Successful Collaboration in Social Care Practice

Abstract

The aim of this ethnographic study is to analyse themes for ‘the successful collaborations’ that emerge from the study field notes on youth in Swedish juvenile care, and that can be interpreted as beneficial for these youth. These successful collaborations were observed, for instance, at meetings where the young persons were being discussed, and where an observer could distinguish planning for them that was carried out practically. The empirical base for this study is its total of 119 field observations/notes. The examples analysed reference a completed appointment for an eye test, a practical realization of active leisure, homework help and an internship placement that works. The coherence of three actors belonging to three different categories (coherent triads), and success points of interest that benefit the youth in the situation, create the image of a positive development for them. In this way, common identities of interplay that are useful for the young person are created and elucidated. The physical presence of the young person in these situations is an especially important theme for the ‘successful collaboration’. This study shows that trust and motivation are important aspects for a successful collaboration and inclusion of less powerful individuals and groups of individuals within a community. Young people discussed in this study receive confirmation of their identities by participating in the community, with a successful interaction between actors in juvenile care a prerequisite for successful involvement and integration.

Collaboration and identity work: A linguistic discourse analysis of immigrant students’ presentations concerning different teachers’ roles in a school context

“…Basic highlighted how actors belonging to a given organization typically view themselves as being more cooperative than actors belonging to another organization. The actors from the other organization are often accused of making collaboration more difficult (Basic, 2018a(Basic, , 2018b(Basic, , 2018c(Basic, , 2018d. Bunar (2010) also stressed that the way in which school organizations are structured may present obstacles to successful collaboration.…”

“…The narratives analyzed in Cederberg (2006) paint a rhetorically charged picture of major challenges involved in teachers' practical work with newly arrived immigrant students. The narratives construct a reality in which deficiencies in the collaboration between different collaborators can lead to problems and dilemmas (Basic 2012(Basic , 2018a(Basic , 2018b(Basic , 2018c(Basic , 2018dBunar 2010;Hyltenstam 2010;Torpsten 2008).…”

“…Teachers are portrayed as being disinterested and disrespected-as incompetent. Willumsen (2007) and Basic (2012Basic ( , 2018aBasic ( , 2018bBasic ( , 2018cBasic ( , 2018d emphasize that collaborators occasionally fight to serve their own personal and professional interests, and that, in this particular context, their own ambitions may affect those they are meant to serve. This may mean that deficiencies in the collaboration between different collaborators can lead to difficulties in the practical work in a school context.…”