore, neighbourhood-based urban policies have not succeeded to reverse, or even just impede, the trend towards an increased spatial clustering of poverty and wealth in Swedish cities.
4.
Kalucza, Sara, 1987-
(författare)
Who becomes a teenage parent? : life course perspectives on selection into teenage motherhood and fatherhood trajectories in Sweden
2017
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt) abstract
Background. The aim of the research described in thesis is to study processes of selection leading to teenage parenthood in contemporary Sweden. I ask how factors related to socio-economic position, mental health issues in youth, and family formation behaviour of previous generations directs young individuals into teenage parent trajectories. Having children as a teenager is often seen as a burden and a failure, and framed as a public health concern. This is true, even as mounting evidence points to the fact that the connections between teenage parenthood and future adverse outcomes are muddled by selection effects. This research makes a contribution to the body of knowledge by looking at how several factors influence selection processes, namely socio-economic background factors, mental health issues in adolescence and family formation patterns of the teenage parent’s own parents. Both teenage mothers and teenage fathers are considered from a life course perspective. The theoretical framework also draws on the literature relating to opportunity costs and competing alternatives.Method. Two longitudinal data sources are utilized: register population data accessed through the Umeå SIMSAM lab and the Northern Swedish Cohort survey. In order to answer questions about both selection leading into events and trajectories, random intercept models for longitudinal data as well as sequence analysis are applied.Results. The results show that, apart from confirming the continued importance of socio-economic factors selecting young men and women to become teenage parents and embark on teenage parenthood trajectories, mental health issues in youth are also important. Through this route, both teenage girls and boys enter into teenage parenthood in a way that does not happen with on-time parenthood. Furthermore, the results show that selection not only affects the chances of becoming a teenage parent, but also which type of teenage parent trajectory the individual follows. Moreover, the results reveal that these trajectories, and not only the event of becoming a teenage parent, are repeated over generations. The results illustrate that teenage parents are a heterogeneous group with diverse backgrounds and selection processes, and hence policy measures aimed at teenage parents should not try to offer blanket solutions.
5.
Larsson, Magnus, 1983-
(författare)
National environmental evaluation systems : guiding towards sustainability?
2018
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt) abstract
Background: Dealing with environmental threats is one of the largest, if not the largest, challenge contemporary societies face. One way to better deal with this challenge would be to produce knowledge that can be used to improve environmental work and environmental policy and thus ultimately contribute to sustainable development. National environmental evaluations, which this thesis explores, could potentially fill this function because they are supposed to generate applicable and useful knowledge for improving environmental policy and practice for a sustainable transition. However, what different environmental actors view as useful knowledge varies, and needs to be empirically investigated. Against this background, the aim of this thesis is to investigate whether, and how, national environmental evaluation systems contribute to key actors’ environmental work and sustainable development. The thesis explores two national environmental evaluation systems in Sweden.Method: A mixed methods approach is applied that combines three methods. Firstly, a narrative synthesis is developed and applied to compile a list of sustainable development effects from national environmental evaluations. Secondly, a critical program theory is used to investigate the evaluation system’s underlying logic and to assess the likelihood of it achieving its intended effects. Thirdly, a directed content analysis is used to explore the usability and use of environmental evaluations and evaluation systems. The methods are applied to various documents, interviews with key actors, and observations at two environmental seminars.Results: The results show that, to contribute to sustainable development in the context of evaluation systems and network governance, environmental evaluations need to be of sufficient quality and meet different stakeholders’ knowledge needs. However, only some evaluations meet this demand. The main value of national environmental evaluations and evaluation systems is that they reinforce the national objectives, provide a recurrent report on achievement of objectives, and push actors to take responsibility to improve their environmental work.
6.
