Collaboration against bullying : A qualitative study on school counselors and other professionals who work against bullying in schools

The aim of this study was to examine, in the work against bullying how collaboration between the school counselor and other professions is described by the different professions within the student health team as well as how they describe that the different competencies involved in such teams shapes problem definitions and solutions. The student health (swedish- elevhälsoteamet) team of which the study is based on consists of different professions such as school counselors, school nurses, special education teachers, school psychologists and school principles. We have interviewed representatives of all the above mentioned professions with the exception of school psychologists using a qualitative research design. In this study we have chosen to focus on two student health teams from two different primary schools located in a middle-sized municipality in southern Sweden. We have analysed the results using new institutional theory and the terms domain and power. The main conclusion of the study is that school counselors themselves feel they have a specific knowledge regarding bullying but have difficulties in capitalizing on it while collaborating with the other professions in the student health team. In line with early research the school counselors also feel marginalised by the fact that they are the only professional social workers in a work place mainly dominated by educationalists. Other problems facing school counselors and similarly affecting the collaboration with other professions within the school and particularly in the student health team are indistinct roles, less contact with students and restriction due to confidentiality