Suicide prevention in Swedish municipalities : A qualitive interview study regarding the officials’ role in the suicide preventive work and the government’s use of soft power

This thesis examines the suicide preventive work done in the Swedish municipalities with a focus on the municipal officials responsible for suicide preventive work within the municipality and the state’s governance. The study uses a qualitative research design and the empirical material consists of interviews done with the municipal officials in nine different municipalities around Sweden. The intention of the thesis is to study the governing mechanisms and how the suicide preventive work is implemented in the Swedish municipalities. Furthermore, this study examines the municipal officials’ perceptions of the suicide preventive work. The officials’ perception of the suicide preventive work is essential and is a ground pilar in the work. The thesis also applies the implementation perspective along with the governance perspective to understand the suicide prevention’s challenges and the process of the work. Moreover, the thesis briefly summarizes two reports from Public Health Agency of Sweden (Folkhälsomyndigheten) regarding Sweden’s suicide preventive work in all the municipalities, regions and county administrative boards to give a summary of the work being done in Sweden as well as comparison to the interviews. The thesis establishes that the suicide preventive work differs between the municipalities and that municipal officials have a much bigger effect on the result than anticipated. The size of the municipalities does not play a huge role, but the politics and resources are essential if the municipalities want to succeed. However, the goal of the government is their vision zero and the interviews have shown that Sweden is nowhere near its goal. The government’s use of soft power seems to have a contributing effect in this and the lack of demands in the suicide preventive work shows that municipalities have handled the issue differently: some have come a long way and have very developed work, and some have a lot left to work with