Bergmark, Magnus, 1975-
(författare)
Integrerade psykosociala insatser : Policy, implementering och praktik i ett komplext verksamhetsfält
2017
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt) abstract
InledningAlltsedan psykiatrins avinstitutionalisering tog fart under 1980- och 1990-talen har en utveckling av samhällsbaserade psykosociala insatser förespråkats för att erbjuda vård och stöd till personer med psykisk funktionsnedsättning. Insatserna förväntas bidra till att brukarna får tillgång till effektiv vård och stöd, samtidigt som de inkluderas i samhället. Vidare förutsätts insatserna baseras på kunskap och evidens, samt bygga på brukarens delaktighet och stödja dennes återhämtning. En annan målsättning är att vissa insatser ges i form av integrerade modeller, så att personer ur målgruppen får tillgång till sammanhållet stöd från inblandade myndigheter. Även om Sverige räknas som ett resursstarkt land som har kommit långt på området, så förekommer kritik mot utvecklingen. Kritiken har berört både planering och styrning på politisk nivå, men även utförandet av de insatser som erbjuds till brukarna. Kritiken har bland annat handlat om bristande samverkan mellan landsting och kommuner, och om stora lokala variationer i den erbjudna servicens kvalitet. I den här avhandlingen studeras dels utformningen av policy på området, dels implementering av specifika insatser. Syftet med avhandlingen är att undersöka hur svenska policymakare på nationell nivå har hanterat utvecklingen av psykosociala insatser för personer med psykisk funktionsnedsättning, samt att analysera möjligheter och svårigheter för organisationer och personal när det gäller att implementera de insatser som förespråkas av beslutsfattare. De frågeställningar som avhandlingen söker besvara är följande:Hur formuleras policy som syftar till att införa samhällsbaserade psykosociala insatser, och vad kan policyns egenskaper innebära för genomförandet av den?Vilka styrstrategier uttrycks i statliga policydokument?Vad hämmar respektive underlättar implementeringen av föreslagna integrerade psykosociala insatser?Hur kan vi förstå vad som påverkar möjligheten att erbjuda integrerade psykosociala insatser, i termer av lokala förutsättningar och strategier för implementering?MetodPolicy på området studerades genom en studie av tre av de övergripande dokument som beslutats på regeringsnivå de senaste 20 åren. Riktade kvalitativa innehållsanalyser baserade på relevant litteratur genomfördes. Implementering av insatser studerades genom att 15 program följdes under 3 års tid. 14 av dessa arbetade med att implementera arbetsrehabiliteringsprogram utifrån modellen Individual Placement and Support (IPS). Under samma tidsperiod följdes ett team som implementerade den intensiva samordnings-, vård- och stödmodellen Assertive Community Treatment (ACT). För att bedöma verksamheternas följsamhet till modellerna genomfördes programtrohetsskattningar av samtliga program. Data avseende programmens målgrupp samlades också in. Tre IPS-program deltog i en fördjupningsstudie där kvalitativa intervjuer genomfördes med ledare, personal och samverkanspartners. Implementeringen av dessa program analyserades utifrån implementeringsramverket the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research. Implementeringen av samtliga 14 IPS-program studerades med hjälp av skattningsskalan the Sustainable Implementation Scale (SIS). När det gäller ACT-teamet genomfördes dels kvalitativa innehållsanalyser av djupintervjuer, och dels skattningar av implementeringskomponenter med hjälp av SIS.ResultatPolicy på området har innehållit stora mått av otydlighet och konflikt, både gällande de mål och medel som har formulerats. Regeringen har främst förespråkat så kallade mjuka styrstrategier, vanligen i form av statliga stimulansbidrag. Vissa förtydliganden och konkretioner har skett under tid, vilka ibland går i linje med de internationella rörelserna New Public Management och evidensbaserad praktik. Exempel på försök att strama upp styrningen är målformuleringar som förespråkar riktade och prestationsbaserade stimulansbidrag, samt nationella riktlinjer för att styra utvecklingen mot utvalda specificerade insatser. Trots detta är det fortfarande de berörda myndigheterna som är ansvariga för att välja ut, utforma och implementera psykosociala insatser. På verksamhetsnivå leder detta till att många otydligheter består, vilka ibland är relaterade till svårigheter att avgränsa ansvarsområden och att förändra hindrande regelverk och traditioner. Dessutom förekommer konflikter, exempelvis i form av konkurrerande målsättningar och ojämn resurstilldelning.Studierna av de integrerade modellerna IPS och ACT visar att implementering av dessa är möjlig, även i en sektoriserad välfärdskontext som den svenska. Det finns dock en rad faktorer på såväl organisationsnivå som teamnivå, som försvårar implementeringen. Exempel på dessa är de involverade organisationernas varierande målsättningar och traditioner, regelverkens utformning, samt svårigheter att erhålla långsiktig finansiering. I en del fall beskrivs de arbetssätt som modellerna förespråkar som försvårande, då de upplevs som annorlunda och utmanande för existerande rutiner och uppfattningar om stöd till målgruppen. Ett stort hinder för effektiv implementering är svårigheter att samverka, främst mellan, men även inom inblandade organisationer. De flesta program som lyckades genomföra en hållbar implementering hade personal som var duktiga på att navigera förbi de hinder som orsakades av ogynnsamma regler, och de lyckades även hitta vägar för att etablera samverkan, både horisontellt (med samarbetspartners på samma hierarkiska nivå) och vertikalt (mellan ledning och personal). En verksamhetsledare som har möjlighet att påverka samverkansrelationer i både horisontell och vertikal riktning är gynnande för implementeringen. Andra betydelsefulla komponenter som underlättar implementering är en noggrann planering innan ett program startas, medveten rekrytering av personal, formering av ändamålsenliga styrgrupper, samt att tidigt i processen arbeta strategiskt för att lösa finansieringsfrågan. Även programtrohetsskattningar var betydelsefulla, då de både fungerade som instrument för att identifiera förbättringsområden för programmen, men också hade en legitimerande funktion vid återkoppling till ledningen.SlutsatserDet råder en