Arbetsrelaterad stress hos socialarbetare : En kvalitativ studie om arbetsrelaterad stress påverkan på det praktiska arbetet, privatlivet och välbefinnande hos socialarbetare

Work-related stress has become common in recent years. Many academic studies point out that social workers in the social services experience a lack of time and limited resources in the workplaces in which these social workers are employed. This leads to work-related stress among a large section of the social workers. The purpose of this study is to shed light on social workers´ experiences of work-related stress and how this stress can affect the social workers´ work, private life and health. To answer the study's questions, we have adopted a qualitative methodology and interviewing as a data collection method. In this regard, we have interviewed six social workers who work in the social services within two different municipalities in Sweden. In addition, we have used an analysis method called content analysis. The conclusion is that work- related stress can affect social workers' work in social services, private life and physical and mental health in a negative way. In addition, the empirical study partly confirms the theory and the previous research used in this paper, but we have also found deviating answers that differ from the previous research. Our study has shown that two interviewed social workers did not have experience that work-related stress had a negative effect on their practical work. A few have also said that their health and private life were not negatively affected by the work-related stress, which indicates a need for further research regarding the subject of work-related stress in the Swedish social services, to inquire into why some social workers experience work- related stress and why some do not.