Att placera eller inte placera... : En studie om socialsekreterares handlingsutrymme i ungdomsärenden

The present study deals with the scope of action available to a social worker when analyzing, assessing and proposing measures regarding young persons experiencing social problems. The interest in the subject area emanates from the fact that the number of youth placed in different forms of round the clock out-of-home care in Sweden increases, whereas research in the subject shows that such placement gives few positive results and sometimes even has negative consequences for their development. The study investigates how the preconditions of the social worker influence their scope of possible action, in particular as regards their place of work, the situation of the individual dealt with, and the profession itself being one based both on scientific evidence and knowledge gained by experience. Lipsky’s theory on ”street-level bureaucracy” and Hasenfelds theory on human servicing organizations form the theoretical framework of the present study. The empirical input comes from interviews with focus groups of active social workers. The analysis of the interviews shows that social workers generally feel that they have a broad scope of action as far as the regulatory framework and office management are concerned. They have, however, less room of manoeuvre when it comes to the resources of their place of work and their ability to use the whole range of possible measures may be limited by an insufficient level of experience and a weak management structure. According to the interviews social workers feel that the situation of the juvenile clients themselves constitutes the most limiting factor. It is evident that placements in out-of-home care are almost exclusively done for protective reasons, when the social worker sees no other possibility to break a seriously destructive way of life