People processing in Swedish personal social services. On the individuals, their predicaments and the outcomes of organisational screening

Stranz, Hugo; Wiklund, Stefan; Karlsson, Patrik

doi:10.1080/2156857x.2015.1134630

Cited by 16 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…Mot bakgrund av att dagens genomsnittliga tider för att ta emot ekonomiskt bistånd liksom andelen hushåll som uppbär ekonomiskt bistånd under längre perioder är historiskt höga (se Socialstyrelsen, 2017) framstår nivån för samverkan med psykiatrin inte helt oväntad; för att kunna hantera den problematik de biståndssökande uppvisar, fordras samverkan mellan de olika aktörer som är satta att hantera vissa givna typer av problem. Strax över hälften av de klienter som är aktuella för socialtjänstens missbruksinsatser uppvisar också någon form av psykisk ohälsa (Stranz, Wiklund & Karlsson, 2016). Att psykiatrin är den mest centrala samverkansparten även för de verksamheter som arbetar med vuxen-och missbruksproblematik är därför i någon mån följdriktigt och dess position som vanligast förekommande partner gäller här oavsett form.…”

Section: Andelunclassified

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Stranz¹,

Bergmark²,

Lundström³

2020

SVT

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On different terms? External collaboration in personal social servicesThe Swedish personal social services (PSS) are often considered as a part of the public sector where the need for collaboration with other local agencies or municipalities is particularly strong. The significance of collaboration is articulated not only in legislation and in policy documents, but is also reflected in the organization of services. This article focuses on collaboration in the PSS and is based on survey data from a cross-sectional sample of second-tier managers in mid-sized Swedish municipalities (n=119). Our aim is to analyse (i) to what extent, and with whom, PSS’s core domains – social assistance (SA), child welfare services (CWS) and substance abuse treatment (SAT) – are collaborating, (ii) the general opinions about collaboration among the respondents, and (iii) whether there are any differences with respect to (i) and (ii) between the core domains. The results show that collaboration, as expected, is an extensive feature in the PSS, particularly collaborative activities that are carried out with individual partners. Further, there are significant differences between the core domains, with collaboration intensity being notably high in CWS. The respondents in CWS also show less enthusiasm for collaboration than those representing SAT and SA.

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Stranz¹,

Bergmark²,

Lundström³

2020

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“…Unlike other financial support programmes in the Swedish welfare state, social assistance eligibility is determined through individual assessments performed by trained social workers (e.g. Stranz, Wiklund, and Karlsson 2016a). This may largely be attributed to the fact that the right to social assistance is regulated by the national Social Services Act (SSA), formed as a framework law, which provides a significant degree of municipal autonomy according to the modalities of means testing.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Wallander 2009), while research considering actual applications is very limited (cf. Stranz, Wiklund, and Karlsson 2016a).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intersectional patterns of social assistance eligibility in Sweden

Hussénius

2019

Nordic Social Work Research

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This study examines patterns in social worker decisions on social assistance eligibility in Sweden. Focusing on intersections between applicants' gender, country of birth and family situation, factors that statistically anticipate decisions on granting assistance to individuals from different sub-groups were explored. The sample comprises 423 applications and four sets of modified Poisson regression models were conducted. The results strengthen the impression of social assistance assessments as a practice marked by the professionals' categorizations. In line with previous research, social workers seem to act upon, and reinforce, a male breadwinner model by putting more emphasis on men's efforts to establish self-support. Female applicants, in turn, are seemingly less likely to be granted assistance if they are assessed as having a problem with abuse of alcohol or illicit drugs. Also, having a family seems altogether to have a negative impact on women's chances of approval. When considering gender and country of birth, decisions on social assistance eligibility largely reflect patterns of unemployment.

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“…At a policy level, social services aim to promote economic and social security, equality of living conditions and active participation in social life. Services are supposed to be provided on the basis of democracy and solidarity but are at the same time the last safety net of a welfare state (Stranz et al, 2016) having both supportive and controlling elements. Social workers must assess requests or referrals regarding social needs but the provision of services may depend on investigations of need, risk, safety and the ability of individuals to meet these needs on their own contra the municpality's limited obligation to respond to (financially or through personal social services) these needs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

From Needs to Relationships to Organisations: Transactional Complexity in Social Work in the Swedish Social Services

Khoo

Nygren

Gümüscü

2019

The British Journal of Social Work

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This article explores how Swedish social workers in different sectors of the social services understand complexity in relation to the needs found in 'family' and in social work practice. This study is based on interviews with sixty social workers in five service sectors: child welfare, elderly care, disability care, substance abuse and social assistance. The social workers' reports of understanding and dealing with families with complex needs reveal distinctions between deeply rooted and broadly based needs. Complex family needs are transformed into complex cases based on family composition, relationships between clients and social workers and organisational context. Complexity theory, and in particular the term transactional complexity, is applied to describe the interactive relationship in and between complex needs, relational complexity and organisational complexity. The boundaries between these three domains are not distinct, and the interconnectivity and complexities occurring in and between them contribute to the production of much of the 'wickedness' that exists in social work practice. Social workers may gain from this knowledge in order to unravel the often intangible complexity that commonly appears in social work with families.

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People processing in Swedish personal social services. On the individuals, their predicaments and the outcomes of organisational screening

Cited by 16 publications

References 14 publications

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Intersectional patterns of social assistance eligibility in Sweden

From Needs to Relationships to Organisations: Transactional Complexity in Social Work in the Swedish Social Services

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