| 1. |
- Nybom, Jenny, 1967-
(author)
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Aktivering av socialbidragstagare - om stöd och kontroll i socialtjänsten
- 2012
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- The aim of this thesis is to examine activation, including support and control, among different groups of social assistance (SA) recipients. Assessments and activation related decisions during one year are analysed for 372 social randomly selected assistance claimants from four municipalities. Data was collected 2002-2003 through structured interviews with the clients and their social workers. Income from work and social assistance was followed up with national register data after two years.The first study focuses on social workers conception of their claimants work barriers. Conceptions vary systematically across groups of claimants. The second study examines elements of activation, finding that extent and content of activation, and use of support and control, vary between municipalities and programs. The third study analyses associations between participation in activation programs and exposures to sanctions and exemptions (indicators of support and control) on the one hand, and claimants’ characteristics on the other hand. Traditional work-test logic seems to be common in social work, and linked to stereotypic gender logic. This implies a systematic selection to activation based on sex, and on social workers opinion about the claimants work motivation. The results question the linkage between work barriers and activation, since claimants without formal resources (education and work experience) do not participate in resource activation (aiming to increase formal resources) more often than others. The fourth study analyses association between combinations of activation programs and sanctions and self support outcomes for SA claimants. Results suggest that a combination of resource activation and sanctions has a positive association with income from work, and that a combination of job activation and sanctions is associated with continuing SA.
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| 2. |
- Shanks, Emelie, 1977-
(author)
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Managing social work : Organisational conditions and everyday work for managers in the Swedish social services
- 2016
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- The personal social services in Sweden have undergone major changes during recent decades, partly due to the reforms caused by the influence of New Public Management (NPM) and partly due to the trend towards greater specialisation. These changes have had consequences for both social work management and for social work practice. The consequences for practice have gained attention both from research and from the field, but the consequences for managers have rarely been discussed. In this thesis therefore, the attention is directed towards the managers.Inspired by a mixed methods approach, this thesis aims to explore the personal social service managers’ perceptions of their organisational conditions and the content of their everyday work, as well as to interpret the managers’ experiences against the background of NPM influence, increasing specialisation and the specific circumstances that come with managing politically governed organisations.The results show that the personal social service managers in general were former professionals with extensive social work experience. The managerial work was to a great extent perceived as reactive, entailing constant interruptions and acute situations. The managers experienced a heavy workload that appeared to prevent them from engaging in strategic work and leadership to the extent that they would have liked. Substantial proportions of managers were dissatisfied with their own levels of influence compared to that of politicians and, in general, the managers perceived themselves to have more influence regarding aspects that were operational (such as methods and working procedures) compared to aspects related to organisational structure. Through the managers’ descriptions of their relations with politicians, it was revealed that the roles could be muddled, and that both managers and politicians could have difficulties in distinguishing between politics and administration, or politics and profession.Several changes that could be attributed to the influence of NPM were described by the managers. Some changes had consequences for the more technical side of management, e.g. decentralised budget responsibility, increased focus on cost effectiveness and downsizing of support functions. Other changes were more related to the overarching concept of management, which had consequences for the choice of managerial training, the expectations placed on the managers, and to some extent the managers’ own views on what good management should be.Despite the many indications of changes that may be attributed to NPM, an important result in this thesis is that NPM does not appear to have permeated social work to the degree that might have been expected. Rather, there are clear indications of a remaining professional identity among managers on all managerial levels, as well a continuing bureau-professional regime within the personal social services.
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| 3. |
- Östberg, Francesca, 1952-
(author)
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Bedömningar och beslut : Från anmälan till insats i den sociala barnavården
- 2010
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- The focus of this thesis is on social workers’ role in assessing and making decisions in child welfare cases. The primary aim is to identify factors that influence decisions concerning reports assessed, investigated, dismissed or processed to intervention within child welfare agencies in Swedish municipalities. Social policy, professional and organisational factors are perspectives considered in the analysis. All reports and requests for support for children and adolescents in the 0–19 age group were collected during two months in two local agencies, in 2003 (n= 260) and followed by interviews with social workers. Factors connected to social workers’ assessments at different stages in the process were tested in regression models and grounds for their assessments explored. Main results: two-thirds of reports are sorted out without investigation. One-fifth led to interventions. The highest probability for a report to be investigated was if it was assessed as acute, concerned abuse, came from a professional (not the police) concerned a girl and handled in the integrated agency. The most common problems, such as family conflicts and antisocial behaviour were investigated the least. A majority of the children came from underprivileged families, mainly poor single mothers. The process draws the pattern of a heavily tapered funnel with few interventions at the end. Children are not in focus and the attitude is to keep them out of the system for their own good. Social policy and organisational factors restrict social workers’ discretion. Contradictory demands are solved by a ‘consensual ideology’. Parallel tracks appear on risks in a narrow perspective and on voluntary counselling mainly directed to mothers. This forms child welfare into a rejecting practice, where hard social conditions are individualized. Legislation gives municipalities considerable leeway to produce a variety of services and interventions, but practice works on the basis of another kind of rationality.
