Krisgrupper och spontant stöd : om insatser efter branden i Göteborg 1998
(2002) In Lund Dissertations in Social Work- Abstract
- The aim of the dissertation is to study the organized professional process and the spontaneous integrating and unifying process after the discotheque fire in Gothenburg 1998, when 63 young people died. Over a hundred crisis groups and duty centres were opened for the affected people. These groups are composed of representatives of the social services, psychiatry, the churches and voluntary organizations. The theoretical foundation of the study is Émile Durkheim's (1912/1995) sociological theory of rites and grief and the significance of the collective in connection with grief and crisis. The professions are analysed with the aid of Andrew Abbott's (1988) theory of their jurisdiction. Theories of social networks, of organizations (Lipsky... (More)
- The aim of the dissertation is to study the organized professional process and the spontaneous integrating and unifying process after the discotheque fire in Gothenburg 1998, when 63 young people died. Over a hundred crisis groups and duty centres were opened for the affected people. These groups are composed of representatives of the social services, psychiatry, the churches and voluntary organizations. The theoretical foundation of the study is Émile Durkheim's (1912/1995) sociological theory of rites and grief and the significance of the collective in connection with grief and crisis. The professions are analysed with the aid of Andrew Abbott's (1988) theory of their jurisdiction. Theories of social networks, of organizations (Lipsky 1980) and of social responsivity are also used in the analysis of the interviews with 21 persons affected by the disaster and with 29 representatives of the crisis groups.
The affected people could obtain both emotional support and practical help from the social network. The work of the crisis groups consisted of practical support. For social workers, this meant that some low status tasks became meaningful. There was plenty of scope for other tasks than conversation. After a few weeks the crisis groups were closed down and the affected people were referred to the social services. The people then became dependent on the discretion of the street level bureaucracy, with different assessment of the entitlement to benefits in the different parts of the city. The professionals used the abstraction and knowledge of the psychiatrists as a major element in their jurisdiction when they described the situation of the affected people. An interesting finding is that many of the professionals toned down their professional role in connection with the disaster.
Emergent groups, or spontaneous crisis groups, also grew up as a response to the fire. The great significance of the spontaneous groups was that they could arrange meetings between representatives of the authorities and the afflicted immigrant families. This was crucial in an situation where most of the immigrant families were suspicious of the authorities. The leaders were also able, albeit temporarily, to bridge over the differences that they had seen to exist between Swedes in the prosperous suburbs and immigrants in segregated estates.
The spontaneous and organized professional processes are interwoven. The spontaneous crisis groups arranged important contacts between the affected families and the authorities, and the social network is a self evident support. The weakness of spontaneous support is that it declines after a time, when friends no longer have the energy to listen. The strength of professional support is its endurance. With the aid of the resources in the organizations where the professionals work, the support can be developed over a long time, provided that the street level bureaucracy does not hinder, for example, the continuity of contacts. (Less) - Abstract (Swedish)
- Popular Abstract in Swedish
Efter diskoteksbranden i Göteborg 1998, då 63 ungdomar dog och långt fler skadades, öppnades över 100 krisgrupper och krisjourer av stadsdelsförvaltningar, sjukhus och frivilligorganisationer. Avhandlingen bygger på intervjuer med 21 drabbade och 29 företrädare för olika krisgrupper. De drabbade fick av krisgrupperna praktisk hjälp och stöd t.ex. när de anhöriga skulle identifiera sina omkomna barn. I några fall kunde krisgrupperna erbjuda långsiktigt stöd med samtal när de drabbades vänner efter en tid inte längre orkade lyssna.
De professionella i de olika krisgrupperna var socionomer, psykologer, diakoner och präster. Flera av dem betonade det praktiska stödets betydelse... (More) - Popular Abstract in Swedish
Efter diskoteksbranden i Göteborg 1998, då 63 ungdomar dog och långt fler skadades, öppnades över 100 krisgrupper och krisjourer av stadsdelsförvaltningar, sjukhus och frivilligorganisationer. Avhandlingen bygger på intervjuer med 21 drabbade och 29 företrädare för olika krisgrupper. De drabbade fick av krisgrupperna praktisk hjälp och stöd t.ex. när de anhöriga skulle identifiera sina omkomna barn. I några fall kunde krisgrupperna erbjuda långsiktigt stöd med samtal när de drabbades vänner efter en tid inte längre orkade lyssna.
De professionella i de olika krisgrupperna var socionomer, psykologer, diakoner och präster. Flera av dem betonade det praktiska stödets betydelse även om samtal och minnesstunder var viktiga. Gemensamt för alla dessa yrkesgrupper var att deras kunskap härstammar från teorier som används inom psykiatri. De betonade dock att sorg är en allmänmänsklig erfarenhet och att alla, inte bara vissa yrkesgrupper, kan ge stöd.
Förutom dessa professionella insatser organiserades spontant stöd. Det skedde bland annat genom att familj, släkt och vänner hjälpte de drabbade familjerna. Några invandrare bildade spontana krisgrupper. Dessa grupper kunde förmedla information från myndigheter på invandrarnas språk. De spontana krisgruppernas stora uppgift var emellertid att bemöta den misstro mot myndigheter som många invandrare visade. Till exempel bjöd en av dessa krisgrupper en av ministrarna på besök i Göteborg till ett möte med oroliga föräldrar för att förklara hur polisen utredde brandorsaken. Resultatet blev att misstron bland invandrarna minskade.
