https://www.mdu.se/

Over-indebtedness has become an increasingly common issue in Europe and a growing concern for social work. In Sweden, budget and debt counsellors are the main actors guiding over-indebted individuals towards financial well-being. This study analyses how budget and debt counsellors rhetorically make sense of and justify their service provision. The research data consist of interviews with thirty-nine counsellors, supported by vignettes. The analysis shows that counsellors make sense of their service by constructing two guiding principles: to promote financial agency, centred on upholding the client’s autonomy and self-determination in solving the debt problems, respectively, to promote financial change, centred on providing the advice, guidance and practical support required to alleviate the client’s debt problems. These two guiding principles construct the client’s capability and responsibility to deal with their debt burden differently and motivate the counsellors to take different courses of action in relation to the client. Counsellors’ sense-making talk can thus be said to both reproduce and challenge predominant policy discourses emphasising citizens’ personal responsibility for creating welfare. The findings are discussed in relation to their implications for social work policy and practice.

In the current economic environment, social workers are increasingly being required to support households that suffer from severe debt burdens. However, previous research has questioned if social workers are sufficiently prepared to meet this emerging form of financial exclusion, especially from a gender perspective. Thus, there is a risk that interventions for indebted households will overlook gender-specific, inequality-generating patterns in the acquisition and management of debts. With this in mind, the aim of this article is to provide an overview of the existing literature related to gender and household debt, in order to enable a development towards gender-aware social work interventions that equally support women and men in creating financially stable lives. The results show that gender dynamics affect how households acquire and manage their debt. These dynamics result in different forms and levels of debt for women and men, unequally divided spheres of responsibility for managing the acquired debt burden and differences in their willingness to seek debt advice. Unequal power relations between men and women and gender-stereotypic expectations are found to be key factors for explaining these results. The results are discussed in relation to practical implications for social policy and social work practice.

In parallel with increasing levels of household over-indebtedness, dominant discourses position debt problems mainly as resulting from financial mismanagement and character failings on the individual level. The ‘fiscal identity’ of over-indebted is thereby constructed in opposition to current ideals of financial competence and rationality. This article seeks to investigate how these dominant discourses interact with notions of gender in the debt-managing institution of Swedish budget and debt counselling. The aim was to examine the fiscal identities that are constructed in budget and debt counsellor’s talk and written documentation about male and female clients, and the implications these constructions may have for the help-giving technologies implemented. The empirical material consists of 11 focus group interviews with budget and debt counsellors and analysis of documentation. The results show that gendered fiscal identities are constructed, with masculinity being associated with financial competence, autonomy and less need of emotional support and femininity with a lack of financial competence and a need for comprehensive counselling contacts. These gendered constructions implicitly motivate different help-giving technologies for women and men, although the counsellors claim that gender does not influence the help they provide. Age and ethnicity are found to affect these gendered constructions to varying degrees. The results are discussed in relation to the ideals that are (re)produced through the construction of these gendered fiscal identities and help-giving technologies and how debt-managing welfare institutions contribute to the making of the indebted woman and man.

In this article, results are reported from a study of what value young (20-35 years) disabled men and women ascribe to a job and the job satisfaction they have. Data for the study were collected via a survey questionnaire. The results show that both the men and the women attach great psychosocial value to work and that they have a high level of job satisfaction. The results also show that the men tend to ascribe higher economic value to paid work than the women do and that the women ascribe a higher psychosocial value to paid work than the men. Finally, there is a discussion of the conclusions that can be drawn from the results of the social policy measures taken for men and women in the group in question.

This article concerns employment officers' assessments of persons with physical disabilities. The aim was to investigate the assessments made by employment officers of the motivation and ability to obtain, keep, and successfully perform a job, when young women and men, of Swedish and foreign country of birth, seek employment. The study is qualitative and data were collected via interviews supported by the vignette method. The respondents were eight employment officers working in employment offices in a large and a medium-sized municipality in Sweden. The results show that the employment officers assess the job seekers born in a foreign country (Iran) as less motivated to find a job and less motivated to work compared to those born in Sweden. The results also show that the applicants born in a foreign country are recommended to seek less-qualified jobs, and that women born in Sweden are recommended for more professional assistance and support to further education than other applicants. The study reveals the existence of negative ethnic discrimination in employment officers' assessments of employment prospects for persons with physical disabilities and indicates that improvements may be needed in the officers' understanding of how unconscious stereotypical expectations concerning disabilities, gender and ethnicity can affect their assessments and decisions. It is suggested that careful consideration should be given to whether pedagogic models that have been used in other contexts, for instance education, could be used as a complement in the management of cases in order to detect biases in assessments.

