Jämställdhet i barnavårdsutredningar. Socialsekreterares beskrivningar av flickor och pojkar
(2025) SOPB63 20242School of Social Work
- Abstract
- Gender norms seem to affect social workers' evaluation of children in childcare investigations in Sweden. This essay aimed to determine whether social workers at a Swedish social service center write differently about boys and girls in child care investigation documents based on the children's gender. The sample consisted of nine randomized investigation documents on four boys and five girls between the ages of 15 and 18. The method used was a qualitative analysis, applying Connell and Pearse's (2015) gender theory and Säljö's (2014) sociocultural theory as the theoretical framework. The study revealed similarities and differences in how social workers at the included social service center described the children based on gender. The... (More)
- Gender norms seem to affect social workers' evaluation of children in childcare investigations in Sweden. This essay aimed to determine whether social workers at a Swedish social service center write differently about boys and girls in child care investigation documents based on the children's gender. The sample consisted of nine randomized investigation documents on four boys and five girls between the ages of 15 and 18. The method used was a qualitative analysis, applying Connell and Pearse's (2015) gender theory and Säljö's (2014) sociocultural theory as the theoretical framework. The study revealed similarities and differences in how social workers at the included social service center described the children based on gender. The similarities were mainly seen in describing positive and negative behaviours, safety and risk factors, and needs and support. Notably, boys were described as caring for others to the same extent as girls, challenging traditional gender theory and revealing a new dimension of masculine gender norms among Swedish social workers. The differences found were that girls' relationships were described as more important for their well-being, while boys' autonomy and ability to improve their situation were enhanced. For example, girls were often described as love, while boys weren't. Similarly, boys’ mental health issues were not addressed, while girls’ problems with school attendance were addressed as an issue without any suggested solutions. Additionally, boys were described to negatively impact others, whereas girls were described to be negatively affected by others. These findings reinforce the view of girls as victims and boys as perpetrators, which, according to previous studies, is likely to affect the child’s care. By presenting both similarities and differences in social workers' descriptions of boys and girls, this study offers new insights compared to previous research, which mainly focused on the differences. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9181275
- author
- Lindquist, Elin LU and Hedlund Bie, Viola LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- SOPB63 20242
- year
- 2025
- type
- M2 - Bachelor Degree
- subject
- keywords
- Child care investigations, gender norms, documentation, gender theory, sociocultural theory
- language
- Swedish
- id
- 9181275
- date added to LUP
- 2025-01-17 14:28:22
- date last changed
- 2025-01-17 14:28:27
@misc{9181275,
abstract = {{Gender norms seem to affect social workers' evaluation of children in childcare investigations in Sweden. This essay aimed to determine whether social workers at a Swedish social service center write differently about boys and girls in child care investigation documents based on the children's gender. The sample consisted of nine randomized investigation documents on four boys and five girls between the ages of 15 and 18. The method used was a qualitative analysis, applying Connell and Pearse's (2015) gender theory and Säljö's (2014) sociocultural theory as the theoretical framework. The study revealed similarities and differences in how social workers at the included social service center described the children based on gender. The similarities were mainly seen in describing positive and negative behaviours, safety and risk factors, and needs and support. Notably, boys were described as caring for others to the same extent as girls, challenging traditional gender theory and revealing a new dimension of masculine gender norms among Swedish social workers. The differences found were that girls' relationships were described as more important for their well-being, while boys' autonomy and ability to improve their situation were enhanced. For example, girls were often described as love, while boys weren't. Similarly, boys’ mental health issues were not addressed, while girls’ problems with school attendance were addressed as an issue without any suggested solutions. Additionally, boys were described to negatively impact others, whereas girls were described to be negatively affected by others. These findings reinforce the view of girls as victims and boys as perpetrators, which, according to previous studies, is likely to affect the child’s care. By presenting both similarities and differences in social workers' descriptions of boys and girls, this study offers new insights compared to previous research, which mainly focused on the differences.}},
author = {{Lindquist, Elin and Hedlund Bie, Viola}},
language = {{swe}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Jämställdhet i barnavårdsutredningar. Socialsekreterares beskrivningar av flickor och pojkar}},
year = {{2025}},
}