För de drabbade ungdomarna betydde de olika krisgrupperna att de fick möjlighet att samlas, övernatta i krisgruppernas lokaler och på det sättet sörja tillsammans. Ungdomarna ville samtala om branden med vuxna de kände innan. Därför avvisade några av dem erbjudanden om samtal av okända socialsekreterare och psykologer. Backaplan blev en spontan minnesplats där ungdomar och anhöriga samlades för att med tända ljus, blommor och dikter hedra de omkomna.
Avhandlingens resultat har analyserats med hjälp av sociologiska teorier om organisationer, professioner och vad som håller en grupp samman i samband med sorg och kris. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/20800
- author
- Nieminen Kristofersson, Tuija LU
- supervisor
- opponent
-
- Winston Castro, Freddy, Gothenburg University
- organization
- alternative title
- Crisis groups and spontaneous support : On measures after the fire in Gothenburg 1998
- publishing date
- 2002
- type
- Thesis
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Social changes, post traumatic stress disorder PTSD, professional and voluntary social work, emergent organizations, professional jurisdiction and abstraction, social network, disaster, collective mourning, theory of social work, Sociala förändringar, teorier om socialt arbete
- in
- Lund Dissertations in Social Work
- pages
- 256 pages
- publisher
- Socialhögskolan, Lunds universitet
- defense location
- School of Social Work/Socialhögskolan room no 28, Bredgatan 26, Lund
- defense date
- 2002-05-23 10:15:00
- external identifiers
-
- other:ISRN: LUSADG/SASW-02/1035-SE
- ISSN
- 1650-3872
- ISBN
- 91-89604-09-1
- language
- Swedish
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- aa3707e4-a100-4417-9b23-8ad8e3faa3b5 (old id 20800)
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-01 16:45:05
- date last changed
- 2021-05-06 13:43:49
@phdthesis{aa3707e4-a100-4417-9b23-8ad8e3faa3b5,
abstract = {{The aim of the dissertation is to study the organized professional process and the spontaneous integrating and unifying process after the discotheque fire in Gothenburg 1998, when 63 young people died. Over a hundred crisis groups and duty centres were opened for the affected people. These groups are composed of representatives of the social services, psychiatry, the churches and voluntary organizations. The theoretical foundation of the study is Émile Durkheim's (1912/1995) sociological theory of rites and grief and the significance of the collective in connection with grief and crisis. The professions are analysed with the aid of Andrew Abbott's (1988) theory of their jurisdiction. Theories of social networks, of organizations (Lipsky 1980) and of social responsivity are also used in the analysis of the interviews with 21 persons affected by the disaster and with 29 representatives of the crisis groups.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
The affected people could obtain both emotional support and practical help from the social network. The work of the crisis groups consisted of practical support. For social workers, this meant that some low status tasks became meaningful. There was plenty of scope for other tasks than conversation. After a few weeks the crisis groups were closed down and the affected people were referred to the social services. The people then became dependent on the discretion of the street level bureaucracy, with different assessment of the entitlement to benefits in the different parts of the city. The professionals used the abstraction and knowledge of the psychiatrists as a major element in their jurisdiction when they described the situation of the affected people. An interesting finding is that many of the professionals toned down their professional role in connection with the disaster.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
Emergent groups, or spontaneous crisis groups, also grew up as a response to the fire. The great significance of the spontaneous groups was that they could arrange meetings between representatives of the authorities and the afflicted immigrant families. This was crucial in an situation where most of the immigrant families were suspicious of the authorities. The leaders were also able, albeit temporarily, to bridge over the differences that they had seen to exist between Swedes in the prosperous suburbs and immigrants in segregated estates.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
The spontaneous and organized professional processes are interwoven. The spontaneous crisis groups arranged important contacts between the affected families and the authorities, and the social network is a self evident support. The weakness of spontaneous support is that it declines after a time, when friends no longer have the energy to listen. The strength of professional support is its endurance. With the aid of the resources in the organizations where the professionals work, the support can be developed over a long time, provided that the street level bureaucracy does not hinder, for example, the continuity of contacts.}},
author = {{Nieminen Kristofersson, Tuija}},
isbn = {{91-89604-09-1}},
issn = {{1650-3872}},
keywords = {{Social changes; post traumatic stress disorder PTSD; professional and voluntary social work; emergent organizations; professional jurisdiction and abstraction; social network; disaster; collective mourning; theory of social work; Sociala förändringar; teorier om socialt arbete}},
language = {{swe}},
publisher = {{Socialhögskolan, Lunds universitet}},
school = {{Lund University}},
series = {{Lund Dissertations in Social Work}},
title = {{Krisgrupper och spontant stöd : om insatser efter branden i Göteborg 1998}},
url = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/97504611/TNKristofersson_Avh_Krisgrupper.pdf}},
year = {{2002}},
}