samstämmighet i övergripande målsättningar som syftar till att utveckla området integrerade psykosociala insatser. På en mer konkret nivå är läget betydligt oklarare, både gällande målsättningar i policy och av vem och hur insatserna ska implementeras. Även om vissa förändringar skett, står regeringen fortsatt för en mjuk styrning vilken lämnar ett stort ansvar till de myndigheter som ska implementera valda insatser. Detta innebär en rad svårigheter för frontlinjepersonalen, vilket leder till att de ofta behöver lägga mycket tid och energi på att hitta vägar för att överkomma dessa svårigheter.I många fall har ledare och personal goda möjligheter att uppnå en hög programtrohet på teamnivå, men för en hållbar implementering krävs det att ett program är väl förankrat både vertikalt och horisontellt. Därför finns ett behov av att forskare och beslutsfattare tar ett tydligare helhetsgrepp, både på området policy och implementering av specifika insatser. Skattningar av programtrohet och implementering kan vara ett stöd i att identifiera vad som fungerar samt vad som behöver förändras i och mellan organisationer. Men för att programmen ska lyckas med en effektiv implementering på organisationsnivå behöver deras legitimitet stärkas vertikalt, och planering för långsiktig lokal finansiering behöver göras i ett tidigt skede.
7.
Bergström, Magdalena, 1973-
(författare)
Att åldras med långvariga alkoholproblem : hur medelålders och äldre kvinnor och män begripliggör sitt drickande, sig själva och sina liv
2018
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt) abstract
The aim of this thesis is to describe and analyze how late middle-aged and elderly women and men make sense of what it means to age with long-term drinking problems.I have conducted life story-inspired interviews with six women and 13 men who have alcohol problems which have been ongoing for at least 20 years. The analysis of the data has been inspired by thematic narrative analysis. For doing the analysis, I have used theories about meaning making and life stories, as well as theories about how people give meaning to their alcohol use. The interview person’s experiences of their present everyday life are connected to their pasts as well as to their expectations for the future. The interview persons make sense of themselves and their lives in relation to metanarratives that provides them with predefined ways to understand their social reality.The interview persons everyday lives can be seen in the light of their past, there the long-term drinking problems have resulted in severe consequences for their social networks, their physical and mental health as well as their financial situations. The alcohol use was often seen as both a solution to, and a cause of, their problems. Considering that most of the interview persons were suffering from severe health problems, several of them did not expect to live much longer. This, together with the fact that they were becoming older, evoked existential questions about how they wanted to spend their remaining time. In order to avoid an alcohol related death, several interview persons had started to question their alcohol use and a few had made actual attempts to overcome their drinking problems. Others had no hope of changing their life situations or cutting down their alcohol use.The interview persons are living in a time characterized by metanarratives about active and successful ageing. Research show, however, that drinking problems among late middle-aged and elderly people are increasing. People aging with long-term drinking problems are often overlooked when it comes to getting access to treatment programs for problematic alcohol use, and they seldom fit into organized activities for elderly people. Social interventions are, however, important for making the everyday lives less difficult for people ageing with long-term drinking problems and to provide added support to those who wish to change their drinking habits.
8.
Dahlberg-Grundberg, Michael, 1983-
(författare)
Digital media and the transnationalization of protests
2016
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt) abstract
Recent developments in communications technology have transformed how social movements might mobilize, and how they can organize their activities. This thesis explores some of the geographical consequences of the use of digital media for political activism. It does this by focusing on the transnationalization of protests. The aim is to analyse how movements with different organizational structures and political scopes are affected by their use of digital media. This is done with a specific focus on how digital media use influences or enables transnational modes of organization and activism. The thesis comprises four different case studies where each study examines a social movement with a specific organizational structure. There are, however, also important similarities between the movements. In each study, somewhat different perspectives and methodological approaches are used. Some of the methods used are semi-structured interviews, content analysis of written data (retrieved from Facebook as well as Twitter), and social network analysis.The analysis indicates that digital media do have a role in the transnationalization of protest. This role, however, differs depending on what type of social movement one studies. The organizational structure of social movements, together with their specific forms of digital media use, influences how the transnationalization of protests and movements is articulated and formed. In cases where a social movement has a hierarchical organizational structure, there is less transnationalization, whereas in social movements with a more non-hierarchical organizational structure one sees more transnationalization. The thesis concludes that the transnationalization of protests is affected by social movements’ organizational structure. The more decentralized the social movement, the more vibrant the transnational public. In order to explain how transnational social movements, using digital media, can emerge in cases where geographical distances might make such coalitions unlikely, the thesis introduces the notion of affectual proximity. This concept helps us understand how transnational social movements, connecting actors from all over the world, can emerge through digital media.
