Suchergebnisse

Our aim is to analyze how stories on drug use, present life situation and earlier experiences structure cannabis users' self-presentations—as this is presented in interviews with young adults. The interviewees' identity work takes place within a narrative terrain including both a restrictive, official story about drugs and a liberal, subcultural story about cannabis. We identify four dominant narratives about cannabis users: the burnt user, the irresponsible user, the responsible user and the cannabis prophet. Some of these stories put the narrator at greater risk of condemnation, and the analysis shows how the interviewees negotiate between the different stories. The ambiguous position of cannabis use makes it a rich, but also equivocal, resource for identity work. Attentiveness to the individual's present situation is essential for understanding how individuals make sense of their past, as well as their expectations for the future.

AbstractThe article explores differences in the assessment and decision‐making processes, in child welfare services where a standardized template is implemented and in services where it is not. Child welfare services in several countries use different approaches to assess children's and families' need for intervention. In Norway, as in other European countries, there is a shortage of knowledge about decision‐making strategies. The article examines how 36 child welfare caseworkers in 6 different teams in Norway investigate, assess, and make decisions at the phase of an incoming referral. The analysed data were collected by focus group interviews. We use decision theory as a theoretical frame of reference. The analysis shows variation in the assessment procedure at different points of the process, depending on which approach was used. Despite such differences, the final decisions made were almost identical. Even though the data has its limitations because of the small number of informants, the results indicate that choice of approach is not decisive for decision‐making in the child welfare services.