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| 4. |
- Backlund, Åsa, 1970-
(author)
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Elevvård i grundskolan : Resurser, organisering och praktik
- 2007
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- The aim of the thesis is to describe and analyse the organization, resources and practice of pupil welfare work in municipal compulsory schools. In one study, telephone interviews with head masters from a random sample of 100 municipal compulsory schools have been carried out. A second study is based on material from two case studies, where the work of the pupil welfare team members and the everyday organizing of pupil welfare, are scrutinized.The distribution of special pupil welfare resources varied considerably. Almost one-third of the variation could be explained by organizational and structural variables included in a regression analysis. Practically all schools in the sample had a school nurse, while school social workers and in particular school psychologists, were available to a lesser extent. Regarding the latter two professions, the results indicate that these resources are allocated to pupils of different age groups. The involvement of different kinds of municipal service in pupil welfare work is becoming a common form of organization. The case studies show that these service units can become influential actors in the organizing of local pupil welfare work.School nurses appear to be an institutionalized resource, with regard to their presence in schools and the content of their work. The school social worker lacks a specific technology of her own that distinguishes her work from other professions. School social work is performed by several professions and for some tasks domain conflicts can arouse. These conflicts can to a certain degree be rooted in the enhanced consultative role of the pupil welfare specialists, which affects the division of labour between the actors. The pupil welfare meetings studied in the case studies where characterized by asymmetrical relationships, where little space were given for pupils and their parents to be actively involved in the decision-making process.
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| 5. |
- Bergman, Ann-Sofie, 1963-
(author)
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Ett gott hem? : Barnavårdsnämndens praktik i Växjö 1926-1935
- 2007
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Licentiate thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Denna rapport handlar om fosterbarnsvård under perioden 1926–1935, då många barn bodde i fosterhem i Sverige. Vid studiens startpunkt hade en ny lag om samhällets barnavård införts där det ingick bestämmelser om kontroll över fosterbarnens vård. Vem som helst fick inte ta hand om fosterbarn, därför skulle fosterhems och fosterföräldrars lämplighet utredas och barnens vård i hemmen kontrolleras. I rapporten ges en inblick i hur lämplighetsfrågan och fosterhemstillsynen hanterades i en lokal praktik vid barnavårdsnämnden i Växjö.Ann-Sofie Bergman är socionom och fil. mag. i historia. Detta är hennes licentiatavhandling i socialt arbete.
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| 6. |
- Brunnström, Fredrik, 1976-
(author)
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Flernivåstyrning med olika medel : En studie om SKR och socialtjänsten
- 2021
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- This thesis focuses on the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions (SALAR) and the governance of Swedish social services. SALAR is an interest- and employer-organization for the Swedish regions and municipalities and it is an important actor in the Swedish multi-level system. Previous research on the governance of Swedish social services has focused on SALAR’s involvement in the policy process aimed at implementing Evidence-Based Practice (EBP). There are few studies in social policy with SALAR as the main object of inquiry, so little is known about its actions in social policy and its role in the governance of social services. The thesis aims to describe and analyze the roles SALAR plays in the Swedish multi-level system, focusing on social services. Drawing on insights from political science, public administration and social work, the theoretical chapter presents concepts such as multi-level governance, post-politics and human service organizations. A political sociological perspective on public policy instruments highlights the need to focus on the instruments used in policy processes. Texts from the websites of SALAR and governmental documents were analyzed. By describing how various tools were used by SALAR’s management, three multi-level roles the organization plays in the social services domain were distinguished: guardian, rule maker and policy instrument of the state. Whilst guarding its members’ (i.e. regions and municipalities) right to self-government is in line with SALAR’s statutes, the roles of rule maker and policy instrument vis-à-vis its members turns SALAR into a quasi-authority. One tool is agreements between SALAR and the state (Ministry of Health and Social Affairs). It is shown that this kind of agreement has become institutionalized as an instrument in governing the sub-national level. Agreements were initially used to govern health care and were later turned towards social services in the “governing through knowledge” of this domain. In an analysis of the “EBP-agreements” it is argued that they are to be understood primarily as instruments to manage the local dimension of social services. The frequent use of words such as “dialogue” and “collaboration” in the texts, together with the fact that “agreements” were the instruments used, underscores the post-political character of this governance process. Organizations at the regional (inter-municipal) level served as recipients of resources and discourses coming down from SALAR and the state. Interviews with staff of one of these regional organizations and with social service managers connected to that same organization revealed that SALAR was seen as an important actor bridging the national and regional level and supporting the regional organization. The thesis argues that the “agreement-institution” is important for explaining why SALAR functions as a quasi-authority in the social services domain. From a governance perspective, this institutionalized mode of cooperation is especially suitable for steering social services, considering both the local dimension of the social services and their human service character.
