Interorganizational and intraorganizational collaboration for clients with complex needs : Qualitative interviews with social workers about perspectives on collaboration

Based on an assumption that legal space can contribute to improved collaboration in social work, while at the same time it with its scope for interpretation can create obstacles to collaboration, this study has been made. This qualitative study has been limited to a smaller municipality in southern Sweden, where all interviewees, work at the social services in the adult unit, but in different sections thus problems specialized specializations. During the course of the study, another study was discovered on collaboration between the police and social services, where collaboration and cross-border cooperation work better in smaller municipalities. Based on interviewee statements, this can be confirmed even if these cannot generalize all municipalities' social workers' experience of collaboration. The social services on which the study is conducted are focused on problems for adults and collaborate with a number of different actors, units and authorities at the same time, including within the unit. In order to be able to understand and explain how collaboration takes place and is experienced, the study has been structured in such a way that the social services as the organization are described and explained based on, among other things, organizational theory. The social services are clarified based on which structure, the social secretaries work. Where both collaboration theory and complexity theory can be applied, it is also explained in more detail about internal and external collaboration, intraorganizational collaboration, interorganizational collaboration. The social secretaries are then described in their role and work performance, with a special focus on collaboration.Where specialization, legitimacy and profession form the basis for a desirable and evidence-based practice (EBP) performance of social work. Finally, based on previous research and interviewees' statements, it has been possible to make a reflection from the clients' perspective of how they experience collaboration. This structure has facilitated the explanation of each component for a functioning collaboration and created an overview to be able to develop and clarify the social workers' experience of the collaboration