Obtaining Local Universality Making Social Skills Training Fit Swedish Social Psychiatry

Abstract

This article aims at analyzing the implementation of the Swedish version of the evidence-based Social & Independent Living Skills Program (Ett Självständigt Liv) in Swedish social psychiatry. Using ethnography and actor-network theory, this article attempts to describe the ongoing implementation process of ESL in a specific case: in two different Swedish social psychiatry units. The main findings are that ESL has been, and still is, undergoing transformations in order to fit the pre-existing organizational structure of Swedish social psychiatry, suggesting that the flexibility of the method is an enabling factor for increasing usage. Here, the notion of flexible standard is introduced for describing the specific constitution of ESL in relation to other similar interventions. The process of making ESL flexible, adapting it to social psychiatry, is time consuming and made with respect to many factors. Professionals also select when to deploy the method on the basis of their extensive contextual knowledge, suggesting that they do not become “mindless cooks” when introduced to ESL. Additionally, the article examines the nature of the divergent local universalities and differing contextual settings in their respective social psychiatry unit, showing that ESL feeds off of already existing practices, past infrastructures and material relations.