Since the conceptions, norms, and values that govern the work of child protection are elusive, they are rarely discussed in the research. This study is based on diaries maintained by three social workers in relation to 15 families that were the subject of interventions by the child protective services in Sweden. All of the mothers in the 15 families had been diagnosed with mental health problems. The diaries include both significant events within the families and the social workers' own feelings and perceptions about their work. This article discusses four themes: the Janus face of child protective services, clienthood and its conditions, child protective services and good or bad parenting, and the fathers. The results show that the families were subjected to extensive discipline. The diaries also expressed strong value judgements regarding how children should be raised. The parents' desires and wishes were redefined by the social workers, making the parents powerless. The fathers were marginalized, which meant that an important resource within the families was lost. The parents reacted to this exercise of power in part by trying to escape it and in part by adapting to it. In summary, the desire to help was in some cases transformed into an abusive exercise of power.

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The aim of this paper is to examine how the rights of homeless children to housing and protection in accordance with articles 27 and 19 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child are upheld in Malmö. The two research questions that are of particular interest in relation to this objective are firstly whether the Swedish parliament's decision to incorporate the Convention on children's rights into Swedish law has had a concrete effect on the implementation of children's rights to housing and protection, and secondly how new guidelines that were introduced in Malmö in 2019 have had an impact on the same. The study is qualitative and employs an ethnographic approach based on conversations with 14 girls and 6 boys, which proceeded from photographs the children had taken of their housing situation and daily lives. The results show that homeless children and their needs and rights remain largely unseen in the work of the social services. The situation of this already vulnerable group has also worsened since our conversations with the children, since a majority no longer are part of the social services' target group according to Malmö's guidelines regarding homeless persons. It may be argued that such a result provides an indication both of society's approach to children located on the extreme margins of society and of the way in which welfare provision has developed in Sweden.

Var inte rädd att upprepa det självklara: De rika behöver inte det de har Och de fattiga har inte det de behöver. Väj inte för att tänka den enklaste tanken till slut: Ingen väljer sin födelseplats och den som färdas över havet kunde vara du. Det är morgon och du har överlevt. (Greider, 2019) MEDVERKANDE I PROJEKTET Annelie Björkhagen Turesson är filosofie doktor i socialt arbete, socionom och familjeterapeut. Hon arbetar som universitetslektor i socialt arbete vid Malmö universitet och är även forsknings-och utvecklingskoordinator i Malmö stad. Annelies forskningsområde är barn och familjer som lever i utsatta livssituationer. Annika Staaf är filosofie doktor i rättssociologi, docent i socialt arbete, inriktning rättsvetenskap och jur. kand. Hon arbetar som universitetslektor vid Malmö universitet, men är även knuten till Linnéuniversitetet och Alice Saloon Hochschule i Berlin. Gunilla Persson är magister i socialpsykologi och familjebehandlare i Malmö stad. Hon har lång erfarenhet av att träffa familjer med skiftande social problematik och som ofta lever i ekonomisk utsatthet, otrygga områden och i vissa fall hemlösa. Jenny Ekblad är legitimerad dietist och filosofie doktor i hushållsvetenskap, numera området kostvetenskap. Hon arbetar som forsknings-och utvecklingskoordinator i Malmö stad. Karin Ridell är odontologie doktor och specialisttandläkare i pedodonti (barntandvård). Hon är verksam som lektor vid odontologiska fakulteten, Malmö universitet. Karins forskningsområde handlar om barn och ungdomar med särskilda behov i tandvården samt tandhälsan hos utsatta barn.

This article addresses the documentation and handling processes within the social services concerning applications of housing for homeless families with children, from the perspective of central articles of the Convention of the rights of the Child (UNCRC). Of particular interest is if or to what extent the children of the homeless families participate (article 12) during the application process and if an analysis of the best interest of the child (article 3) has been conducted. These two articles are essential keys for providing a children's rights perspective and to initiate an analysis of the consequences for the involved children. For that purpose, we have analysed 270 social services files concerning applications for housing made by homeless families in Malmö during the year 2017 emanating from a R&D report of Malmö municipality. Our findings show that only very few files documented the voice and participation of the children in the homeless families and a complete analysis of what could be considered to be in the best interest of the child or children in the families were lacking in almost all files. We also found that parts of previous documentation were recycled and used in various situations without adaption and seemed to be more of standardized phrasing rather than a comprehensive analysis. There was also a use of internal authority checklists and guides when justifying and supporting the decisions made where families receiving such decisions probably did not get any wiser of such justifications.