Att göra det politiska personligt : En diskursanalys av socialsekreterares bedömningar av lämpligt föräldraskap i samband med juridiskt samkönad närståendeadoption

This thesis analyses social worker’s assessments of appropriate same-sex parenthood in the case of second-parent adoption in Sweden to thereby investigate the governmentality directed toward same-sex parents and how this governing practise normalises certain discourses on parenthood. The material consists of interviews with social workers conducting second-parent adoptions, which have been analysed through a discourse analysis deploying theoretical frameworks on governmentality, heteronormativity and family theory. The thesis has provided a deeper understanding of the effects of normative discourses on the exercise of public authority in the case of second-parent adoption. Great differences have been found among which criteria are used to condition same-sex parenthood and the impact of social workers own perceptions of suitable parenthood and the purpose of the assessment process.