A sample of 222 Swedish social services officers were surveyed in regard to their opinions on a fictitious case addressing the needs of a same-gender client. The 49-question survey was statistically analyzed through a comparison of female and male same-gender dyads. The findings suggest that gender is an important factor in assessment, and this seems to be influenced by the gender of the client, the gender of the assessor, and how the problem area or situation of the client is "gendered." Also, same-gender dyads tend to strengthen stereotypical expectations of men and women as clients and influence what forms of assistance are offered to the client. The male same-gender dyad tends to reduce the likelihood of assistance being offered, while the female same-gender dyad increased it. These results suggest that assessments are based upon stereotypical beliefs about men and women rather than being focused directly on individual differences and needs. Further research is recommended that incorporates a number of more refined "gendered" problem areas and situations and how these assessments can affect social work practice. 

This explorative study aimed to develop an understanding of how a sample of two groups of men, considered to be situated at different ends of Connell’s masculinity continuum, construct their masculinity, and how these constructions relate to their proximity to violence against women (VAW). One group consisted of five men incarcerated for violent crimes (MIVC) that had previously used VAW. The other included five participants in the pro-feminist group Men Against Violence (MAV), without prior VAW. An abductive approach, using qualitative interviews, was employed. Results show that the MIVC participants appeared ambivalent, unreflective, and inconsistent in their masculinity constructions, and used VAW as part of their problem-solving repertoire. The MAV participants appeared to have a reflexive stance towards gender equality and consistently adopted inclusive ways of enacting masculinity and preventing VAW. The study can only provide some support to the postulated relationship between men’s masculinity positions and their attitudes toward VAW. 

This chapter problematises the use of gender theoretical or feminist research perspectives and methods in studies within the field of social welfare. The aim of the text is to examine the consequences that the choice of various gender-theoretical perspectives has on how specific social issues are presented and understood, as well as to show how the choice of perspective and the direction taken have theoretical implications, or influence the methodological choices made in later stages of the research process. To this end, the research on violence in intimate relationships is used to illustrate the argument. An important limitation with the discussion is that questions leaning more towards the philosophy of science are not touched upon. This applies for instance to the relationship between the research and society, which social phenomena that for reasons of research ethics, gender theory or other considerations are legitimate and important objects of study, or the impact that such research ought to have on the political decision-making process. These questions are excluded partly for reasons of space, and partly because they are more general in nature and are therefore not directly related to the concrete work of the research process itself. The concept of gender theory is used to broadly designate research concerning the relationship between the sexes, how gender is constructed, and how gender relations influence power structures. The term is used to cover the various orientations that can be identified in the field of gender research, for example Feminist Studies, Women’s Studies, Men’s Studies, Queer Theory, Gender Equality Studies, etc. The chapter is organised in such a way that the text follows a assumed basic sequence of steps in conducting research. This comprises the fundamental models, concepts, theories, methodologies and methods of the research activity, as well as its analyses and interpretations. This structure roughly corresponds to the levels of analysis that Silverman (2000) and others utilise when teaching research methods in social science.

The study investigates Swedish male and female social workers' assessments and help-giving strategies towards single parents applying for income support. The study was carried out with the help of a vignette distributed as a mail questionnaire. Results show that social workers tend to conform to assessments and help-giving strategies that are consistent with expectations linked to their own gender role.