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| 7. |
- Hammare, Ulf, 1961-
(author)
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Mellan löften om särart och krav på evidens : En studie av kunskap och kunskapssyn i socialt inriktade ideella, privata och offentliga organisationer
- 2013
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Between the Promise of Specificity and the Demand for Evidence – A study of knowledge and the approach to knowledge in socially oriented non-profit, private and public sector organizationsIn the social work field it is possible to identify two parallel processes in time. On the one hand a qualitative developmental process―even towards a form of standardization―where central concepts are academisation, professionalization, scientifically produced knowledge, expertise and evidence based methods. Simultaneously, there is a drive to create the conditions for increased diversity, where hopes are especially being pinned on the non-profit sector. In spite of representations and expectations concerning the non-profit sector and its so-called specificity, however, much of existing research lacks a comparative perspective, i.e., studies where non-profit organizations are related to comparable activities in the private and public sector.The aim of the study―with special focus on issues concerning evidence based knowledge in social work―is to compare and analyse whether and in that case how employee conceptions differ between the sectors, and whether and in what way non-profit employees and their activities can be said to fulfil the expectations of contributing to increased diversity. Data is from a questionnaire directed to about 1300 social work employees.The results show a greater interest in research and more marked efforts at professionalization in the public sector, while above all in the non-profit sector there was skepticism about science paired with reservations about work carried out in a professional way. In the non-profit, but also in the private sector, issues of ethics, views of humanity and values were paid greater attention. Also stressed here was the importance of creating relationships, the unique human encounter, genuine commitment, and human kindness. However, there was significant uniformity across all sectors in the use of methods, where three dominated: solution focused measures, network support/therapy, and psychosocial work.
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| 8. |
- Norberg, Johan R
(author)
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Idrottens väg till folkhemmet : Studier i statlig idrottspolitik 1913-1970
- 2004
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Swedish sports, with their unified/uniform organisation and democratically evolved structure,represent in many ways the archetype of a popular movement. However, the sports movement has also since the beginning of the 1900s received regular – and over time substantial –state support.In addition, the main sports organisation, Sveriges riksidrottsförbund, (RF) has developed a close co-operative relationship with government powers.This intimate sport-and-state relationship highlights a question regarding organisational autonomy: has it been possible for the sports movement to retain its autonomy while at the same time accepting public funds? Or, put another way: how are we to comprehend government politics vis-à-vis sport? As a strategy to control the voluntary movement,or an attempt to encourage its independence?As shown by these questions,the aim of this thesis is to produce a characterisation of the state ’s relationship with the sports movement.More tangibly: to analyse how the relationship between the autonomy of sports clubs and associations, and government control, was resolved in Swedish sports politics between 1913 and 1970. Theoretically, the investigation takes it ’s starting point in a politico-philosophical discussion on “what the state should be doing ”. Three idealtype-constructed positions on how the state can act towards the sports movement are presented: passive neutrality,active neutrality and perfectionism. In regard to an adjacent question, “what the state can do ”,a perspective of legitimacy is applied,signifying that the state ’s possibilities of political control are limited by the sports movement ’s propensity for autonomy.The subsequent empirical study is divided into three themes:government economic support for the sports movement,the role of RF as an authority,and the taxation of sport. The investigation shows that active neutrality was a dominating principle in the state ’s relation to the sports movement. The primary aim of economic support for sport was not in order to govern,but to strengthen the movement ’s character of a voluntary and independent mass movement.But the state ’s neutrality was not unconditional. The government demanded extensive measures designed to control the use of public funds. Moreover, the principle that economic support was not a gift was clearly emphasised. Attached to the grant was thus the condition that the movement itself took on the responsibility of ensuring sport ’s development as wholesome, voluntary and idealistic. This policy can be most easily understood as an implicit contract between the state and RF. Its main function was ensuring the sports movement ’s right to both state support and a relatively high degree of autonomy,conditional upon it reciprocating by voluntarily bearing a public welfare responsibility.
