”Känslor all over the place”. Socialsekreterares upplevelser och känslor vid LVU

Abstract

Working as a social worker in the department of children and youth is complex. The work means that the social worker faces situations where children in some cases get hurt, are in danger or are in need of help. In these situations, the social worker is obliged to take compulsory custody in the best interests of the child. And in parallel the work is also characterized by a constant time pressure and a high workload. This combined means that social workers are exposed to strain and stress. Our purpose with this study is to highlight the social workers experiences of forced custody and also to highlight whether they have the right support and if there is possibly some more support that they are in need of. This study is a qualitative study based on seven interviews with social workers where we used thematic analysis to analyze the data. The result of this study is that social workers feel that the process of compulsory custody of children is an emotional and stressful process because they have many tasks such as cooperation and having a relationship with both the parents and the child, and at the same time, they have a short period in which they have to carry out all administrative work. This lack of time makes them feel stressed and it also makes their work feel more difficult. The lack of time also affects the social workers ability to reflect on their own emotions. The lack of reflection on one's own emotions can result in "turning off" and having more difficulty showing empathy witch is crucial to working professionally with clients. Regarding support, we concluded that the availability of the management is important for the social workers but that it doesn't always exist. However, the social workers value collegial support and believe that it is also an important aid.