Social Service Workers’ Work for Abused Children

Society is obliged to intervene when children are harmed. The social services have an obligation to initiate an assessment for the children who are at risk of harm. During the assessment process, there are difficulties and obstacles that the social service workers encounter in the work for the best interests of the child. The purpose of this study is to illustrate the social service workers’ work with abused children (0-18 years) and their parents, in order to analyze obstacles and difficulties in the work for the Barnets bästa, (best interestsof the child) in childcare assessment. The study is based on four semi-structured interviews with social service workers from two larger municipalities that work in Swedish social services with child welfare inquiries. We were able to identify four specific difficulties which the social service workers experienced that affected the work with child assessment. These difficulties are the following: The police preliminary investigation, the meeting with childrenand parents, the workload and Handlingsutrymme (the room for maneuver). Finally, socialservice workers see the legislation as a complicating factor when it comes to working for the best interests of the child. The study then deepens the understanding of the result through an analysis based on Lipsky's theory of Street-level bureaucracy and organizational theory