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| 9. |
- Wiklund, Stefan, 1968-
(author)
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Den kommunala barnavården - om anmälningar, organisation och utfall
- 2006
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- The thesis presents descriptions and analyses of the municipal-based work that precedes service provision in child welfare, i.e. referrals where concerns regarding children and adolescents are made from professionals and general public and the processing of these referrals within child welfare agencies. The central focus lies to examine the importance of organisational factors – such as formal structures, resources and working methods – in this work. The empirical material in studies 1-3 consists of data collected on location in 100 municipalities during 2001-2002 augmented with official statistics and register data. Data in study 4 consists of telephone interviews in the city of Stockholm’s 18 districts, written material and in-depth interviews in one of the districts.Study 1 describes the extent and nature of referrals to child welfare agencies. The study shows that the extent of Swedish referrals occupies a medium position in an international perspective, that referrals mainly concern adolescents, and that child referrals to a comparatively little extent concern abuse and neglect.Study 2 analyses the association between agency collaborative involvement with mandated reporters and referral rates. The association is overall marginal, indicating that merely the presence of collaboration in child welfare has poor effects on case finding.Study 3 analyses the association between organisational factors and the provision of child welfare services. To some extent, the results suggest that personnel resources are linked to the extent of services provided to younger children. Specialisation in various forms, however, is not associated with variations in service provision.Study 4 describes and analyses the impact of organisational solutions in line with New Public Management. The results indicate that this theoretical/ideological idea has limited practicality in concrete child welfare work.An introductory section presents a comprehensive background to and the theoretical framework of the four studies. The theoretical framework consists principally of concepts and reasoning derived from new institutional theory. This framework is used to discuss results generated from the four studies. Specific attention is given to institutions and ideas in child welfare that have a ‘taken for granted’ status, such as early interventions, collaboration and the presumed appropriateness of a range of organisational settings.
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| 10. |
- Ekermo, Mats
(author)
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Den mångtydiga FoU-idén : lokala FoU-enheters mening och betydelse
- 2002
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- During the 1990’s we witnessed an increasing number of local research and development (R&D) units in the Swedish public sector of social welfare outside academic institutions. The aim of this thesis is to explore the R&D phenomenon, the establishment of local R&D units and what the activities at the R&D units are. The issue of local R&D units has been divided into three aspects that correspond to three studies: a societal study, an organizational study and an individual study. Qualitative methods have been used including 10 case studies, 86 interviews with researchers and co-workers at the R&D units, 20 interviews with participating practitioners, analyses of R&D projects, documents and official reports. The analysis has been guided by new institutional theories about organizational change, how organizational concepts are spread and translated in organizational fields.Currents in social politics and research politics have, together with a criticism against academic research and its insufficiency in solving practical problems, caused a societal pressure on changed relations between research and practice. Cutbacks and changes in social welfare organizations have, together with an uncertainty about the outcomes and results of the social services, led to increasing demands for knowledge and professional competence in social work.The local R&D concept can be described in three key sentences; knowledge development close to social practice, interplay between research and practice and participation from practitioners. From a tool perspective local R&D units are established for playing a vital role in rationalizing their mother organizations and developing their efficiency in fulfilling their duties. The spreading of the R&D concept in the field of social welfare sector is characterized by ideological control. By referring to ideas of modernity and progress the local R&D units are associated with central cultural values. The R&D concept is therefore also attractive from a symbolic perspective, it helps legitimise their mother organizations and prove their identity.Many projects at the R&D units correspond with the notion of rational organizations striving for improving their efficiency. At the same time R&D units display a variety of heterogeneous projects that appear as fragmentary and loosely coupled to their mother organizations. The local R&D units are also mixed up in internal organizational conflicts. On an individual level practitioners have experienced learning and a salutary break from the ordinary work. The functions of participating in R&D projects are less instrumental and have more interactive and enlightening character. Some functions are not only hidden but also even in conflict with the official goals and intentions of the R&D units.Local R&D units show an organizational instability with various meanings for different agents. Questions for future studies should concern the actual effects of local R&D units. The thesis concludes with the question of whether or not local R&D units are anything more than an organizational fashion. The late modern society has caused a need for developing reflexive knowledge and capacity among social agents. In the boarder zone between academy and social welfare work, a long-term challenge arises for the R&D units, namely to develop new forms of knowledge production that are both academically and socially robust.
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