I denna rapport redovisas en studie av om, och hur, individuella stöd till personer med funktionsnedsättning bidrar till delaktighet. Genom en kunskapskartläggning och analys av statistik och register samt intervjuer med handläggare och personer med omfattande funktionsnedsättning analyseras på vilket sätt och under vilka förutsättningar individuella stöd bidrar till ökad självständighet och delaktighet. Dels fokuseras delaktighet under utrednings- och beslutsprocessen inför individuella stöd, dels bedömningar av stödens betydelse för delaktighet. Utgångspunkten är stöd enligt Lagen om stöd och service till vissa funktionshindrade (LSS). Resultaten pekar på att individuella utformat stöd av god kvalitet och kvantitet är av stor betydelse och nödvändigt för att, i samspel med generella insatser, minska funktionshinderskapande processer och situationer.

Forskningsprojektet Utsatthet för svåra barndomserfarenheter bland våldsutövande barn och unga vuxna, som redovisas i denna rapport, studerade utsatthet för svåra barndomserfarenheter (Adverse Childhood Experiences) bland barn och unga vuxna som systematiskt använder våld och har pågående socialtjänstinsatser på grund av detta. I studien undersöktes dels unga våldsutövares egen utsatthet, både i närtid och under uppväxten, dels hur socialarbetare bemöter och arbetar med utsatthet och bristande hemförhållanden i denna målgrupp. Forskningsprojektet en del av det sexåriga forskningsprogrammet Samordnade interventionssystem mot våld i nära relationer (SIVIN) som genomförs på Marie Cederschiöld högskola mellan åren 2019 och 2025. Studien bestod av an enkätstudie riktat till unga våldsutövare och en intervjustudie riktad till professionella i socialtjänsten. Enkätstudien visar på en sammantaget svår uppväxt bland de undersökta ungdomarna, med utsatthet för en hög andel svåra barndomserfarenheter (ACEs). Studien visar exempelvis att 14 procent har utsatts för nio ACEs under sin uppvxät. Sammantaget visar intervjustudien på obalansen mellan ett stort behov av bearbetande insatser och en samtidigt låg mottaglighet för studiens målgrupp. Den visar således på vikten av att motivera till och förklara nyttan av sådana insatser, det vill säga att skapa en brukarrationalitet hos målgruppen för att ta emot behandling och bearbetande insatser. Studiens resultat reflekteras kring tidigare forskning om hur man kan öka brukarrationaliteten och motivationen till behandling hos målgruppen.

This study examined the distribution of authority over decisions made during investigations within child welfare services (CWS). The distribution between various actors, such as social workers, citizen representatives and managers, was examined regarding 19 key decisions that frequently occur during investigations. The study also examined how the municipal socio-economic status and the internal organizational conditions of CWS impact the overall hierarchical level of authority using linear regression analysis. The study was a full population study of Swedish municipalities and districts in larger cities (n = 309, response rate of 62%). The study indicates that the head of the unit holds authority over most decision types, followed by the social worker. However, the study also indicates that there are significant variations between municipalities and decision types. In the municipality delegating authority to the lowest hierarchical level, social workers hold authority over 15 decision types compared with two decision types in the municipality delegating authority to the highest hierarchical level. This variation concerns most decision types except two, where authority is almost exclusively delegated to the same actor in all municipalities. The regression analysis indicated that the educational level of the municipal inhabitants and the size of the CWS budget were the strongest predictors of the hierarchical level of authority in a municipality. High educational levels in municipalities are associated with delegating authority to low hierarchical levels, such as social workers, whereas large CWS budgets (spending as SEK per inhabitant) are associated with delegating authority to high hierarchical levels, such as top-level managers. The implications of these results for social work research and practice are discussed.

