Housing-first eller behandling först- En studie i hur socialsekreterare argumenterar kring modellen Housing-first

Abstract Title: Housing-First or Treatment first-a study of social workers´discussions of the Housing-first model. Author: Janna Svensson The aim of this study is to examine the way in which social workers dealing with issues of homelessness in Swedish local councils consider the new approach to housing of homeless persons called the Housing First model, with particular focus on the arguments used in their assessment of the model.The attitudes of social workers towards the Housing First model are of crucial importance, because the decision to recommend models of rapid re-housing lies with the individual administrator. The Housing First model is a new approach to issues of homelessness within the Swedish context, and a philosophy more or less the opposite to the current way in which issues of homelessness are managed. The study is based on semi-structured interviews with social workers responsible for the administration of issues of homelessness in three Swedish local councils; Malmö, Helsingborg and Göteborg. The analyses is based on a social constructivism theory with particular focus on categorization, organization theory and Michael Lipskys theory about the dilemmas of street level bureaucrats. The theoretical device “accounts” has also been used in the analyses so further analyze the social workers statements. The study concludes that the decision to employ Housing First solutions is dependent on the characterization of the individual client in terms of their suitability for various models of housing support, as well as the influence of external agents, chiefly landlords