9.
Ek, Hans, 1966-
(författare)
Psykiatriseringen av skolkaren : BUP och det institutionella omhändertagandet av ungdomar som inte går till skolan
2018
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt) abstract
The main aim of the thesis was to investigate the nature of as well as critically review the institutional care of young people who do not go to school.The thesis consists of four studies. The first three studies are based on different empirical materials such as electronical journals and administrative patient databases, qualitative interviews with social workers at Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (CAP), and with managerial representatives in School, social services and CAP. The fourth study is mainly theoretical and problematizes the results from the first three studies.The results show several problematic aspects in the institutional care of young truants. When young truants enters CAP, a quick, and sometimes without psychological investigation, categorization is made with psychiatric terminology in the form of a diagnosis, and medicines are prescribed as treatment. Further, social workers, who shall have a systemic approach on family and relationships, seem to embrace a psychiatric diagnostic understanding of the problems. At the same time, it appears that school only has extra resources to help the truants if they have a psychiatric diagnosis. Although the idea of collaboration between different professionals is that several different perspectives should be used, the results shows that CAP's psychiatric perspective dominates.The results of what happens to young people who do not go to school is discussed as an example of a special form of medicalization, in which social difficulties and existential problems are referred to psychiatry. It appears that help for them is completely individualised, by focusing on symptoms and diagnosis. What is not visible in this unilateral individualisation, for example, are organisational and educational problems in school, system problems in the family or among friends or lack of social contacts outside the family. By referring the truant to CAP can therefore miss further social circumstances in their life situation, which can have great importance in whether they attend school or not. Therefore, it is important to problematise this process of referring everything to psychiatry and to ask questions about what situations and events have contributed to this cultural pattern, which means that people's difficulties in life are increasingly being solved with diagnosis and medications.
10.
Ekman, Inger, 1959-
(författare)
Självskadande handlingar : ungdomars berättelser: kontextualisering av ett medikaliserat socialt fenomen
2018
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt) abstract
The aim of this thesis is twofold; to explore adolescents’ own views on self-injuring acts and to analyse the field of research on self-injuring acts. Together, these two aims comprise the overall aim of the thesis; to increase knowledge on self-injuring acts among adolescents.The material for the first study consists of scientific publications from 1913 to 2018. The material for the three following studies consists of adolescents’ Internet published unsolicited first-person narratives on their experience of self-injuring acts.Based on an examination of the research literature over a hundred year period, it was found that self-injuring acts have been medicalized since the beginning of research. Studies in the 1960’s and 1970’s were mainly conducted through observations of female psychiatric inpatients, establishing a picture of the typical cutter as a young, attractive, emotionally unstable woman. Although later research has found self-injuring acts to be common among community adolescents, the dominance of medical and psychological studies has continued to reinforce the view on self-injuring acts as related to intrapersonal difficulties.In the narratives studied, the adolescents described their self-injuring acts as closely related to an unstable social context, consisting of problems within the family, problems at school and the loss of dear ones. The recurrently described lack of access to an arena of comfort, a place or a relation providing trust and security, was found to be significant with respect to the initiation of self-injuring acts among these adolescents.In contrast to the common view on self-injuring acts as an outcome of individual characteristics, the findings point to adolescents’ self-injuring acts as a cognitively motivated and planned strategy to endure otherwise unbearable situations. Due to their adolescent position, their options to act, to take control or make changes are severely restricted.Disclosure of self-injuring acts within the social network was described as met with demands to seek professional mental help. Thoughts on seeking professional help were accompanied by fear of being perceived as crazy or diagnosed as mentally ill, thus causing social stigma. Thus, the medicalization of self-injuring acts was found to have negative consequences for disclosure and help-seeking, thereby limiting the adolescents’ options for finding adequate support. Internet websites were described as value-free and safe arenas, providing an opportunity to disclose self-injuring acts without fear of being stigmatized.The main conclusion is that adolescents’ self-injuring acts are closely related to problems in the social context, and need to be understood and related to the restrictions inherent in an adolescent position. From this perspective, it is the social context, not the self-injuring acts that should be in focus in research and practice. Social work research, focusing on social context and interaction, could develop the research field, broaden perspectives on these acts, and develop knowledge and understanding that goes beyond the established medicalized view of self-injuring acts.
