1. |
- Persdotter, Maria, et al.
(author)
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Introduction to special issue: Bordering practices in the social service sector : experiences from Norway and Sweden
- 2021
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In: Nordic Social Work Research. - : Routledge. - 2156-857X .- 2156-8588. ; 11:2, s. 95-102
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Journal article (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Following the 2015-peak of asylum-seeking migrants in Europe, asylumpolicies have become increasingly restrictive. As bordering has become a prioritized issue among many European national governments, including in the Nordic countries, practices of bordering have also become more decentralised, diffuse and dispersed. This special issue set focus on such bordering practices as these are manifest in the social service sector. It draws on research conducted in Norway and Sweden and consists, besides this introduction, of seven original articles.Of particular focus is how social work, in its regulations and practices, are involved in the bordering of both the nation and the welfare state. Connecting insights from border studies – and related critical research – with social work research, the articles present empirical analyses of the dynamics of bordering practices among varying practitioners and in varying organizations, including legislators, courts, municipalities, street-level social workers and civil society organizations. The special issue as a whole also raises questions about the ethical and political challenges that emerge at the nexus of bordering and social service provision. In this introductory article, we provide an overview of the field of border studies and discuss how it relates to social work research. This serves as a conceptual foundation which we hope will enable critical reflections on the relationships between social service
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2. |
- Ahmadi, Fereshteh, 1958-, et al.
(author)
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Diversity barometer : attitude changes in Sweden
- 2020
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In: Nordic Social Work Research. - : Routledge. - 2156-857X .- 2156-8588. ; 10:1, s. 21-38
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Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- he aim of this article is to elucidate and discuss the results of the 2016 Diversity Barometer (Mångfaldsbarometern) and compare these results with those obtained from ten years of the longitudinal Diversity Barometers for 2005?2014. An additional aim is to demonstrate whether and how Swedish people?s experiences of and attitudes toward people with a foreign background and ethnic diversity have changed.A random sample of the Swedish population took part in the annual study, which was carried out in the form of a nationwide postal survey. The results show that negative attitudes toward ethnic and cultural diversity in general, and migrant population in particular, have increased to some extent and with respect to certain issues. Views on diversity in relation to culture and religion ? especially Islam ? were more negative than views on diversity in relation to work. Those who have larger experience of contact with foreigners show a more positive attitude toward diversity compared with those with limited experience and contact. Individuals who have higher education, those who identify themselves as female, younger persons and those living in large cities are more positive than other groups. In our analysis of the empirical data, we proceeded from a social work perspective and applied contact theory and group conflict theories relating attitudes to group position.
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3. |
- Alftberg, Åsa
(author)
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Providing support for family carers : social workers describing their professional role
- 2023
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In: Nordic Social Work Research. - : Routledge. - 2156-857X .- 2156-8588. ; , s. 1-11
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Family carers have a growing significance, and they are increasingly regarded as clients in need of support. In Sweden, the municipal support for family carers is often provided by family care advisors. However, there is a lack of knowledge regarding this relatively new area of social work practice. This article aims to explore how family care advisors describe their work and construct their professional role in relation to family carers. The empiric material derives from a research circle, a form of focus group interview, with family care advisors. The theoretical framework is based on the concept categorical pair, where the description of the family care advisors’ work includes constructing themselves as professionals and the family carers as clients. Four themes have emerged in their stories: being neutral, being allies, being a container, and being an educator. The findings show how the family care advisors’ relationship with the family carers is described as being simultaneously personal and professional: a form of professional friendship with a delicate balancing act. The family care advisors also view their neutral role, with no power to exercise authority, as important and required. Family carers that are perceived as difficult are described from a paternalistic perspective, thus needing to be educated by the family care advisors. Accordingly, when the family care advisors construct their professional role, they also construct family carers, which includes implicit moral notions of a ‘good carer’.
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4. |
- Allgurin, Monika, 1982-, et al.
(author)
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Editorial
- 2024
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In: Nordic Social Work Research. - : Taylor & Francis. - 2156-857X .- 2156-8588. ; 14:1, s. 1-3
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Journal article (other academic/artistic)
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5. |
- Allgurin, Monika, 1982-, et al.
(author)
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The 'social' in social work
- 2023
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In: Nordic Social Work Research. - : Routledge. - 2156-857X .- 2156-8588. ; 13:1, s. 1-3
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Journal article (other academic/artistic)
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6. |
- Almqvist, Anna-Lena, 1963-, et al.
