Suchergebnisse

The article analyses the compulsory care of drug misusers in Sweden. An historical analysis of this field of work as a part of the Swedish welfare state highlights historically changing legislations, institutions, understandings and practices. Following Foucault, it is argued that it is impossible to distinguish between power and care and that confusion about coercive care is a result of not acknowledging power. Empirical studies of current social work point to the significance of different institutional settings. The author's study of the Swedish probation service shows that social workers and clients may adopt different positions in relation to each other and that their experiences of the practice of social work depend on the congruence or disparity between these positions. The problematic role of motivation in coercive care is highlighted. While some scholars claim that motivation is not possible in coercive institutions, the author relates motivation to the caring power arguing that social work is always aimed at normality and that care is exercised to achieve normality. The promise of an improved life situation may make people in need of help adapt to the demands of the helper, and the caring power can be seen as a way to provide help for individuals who do not realize that they are in need of care.

This book provides a rich analysis of the history of Swedish victim support. With the majority of research on victim support centering on the Anglosphere, this book offers a unique case study for considering the role of the victim in the criminal justice system. While Sweden has enacted many laws to support victims, and victim assistance programs have grown rapidly, welfare policy has become more restrictive and crime policy, to some degree, more punitive. Drawing on archival material and interviews with key representatives for the Swedish Association for Victim Support (BOJ), this book examines what role the victim movement has played in a changing welfare state. It argues that BOJ filled a function in the decentralization and privatization of the Swedish welfare state and explores distinctive features of the Swedish victim movement and the form it has taken, as compared to that in other countries.This book will be of interest to scholars and students of criminology, sociology, social policy, civil society studies, and social work, and those engaged in studies of victims and victimology.

Abstract
The aim of this article was to develop the understanding of discretion in compulsory care for youth and the influence of emotional aspects in developing a collective discretionary practice. The empirical material consists of group interviews with staff at these institutions. The theoretical concepts of emotional labour and emotional energy are used to understand discretion and face-to-face interaction in this specific setting. The results show how the staff navigate between rigidity and flexibility in order to uphold institutional rules, whilst also being able to meet youths' different needs in specific situations in a personal, yet not private, manner. Professionalism is understood as providing a caring distance, in other words, a temporary emotional involvement with the youth. The staffs' reasoning and understanding of their work show how to manage emotional labour in a setting where the youth can be seen as both dangerous and vulnerable. The emotional energy is primarily connected to the long-lasting relation amongst staff and not to the youth, and hence, it is of primary importance to form a shared collective discretionary practice.

This article describes the process of professionalisation in the field of social control in Sweden. The aim is to analyse how the state by legislation created the profession of social workers for local social services and thus for social control by public administration. We show how organisations for social work have developed and played an important role since the 19th century and that social investigation should be seen as a hub for the practice. The work now mediated though professional organisations was initially performed by volunteers. In the early 20th century, volunteers and employed social workers cooperated, where social investigation was a central task for social workers. In the 1960s and '70s, more social workers were educated, the importance of social investigation was highlighted, and volunteers became subordinated to paid social workers. The legal professions have throughout the process had a role in making decisions, but not in the performance of investigating or executing procedures.

This article describes the process of professionalisation in the field of social control in Sweden. The aim is to analyse how the state by legislation created the profession of social workers for local social services and thus for social control by public administration. We show how organisations for social work have developed and played an important role since the 19th century and that social investigation should be seen as a hub for the practice. The work now mediated though professional organisations was initially performed by volunteers. In the early 20th century, volunteers and employed social workers cooperated, where social investigation was a central task for social workers. In the 1960s and '70s, more social workers were educated, the importance of social investigation was highlighted, and volunteers became subordinated to paid social workers. The legal professions have throughout the process had a role in making decisions, but not in the performance of investigating or executing procedures.

Soziale Arbeit lebt als Disziplin und Profession von der ständigen Weiterentwicklung des in und mit ihr geteilten Wissens. Forschung, Theoriebildung, Lehre und Praxis bilden hierbei ein komplexes Gefüge im gesellschaftlichen Kontext. Der Band nimmt die verschiedenen Relationen in den Blick: Wo, von wem und in welcher Weise wird Wissen der Sozialen Arbeit gebildet, weiterentwickelt und geteilt? Und um welche Arten von Wissen geht es dabei?