Journalisters negativa porträtt av socialtjänstens arbete och mediedebatten som uppstår

Our thesis examines how social services are portrayed and reviewed in media. We chose to focus on two cases from two different townships, brought to attention by a Swedish TV show called Uppdrag granskning during two different coverages. The cases are called “Mardrömmen” and “Processen”. These cases involve children and their families who have been in contact with social services regarding allegations of sexual abuse. We wanted to analyze how the media debate looked like after airing and how it could potentially affect social services work. We have transcribed and coded articles, blogs, chat room conversations and gathered the written comments from the public. To further analyze our empirical data we did a qualitative content analysis where we used an agenda-setting theory to be able to explain and understand our material. The term scapegoat and moral panic was also used to analyze our data. The conclusion of our analysis were that social services are being portrayed very negatively by both media and the public after the two cases were reviewed by Uppdrag granskning. This also showed that a hatred and fear of being in contact with social services could damage their work with the communities. Key words: social services, social work, Uppdrag granskning, media, agenda-setting theory, Mardrömmen, Processen