Previous research indicates that child welfare services reach out to children exposed to violence unequally depending on the child’s social background, living conditions and violence type, and that once children are investigated by the child welfare services, inequalities in access to interventions prevail (e.g. Kalin et al. 2022; Knezevic 2021; Persdotter & Andersson 2020; Quarles van Ufford et al. 2022). There is a lack of systematic knowledge about the long term outcomes for children investigated by the child welfare services. The current study explores different childhood trajectories in the aftermath of a child welfare investigation initiated due to children’s exposure to violence. A register was set up including all children (n= 1 764) between 7-12 years that were investigated by child welfare services in Stockholm in 2019 for suspected exposure to violence. As a baseline this cohort was systematically compared to demographic data and a national self-report prevalence study to explore possible biases regarding which children the child welfare services investigates (Kassman et al. 2023). In the current paper, the study group development in the first three years following upon the child welfare investigation was explored as regards living conditions, out of home care, health care consumption and school grades. The development of the study group was also systematically compared to a comparison group of children (n=5 000). Descriptive analysis, cluster analysis and logistic regressions were used. 

Objective: Based on the notion of selective recognition of vulnerability and risk, this study explores which children CWS pursue to a complete child welfare investigation.

Methods: A register was set up including all children (n= 1 764) between 7-12 years that were investigated for suspected exposure to violence by CWS in Sweden in 2019. This cohort was systematically compared to demographic data and a national self-report prevalence study. 

Results: Children exposed to violence have reduced access to material resources and inferior living conditions compared to non-exposed children. Physical abuse was more prevalent among boys of foreign backgrounds in stable, two-parent families residing in higher-status suburbs. Conversely, neglect was more common among children of Swedish backgrounds in low-income, single-parent households living in low-status suburbs. In comparison with self-reported prevalence studies, sexual and psychological abuse seem underrepresented in the study group.

Conclusions: The results indicate that CWS should develop its methods to reach certain vulnerable groups that are underrepresented for safeguarding and support, for example, girls exposed to sexual abuse.

The article presents a study on structured support for the professional assessment of emergent domestic violence in families with children. Data are presented on the development and study of a new structured support called iRiSk emergency, which was developed jointly by the authors of this article, and an emergency social work unit in Stockholm, Sweden. The model was developed from the iRiSk model, which, translated from Swedish, stands for ‘Interventions and Risk and Protection Assessments for children exposed to violence’. Structured support for emergency risk assessments is rare as existing instruments mainly focus on screening for violence and are not designed to guide professionals in situations of identified violence. The purpose of the research project is elaborated through two research questions: (1) Which information is needed for emergency assessments, and how can it be collected? (2) What are the specific preconditions of the child welfare service emergency work to be taken into account in terms of emergency risk assessments? The feedback from the social workers was that iRiSk emergency was flexible to use, decreased the risk of missing important risk factors and made the assessments more child-centred. The model appears to be a viable approach for enhancing the systematic evaluation and testing of structured support for emergency risk assessment in social work, surpassing the limitations of the current study.

Problematic school absenteeism is increasing in most advanced welfarecountries. As school success is a well-established factor for improvingchildren’s social, mental, and physical development, it representsa fundamental challenge for welfare states. To counteract this develop-ment, a variety of different methods and interprofessional collaborationshave been developed recently. Despite this, there is little research to dateon the roles social workers adopt in mitigating problematic absenteeism. This article presents a study that explored the roles of social workers in a newly developed and rapidly spreading Swedish method, School Social Teams. This study aimed to explore the roles adopted by school socialworkers in these teams and the core components associated withdecreased problematic school absenteeism. The study found empiricalevidence for three roles and six associated core components: the mediator (creating a communicative space and fostering an understanding of underlying problems); the advocate (establishing a student perspective and advocate at meetings); and the available adult (being available and having endurance). Compared with the existing literature, the mediator and advocate are more theoretically anchored in the literature, whereas the available adult role are related to stronger evidence for mitigating problematic school absenteeism. One conclusion is the importance of deliberate choices of various roles associated with school social work roles as its core components are related to different outcomes.

Under 2021 och 2022 samarbetade socialjouren i Stockholms stad med Marie Cederschiöld högskola i ett pilotprojekt för att utveckla ett strukturerat och barncentrerat metodstöd för akuta risk- och skyddsbedömningar för våldsutsatta barn. Samarbetet initierades av socialjouren, med anledning av arbetet med Islandsmodellen i Stockholm. Den här rapporten redovisar genomförande och resultat från detta pilotprojekt, som alltså var ett första steg i utvecklingen av ett strukturerat stöd för professionella bedömningar av risk i akuta situationer av våld i familjer där det finns barn.