(author)
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Understanding complex needs through the concept of recognition : A qualitative study with Swedish young people about their encounters with welfare state actors
- 2022
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In: Nordic Social Work Research. - 2156-857X .- 2156-8588. ; 12:5, s. 716-727
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The paper uses the concept of recognition to investigate how young people labelled as having ‘complex needs’ experience their encounters with welfare state actors. Semi-structured interviews were held in 2018 with 14 young people, aged 15–22 years, in two Swedish municipalities. The participants have received multiple, long-term interventions from social services and psychiatric care. Research questions are: What aspects in the encounters between welfare state actors and young people may contribute to complexity in their life situations? How can Honneth’s concept of recognition illuminate this complexity? Aspects that have contributed to complexity in young people’s life situations are related to acts of dismissal. These dismissals by welfare state actors are interpreted as forms of disrespect as regards affection, rights or solidarity. Barriers to recognition are also related to the participants’ young age and position as children, and what this implies in a particular society. Our findings show that the difficulties young people face in their encounters with welfare state actors are partly due to the high level of specialization which contributes to an increased organizational complexity. Implications include that, when encountering young people in complex life situations, welfare state actors need to consider the importance of recognition as regards affection, rights, and solidarity. Recognition is central to achieving a positive outcome in working with young people in complex life situations and is expressed in social interactions. Therefore, building relationships needs to be more highly prioritized in welfare state organizations. young people in complex life situations and is expressed in social interactions. Therefore, building relationships needs to be more highly prioritized in welfare state organizations.
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7. |
- Alstam, Kristina, et al.
(author)
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Possible selves. Gang passages, projective imaginations, and self-transformations
- 2024
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In: Nordic Social Work Research. - : Routledge. - 2156-857X .- 2156-8588. ; 14:1, s. 136-148
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Belonging to a criminal gang often strongly influences members’ identities, particularly their self-perceptions and social roles. Entering or leaving a gang may challenge members’ understandings of the meaning and structure of their lives and threaten their sense of control. The aim of this study was to explore how members narrate these transitions and whether such stages may be seen as liminal passages. This article draws in particular on the theory of possible selves, which suggests that people change through experiencing their present selves as incomplete versions of their anticipated selves. We analysed data from two qualitative research projects on gang exits using content analysis from interviews with clients and employees in one Swedish exit programme and clients at correctional facilities or probation services. In addition, data consists of interviews with employees from these. The analysis suggests that while gang members narrate entry as a continuation towards understanding themselves and their potential place in the world, leaving the gang implies entry into a liminal terrain with fewer role models and possible projective imaginings of their future selves. Such liminal passages are analytically linked to a need for role models and experienced guides to manifest a way forward and support defectors in the process of leaving. Gang leavers need ‘ceremonial masters’, in this case professionals with experience of exiting processes, to support them in imagining and creating new lives and new selves outside of the gang.
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8. |
- Anand, J. C., et al.
(author)
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Editorial
- 2022
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In: Nordic Social Work Research. - : Taylor & Francis. - 2156-857X .- 2156-8588. ; 12:5, s. 611-611
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Journal article (other academic/artistic)
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9. |
- Anand, Janet, et al.
(author)
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Perspectives on violence
- 2020
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In: Nordic Social Work Research. - : Taylor & Francis. - 2156-857X .- 2156-8588. ; 10:2, s. 95-99
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)
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10. |
- Anderberg, Mats, 1961-, et al.
(author)
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A pendulum swing in child welfare policy : the case of implementing GIRFEC in Sweden
- 2022
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In: Nordic Social Work Research. - : Taylor & Francis Group. - 2156-857X .- 2156-8588. ; 12:4, s. 578-591
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Sweden is among those countries traditionally ranked highly in international comparisons of children’s well-being and conditions for development. However, in recent years a development towards greater inequality in health has occurred. The general welfare model’s capacity to safeguard both the universal provisions for the general population’s standard of living and targeted support for those in need has also been doubted. System-related deficiencies such as collaborative breakdown, inadequate effectiveness and lack of clarity concerning how to uphold the best interests of the child are cited as examples, and several calls for policy reformations have been raised. The Scottish model for supporting child well-being, Getting It Right for Every Child (GIRFEC) has garnered keen interest in Sweden and is an example of how ideas for policy reformation flow both between and within countries, and thereby undergo more or less radical transformations. This article analyses the first-phase implementation of GIRFEC in a Swedish county. It emerges that although there is a great deal of enthusiasm for the original model, the intention is to implement an adapted version. What similarities and differences would be realized is not clarified from the start, but is left for the implementation process. The positive reception is understood as arising from a perceived familiarity of the model, based on current practice and discourse. GIRFEC can therefore be regarded as part of a pendulum swing in which ideas are borrowed and lent between countries and contexts.
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