Distans och närhet : förutsättningar och möjligheter för det sociala arbetets organisering och disciplinering

• The first part, of this two part study, performs a kind of theoretical, structural analysis of social work. The purpose of performing such an analysis, the principal aim of this study, is to specify the general conditions and possibilities for social work, thereby giving a basis, for the different social work practices, to carry out their own concrete analysis, and form their own strategies for action. The second part of this study analyses a specific, empirical field of practice. Using the theoretical reasoning in the first part of the study as a basis, it describes and analyses, ”hemmahos- arbete”, a practice where the practitioners work with families in their homes. These practitioners, "hemma-hos-arbetare”, are employed by municipal social welfare offices. The goal of their practice is to give educational, therapeutic and practical support in everyday life situations. For lack of a proper English term for this practice, the Swedish terms, as defined above, will be used. ”Hemma-hos-arbete” is, as a type of practice, in a position in between, on the one hand, bureaucratic and professional orders, and on the other hand the everyday orders of the clients. ”Hemma-hos-arbete” can be characterized as a bridging practice, and to maintain this bridging position, and for its personnel to retain their identity as ”hemma-hos-arbetare”, means that they must find the right distance, neither too close nor too far, either to the highly discursive, professional/bureaucratic orders of practices or to the clients’ more or less non-discursive orders of everyday life practices. To find the right distance, has been the central issue of this thesis, and is of vital importance for all social workers. This, means to avoid, on the one hand, the risk of loosing contact with the client by taking too distant a professional/bureaucratic position, and on the other hand, the risk of becoming a part of the client's problems by taking too familiar a position. ”Hemma-hos-arbete”, as a concrete object of investigation, was selected because it illuminates issues of vital importance for the entire field of social work. The description and analysis of ”hemma-hos-arbete” is actually a secondary aim. The ”hemma-hos” study gives example of how the theoretical analytic can be applied to a specific social work practice.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Sociologi -- Socialt arbete (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Sociology -- Social Work (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Socialt arbete

Publikations- och innehållstyp

vet (ämneskategori)

dok (ämneskategori)