Skip to main content

LUP Student Papers

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

"Det kanske låter jättetydligt men i praktiken är det inte det" - En kvalitativ intervjustudie om socialsekreterares upplevelser utav och förberedelser inför den nya socialtjänstlagen

Holmlund, Liv LU and Björkgren, Embla LU (2025) SOPB63 20251
School of Social Work
Abstract
The current Swedish Social Services Act is based on the law that entered into force in 1982. The society has since then extensively changed, and new social issues have arisen. Therefore, the Swedish government handed over a proposition on the 23rd of January 2025, suggesting the implementation of a new law for social services. The purpose of this study has been to investigate perceptions of and preparations for the new Social Services Act among social workers within social services. Six semi-structured interviews with social workers in municipal social services were conducted. Lipsky's (2010) theory, Street-level bureaucracy, and Lundquist's (1992) conceptual concepts understand, able, and will [own translation] were used as an analytical... (More)
The current Swedish Social Services Act is based on the law that entered into force in 1982. The society has since then extensively changed, and new social issues have arisen. Therefore, the Swedish government handed over a proposition on the 23rd of January 2025, suggesting the implementation of a new law for social services. The purpose of this study has been to investigate perceptions of and preparations for the new Social Services Act among social workers within social services. Six semi-structured interviews with social workers in municipal social services were conducted. Lipsky's (2010) theory, Street-level bureaucracy, and Lundquist's (1992) conceptual concepts understand, able, and will [own translation] were used as an analytical framework. The study has shown that workload, lack of support, and accountability shifting affected how the social workers perceived the law and its impact. The analysis first presented that social workers understand the content of the new Social Services Act, but not how the law will affect their way of working in practical terms. This affects the social workers’ discretion in their professional role. Secondly, the analysis indicates that resource constraints within the social services, partly due to current duties, results in difficulties for the social workers to be able to implement the new law. Finally, social workers express a positive perception of the new Social Services Act and are therefore willing to adapt to the new law, despite strategies such as withdrawal. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Holmlund, Liv LU and Björkgren, Embla LU
supervisor
organization
course
SOPB63 20251
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
Social Services Act, social services, social worker, social work, implementation, implementation of law, street-level bureaucracy, Sweden. Socialtjänstlagen, socialtjänsten, socialsekreterare, socialt arbete, implementering, implementering av lag, gräsrotsbyråkrati, Sverige
language
Swedish
id
9201384
date added to LUP
2025-06-19 15:20:40
date last changed
2025-06-19 15:20:40
@misc{9201384,
  abstract     = {{The current Swedish Social Services Act is based on the law that entered into force in 1982. The society has since then extensively changed, and new social issues have arisen. Therefore, the Swedish government handed over a proposition on the 23rd of January 2025, suggesting the implementation of a new law for social services. The purpose of this study has been to investigate perceptions of and preparations for the new Social Services Act among social workers within social services. Six semi-structured interviews with social workers in municipal social services were conducted. Lipsky's (2010) theory, Street-level bureaucracy, and Lundquist's (1992) conceptual concepts understand, able, and will [own translation] were used as an analytical framework. The study has shown that workload, lack of support, and accountability shifting affected how the social workers perceived the law and its impact. The analysis first presented that social workers understand the content of the new Social Services Act, but not how the law will affect their way of working in practical terms. This affects the social workers’ discretion in their professional role. Secondly, the analysis indicates that resource constraints within the social services, partly due to current duties, results in difficulties for the social workers to be able to implement the new law. Finally, social workers express a positive perception of the new Social Services Act and are therefore willing to adapt to the new law, despite strategies such as withdrawal.}},
  author       = {{Holmlund, Liv and Björkgren, Embla}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{"Det kanske låter jättetydligt men i praktiken är det inte det" - En kvalitativ intervjustudie om socialsekreterares upplevelser utav och förberedelser inför den nya socialtjänstlagen}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}