"...det är ju relationen som bär". Samband mellan synsätt och praktik avseende arbetet med vårdnadsöverflyttningar inom familjehemsvården.
(2011) SOPA63 20102School of Social Work
- Abstract
- The purpose of this study was to identify if and how the personal perspectives and views of social workers active within local social services departments in Sweden might affect how they carry out the transfer of children’s custody from biological to foster parents. The general discourse in child welfare in Sweden gives predominance to a family preservation perspective in which foster care placements are intended to serve only as temporary solutions, towards the purpose of an eventual reunification with the birth family. At the same time, a guiding principle of Swedish legislation is that all decisions should be made from the perspective of “the best interests of the child”. When it comes to weighing the importance of the biological... (More)
- The purpose of this study was to identify if and how the personal perspectives and views of social workers active within local social services departments in Sweden might affect how they carry out the transfer of children’s custody from biological to foster parents. The general discourse in child welfare in Sweden gives predominance to a family preservation perspective in which foster care placements are intended to serve only as temporary solutions, towards the purpose of an eventual reunification with the birth family. At the same time, a guiding principle of Swedish legislation is that all decisions should be made from the perspective of “the best interests of the child”. When it comes to weighing the importance of the biological family ties against the child’s need for stable long term foster care placements, a difference in opinion amongst social workers is often apparent. How this divide might affect work carried out with transfer of children’s custody from biological to foster parents is an area that is largely unexplored. The issue is especially interesting since Sweden has a high level of local self-governance, with local social services being regulated by the Social Services Act, which is a “frame law”. This means that the social worker has substantial freedom to design and carry out the work according to personal preferences.
Qualitative research methodology was used in order to gain a deeper insight into the social workers’ personal thoughts and reasoning. The study consisted of five in-depth interviews with six social workers active within local council foster care departments in Sweden. The interviews revealed divisions of opinion on the biological parents’ importance to the child, which could be linked to a predominantly family preservation or children’s rights-oriented viewpoint. This was found to have a correlation with how work with transfers of children’s custody from biological to foster parents was designed and carried out in the council. The interviews revealed striking differences in the local attitudes towards custody transfers and the procedures for doing so, as well as different points of view regarding interpretation of the established law. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/1857492
- author
- Salomonsson, Caroline LU and Schönig, Tina LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- SOPA63 20102
- year
- 2011
- type
- M2 - Bachelor Degree
- subject
- keywords
- custody transfers, family preservation, the best interest of the child, vårdnadsöverflyttning, handlingsutrymme, relation, behov
- language
- Swedish
- id
- 1857492
- date added to LUP
- 2011-03-23 09:20:28
- date last changed
- 2011-03-23 09:20:28
@misc{1857492,
abstract = {{The purpose of this study was to identify if and how the personal perspectives and views of social workers active within local social services departments in Sweden might affect how they carry out the transfer of children’s custody from biological to foster parents. The general discourse in child welfare in Sweden gives predominance to a family preservation perspective in which foster care placements are intended to serve only as temporary solutions, towards the purpose of an eventual reunification with the birth family. At the same time, a guiding principle of Swedish legislation is that all decisions should be made from the perspective of “the best interests of the child”. When it comes to weighing the importance of the biological family ties against the child’s need for stable long term foster care placements, a difference in opinion amongst social workers is often apparent. How this divide might affect work carried out with transfer of children’s custody from biological to foster parents is an area that is largely unexplored. The issue is especially interesting since Sweden has a high level of local self-governance, with local social services being regulated by the Social Services Act, which is a “frame law”. This means that the social worker has substantial freedom to design and carry out the work according to personal preferences.
Qualitative research methodology was used in order to gain a deeper insight into the social workers’ personal thoughts and reasoning. The study consisted of five in-depth interviews with six social workers active within local council foster care departments in Sweden. The interviews revealed divisions of opinion on the biological parents’ importance to the child, which could be linked to a predominantly family preservation or children’s rights-oriented viewpoint. This was found to have a correlation with how work with transfers of children’s custody from biological to foster parents was designed and carried out in the council. The interviews revealed striking differences in the local attitudes towards custody transfers and the procedures for doing so, as well as different points of view regarding interpretation of the established law.}},
author = {{Salomonsson, Caroline and Schönig, Tina}},
language = {{swe}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{"...det är ju relationen som bär". Samband mellan synsätt och praktik avseende arbetet med vårdnadsöverflyttningar inom familjehemsvården.}},
year = {{2011}},
}