Samhällets stöd till föräldrar : synen på föräldraskap och föräldrastöd i statliga utredningar 1972-1997

The purpose of this study was to describe and investigate the system of support to parents as it is motivated in Swedish officials’ reports 1972-1997. The main research questions of the study where: Which conceptions about parenthood appear in the officials reports? Which conceptions are expressed about the responsibility between the individual and the state referring to the support system to parents? Which conceptions about professionals are expressed? Are there some changes in the government bills referring to the system of support to parents? The study was defined as a qualitative study of documents with intent to discourse analysis. I used a critical approach in order to understand and explain the system of parent support. I used different theories and investigations to comprehend the historical context in which the official reports where expressed. The main conclusions where that there are three tracks: the paternal track which is overlapped by the empowerment track and the independent track. In these I found that the psychological development theory discourse is replaced by a social discourse. The parents are shown both as independents and as parents with needs in the parenthood. The role of the professionals is seen as essential. The parental education is the base in the supportsistem to parents although I found a change in the discourse. Another important conclusion was that the social worker normally has no place in the general system of support to parents. The study forms a basis for reflections about the future of the system of support to parents in there parental role. Key words: Empowerment, individualisation, infants, parent, parenthood, parental education, paternalism, professionals, support to parents, the government