Syftet med föreliggande studie har varit att undersöka vilken inverkan användandet av motiverande samtal i socialt arbete har för hur klientens genus behandlas. Metoden utgörs av kvalitativa analyser av instanser av motiverande samtal i sex autentiska samtal inom den kommunala individ- och familjeomsorgen. Resultaten visar att tillämpandet av motiverande samtal bidrar till att samtalen om olika samtalsämnen styrs av de samtalstekniker som socialarbetarna tillämpar. Detta bidrar i sin tur till att samtalen får likartade förlopp oavsett vilket kön klienten har. Resultaten visar också att de professionellas fokus på de samtalstekniska sidorna av samtalet också medför att klienternas egna perspektiv på det som avhandlas ges stort utrymme. Utöver detta visar resultaten också att det uteslutande är socialarbetarna som har kontroll över introduceringen och byten av samtalsämnen. Resultaten tyder på att de ämnesval som görs och de perspektiveringar som dessa ämnen får bidrar till att bibehålla en dikotom uppfattning om könen som är genustraditionell och oreflekterad.

Background and purpose

Research on women's and men's debt problems is a neglected area. The research available shows that women and men's gender typical behaviours and gender-related dynamics in close relationships that reflect societal power structures (for instance women’s subordination under men) are relevant to understand what creates and is the cause of economic inequality in households. The limited research that exists suggests, for instance, that women’s debts to a greater extent derives from consumption or student loans, while men's indebtedness to a greater extent is caused by misguided ventures in their own businesses and car purchases. In close relationships, women's indebtedness also more often seems to be rooted in solidarity actions, such as entering as a creditor of loans that their men have taken, to get the opportunity to develop their own business. In this sense, men’s debts are more often directly related to their own business and personal projects.

The aim of the current project is to deepen the understanding of gender differences in women’s and men’s descriptions of ways of getting into debt problems.

Methods

The study is qualitative and has a gender comparative design. A strategic sample (concerning gender, age and family constellation) is made of men’s and women’s “personal letter” that are appended to debt relief applications sent to the Swedish Enforcement Authority's (Swedish: Kronofogden). Approximately 50.000 debt reconstruction applications that includes a personal letter are received by the Authority every year. Around 10% of these letters from 2015 are analyzed using a combinations of content and narrative analysis. This is done by searching for the applicants’ descriptions of circumstances that has led into their debt problems as well as their explanations to the causes for the problems

Results

Preliminary results confirm that women and men's gender typical behaviors and gender-related dynamics in their close relationships can be used as explanations for the debt problems that are at hand.

Conclusions and implications

Further research is needed on how indebted identities are formed in interaction with others. Such research should examine how women and men are categorized and treated by professional helpers (social workers and other professionals) as well as how the indebted on the basis of this form their self-image and ultimately shapes their actions. On the basis of the results it is recommended that professional helpers pay closer attention to and try to prevent that men's gender typical behaviors and power relations between women and men in close relationships causes debt problems. 

The aim of the present study is to deepen the understanding of over-indebted persons' ways of describing the causes of their debts and the part they and others played in the emergence of the problematic situation, in their written communications with public authorities with influence over the debt-reconstruction process. The method was a qualitative multiple-case-study design with a purposive, cross-sectional sample consisting of personal letters attached to debt reconstruction applications submitted to the Swedish Enforcement Agency. The results reveal three main ways that applicants present their cases: Attributing responsibility to oneself, Avoiding the question of responsibility, and Attributing responsibility to others. The authors suggest that the results can be used in social work to help over-indebted people to understand and present their problems in a way that restores their vulnerable identity and allows them to counteract interpretations of them as having acted irresponsibly regarding their finances.

The aim of this article is to investigate how Swedish social workers who work with supporting young crime victims construct young men’s violent victimization and their need for help. The data consists of three qualitative focus-group interviews with trained social workers working with young crime victims. Based on data from focus-group interviews, the analysis shows that the social workers do not portray young men as passive victims; instead, they are viewed as victims playing an active role in triggering the assault and trying to handle their victimization on their own. Social workers also describe young men as reluctant to seek help and as emotionally withdrawn. The discussion addresses how male victims of violence are constructed and how clients’ as well as professionals’ traditional gender role expectations might affect the possibility for young men in distress to receive help.

