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This article reports on research on the intervention "contact family", which is used in Swedish social services to help mostly single mothers -with a sparse social network that lacks the ability to provide support -to get relief. 18 client families, their contact families and social workers have been interviewed. The main purpose was to investigate notions (or mental images) of "the family" among these three parties. Which are their notions of a normal, ordinary, and even an ideal family? Such mental images or notions may play a major role when families who are subjected to interventions by social services evaluate themselves or are judged as constituting functioning or malfunctioning systems. The interaction and influence of these notions on shaping the "contact family" intervention were investigated.

Socialtjänstens kontaktfamiljsinsats är ofta nära länkad till frånvarande fäder och umgängesvägran. I diskurserna om den omsorgsgivande fadern och barncentrering kan ensamstående mödrar drabbas av ett litet makt- och handlingsutrymme. Kontaktfamiljsinsatsen kan bidra till emancipation och öka mödrarnas handlingsutrymme.

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