Att stödja vårdnadshavare med familjehemsplacerade barn : En kvalitativ studie om handläggares och familjebehandlares beskrivningar av stödjande arbete ; To support guardians of children placed in foster care

The social services shall support guardians with children placed in fostercare. However, previous research shows that social workers often experience lack of circumstances to offer guardians an enough amount of support. There is a knowledge gap on socialworkers descriptions of their supportive work with guardians. The purpose of this study was to understand how social workers (case workers and family therapists) in the social services describes their experiences within supporting guardians with their children placed in fostercare. The study also aims to generate insight on how socialworkers discretion affects the opportunity to support and involve the guardian. To accomplish the purpose of this study, a total of eight semi-structured interviews with socialworkers were held. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed in the context of thematic analysis method. The socialworkers descriptions were then examined in association with Lipskys (2010) and Molanders (2016) theories about discretion. One conclusion of the study is that social workers opportunity to support guardians is situated in a combination of individual, organizational, relationship-based components. The study shows that social workers discretion is limited when they must make decisions that may restrict the caregiver while providing the caregiver with support. Finally, the study also shows that guardians participation in the social services is impacted by organizational structures, rules and decisions.