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- Albertsson, Marie, 1956-
(author)
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Från socialbidrag till äldreförsörjningsstöd. : En reform ur äldre invandrares perspektiv.
- 2008
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Licentiate thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- In 2003 the Swedish parliament decided to incorporate maintenance support for the elderly within the framework of the state social insurance system. Maintenance support for the elderly entails that individuals who, due to too short a period of residence in Sweden, do not qualify themselves for a full guarantee pension and thus have the right to receive benefits after completion of an income test. A large proportion of these people previously received individually incometested social benefits. Maintenance support for the elderly and how it is perceived by the elderly is the focus of the study. The overall aim of the study is to gain knowledge about what it means for immigrants who moved in later life to be the subject of a transfer from a selective benefit system to one where more general principles apply. More specifically the aim concerns what it means for their possibilities for gaining access to social rights and what it means for their relationship with the Swedish welfare state. The study’s empirical material consists of two parts. The first part contains register data from the social services register of the National Board of Health and Social Welfare and the social insurance register of the Swedish Social Insurance Board. The second consists of interviews with eleven foreign-born elderly persons who previously received social benefits and now receive maintenance support for the elderly. The analysis of the register data indicates that one-fifth of the target group actually includes people born in Sweden while the rest are immigrants arriving in Sweden in later life. For most of those in this latter group the maintenance support is their only source of financial support while it is a supplement for the Swedish-born elderly recipients. The results show that of those, who previously received social benefits and where the maintenance support is their only source of financial support, about onefifth received a smaller amount of benefit after the reform. The interview study indicates the existence of a gap between what the respondents express as needs of more individual considerations both in terms of the contact with the administrating authority and the maintenance support’s monetary content and how the elderly perceive that these needs are provided for. In order to try to understand this gap the result was analysed by using a number of major theoretical concepts such as universalism, stigma and shame, and social citizenship, public identity and recognition. The conclusions of the study is that a comprehension of the gap can be found in the standardised design and administration of the maintenance support and in the socio-economic context that immigrants coming to Sweden in later life find themselves in.
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| 3. |
- Bergman, Ann-Sofie, 1963-
(author)
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Lämpliga eller olämpliga hem? : Fosterbarnsvård och fosterhemskontroll under 1900-talet
- 2011
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- This thesis is about foster family care in Sweden during the 20th century. In the beginning of the century many children lived in foster homes. Because of the law regulating state child care passed in 1926, children’s welfare boards were established in the municipalities. These boards were responsible for placing children with foster parents and for supervising foster homes. It was required of foster parents and foster homes to be suitable in order to be allowed to take care of a foster child. What was then meant by the term suitability? This was not clearly expressed; in the assessment of suitability there was room for discretion. The overall aim of this study is to describe and analyse dominant conceptions of what has been characterized as suitable foster homes and foster parents, through the examination of the child welfare practice. The study also deals with power as an essential aspect of how suitability is determined, as well as with the supervision of foster homes. Via a long-term analysis of foster care it is possible to describe patterns and trends, continuity and change over time. The study focused mainly on the children’s welfare board in the municipality of Växjö, and was also put into a broader context of foster care inspections in the county of Kronoberg and the debate on foster care in Swedish journals. Key concepts for this analysis have been discourse, professionalization, power relations, the clinical gaze, class, gender, normality and control.The discourse around the suitability of foster homes and foster parents changed during the 20th century. The greatest change took place in the early 1970s, when foster care began to be described in terms of treatment. This shift can mainly be understood in the context of: changes in what problems led to placement; deinstitutionalization; professionalization; along with the influences of psychology and psychiatry on social work. Focus shifted over time from material needs and physical health to social and mental health. However, the discourse also includes elements of continuity. The focus on foster mothers in the inspectors’ examinations and assessments has been persistent and strong, despite great social changes. The norm that foster children should grow up in a nuclear family has prevailed, and it grew even stronger over time. Sometimes conflicts arose between various actors in the foster care practice, due to differing opinions on what was suitable or unsuitable. When deciding upon this issue there could be negotiations or disputes between the involved children, their parents, foster parents and inspectors. Problems in the foster homes which captured the attention of the board, could lead to increased control or to the children’s relocation. Throughout the previous century there has been criticism regarding insufficient control. The idea that supervision should not only serve as control, but also as support has also been advanced. The focus on the inspector’s supporting role was strengthened over time during the century.
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