Socialsekreterares strategier i arbetet - En kvalitativ studie om hanteringsstrategier i en stressfylld arbetsmiljö

The aim of this thesis was to study social workers’ coping strategies when confronted with a stressful work environment. The focus was on which coping strategies the social workers practiced when they felt overstrained in correlation with work demands. This paper was conducted with qualitative research using the theory Sense of coherence, literature search and semi-structed interviews. Six social workers working in social services were interviewed. We found that structure and explicitness conduced to decrease social workers stress level. Another finding was that social workers used coping strategies such as overtime work, to cope with their work stress. These strategies worked temporarily, but applying them over a long time was not sustainable. Other coping strategies were distance yourself from your clients. Expressing your feelings to your co-workers was a significative coping strategy