Violence against women and men is a widespread and serious social problem, often with severe consequences for the victims. Even though young men are among those most at risk of exposure to physical violence,men’s victimization is only recognized to a limited extent. The aim of this study is to deepen our understanding of how social workers’ interpretations of the position of males in the gender order affects their understanding of male victimization. The study was designed as a multiple case study witha qualitative comparative approach. Focus group interviews supported by vignettes were used to collect data. Interviews were carried out with professional Swedish social workers working with victimized men and women at centres for young crime victims in Sweden. The results show that even though the social workers express traditional gender beliefs about young men’s experiences of victimization and their inability to identify themselves as victims of violence, they also to some extent resist taken-for granted notions of male victimization. The results also show that the social workers to some extent offer supportive measures that reinforce traditional expectations of masculinity. On the basis of the results it is suggested that one important way of developing social work with young male victims of violence would be to give greater attention to variations between different men and masculinities and how these different forms of masculinity aredifferently connected to crime and violence, and to adapt supportive measures to reflect these differences.

This report outlines the background to, and presents the results from the Crime Victim Compensation and Support Authority funded project "Social Workers' understanding of men as victims of crime". The project aimed at describing and analyzing how social workers understand and work with male victims of violence. More precisely, the research has focused on how social workers describe men's vulnerability and how they understand men's needs for assistance, what assistance that is provided and the way the constellations of perpetrators and victims of different gender and contexts in which the violence occurs in affect the understanding of male victims of violence. The study has also been devoted to the question of whether the Support Centers for young crime victims in Sweden provide different types of and different amount of help to young men and women afflicted of violence. The project was conducted in three substudies.

The results from substudy 1 show that more young men than women seek support from the Support centers studied. Men predominate in number of cases and in the different categories of crime. The results also show that young men on average receive less assistance over a shorter average duration than young women. This applies irrespective of the category of offense that the vulnerability applies to. Furthermore, the young men, compared to the women, proportionally receive fewer interventions characterized as support and a greater proportion of interventions in the form of information. The results also show that the young men are referred on for further action to a lesser extent than is the case for women.

The results from substudy 2 show that social workers tend to focus on whether, and to what extent, young men who are victims of violence themselves have behaved provocatively before the violence incident and if they have put themselves in a social situation that could be interpreted as having contributed to an escalation of the violence they have been subjected to. The results from substudy 2 also show that social workers talk about the men as active in the violent situations they have been involved in and dwell on the extent to which the young men's own actions have contributed to the violence. The results also show that young men who are victims of violence are described as "reluctant" victims who are trying to cope with their situation on their own without the involvement of professional or other helper. The young men are also described as reluctant to talk about their feelings.

The results of substudy 3 show that social workers believe that young men, when they become victims of violence, risks losing their sense of autonomy, initiative and decisiveness, that is, attributes that are often linked to the dominating cultural image of masculinity. Furthermore, the results show that social workers estimate that men's practicing of their masculinity, but also the response that men who are traumatized get from society, creates difficulties for them to get help. The results from substudy 3 also shows that attributes and actions that can be connected to the masculinity of young men's, as well as a lack of such attributes and actions are considered to be adequate explanations for the violence the men has suffered. When it comes to violence in public places it is the masculinity that explains the violence and its escalation. When it comes to domestic violence it is the lack of expected male attributes and actions that are used as explanations for the violence that have occurred.

The discussion is devoted to the question of how the results should be understood based on the concepts of self-performance, interpretation, negotiation and categorizations, and the consequences the results obtained should have for gender sensitive social work given to abused men.

Decision support systems are known to be helpful for professionals in many medical professions. In social work, decision support systems have had modest use, accompanied by strong criticism from the profession but often by praise from political management. In this study the aim of the authors was to collect and report on the published evidence on decision support systems in social work. The conclusion of the authors is that a decision support system gives support to social workers in conducting a thorough investigation, but at the same time gives them the freedom to make autonomous decisions that might be the most helpful for and used by social workers. Their results also indicate that decision support systems focusing on atypical rather than typical cases are perceived as the most useful among experienced staff.

The article investigates how over-indebted persons present their case in personal letters attached to debt-reconstruction applications and how their narratives can be argued to contain features that help counteract negative expectations about their identity. The results reveal three types of narratives. These are: negotiating, in which the applicant communicates personal agency in relation to all areas of life, and the promise to start a new life and continue on the path of improvement is invoked as the main reason for being deserving of help; reimbursement-claiming, in which personal agency is communicated in relation to all aspects except for the applicant’s personal economy, and earlier achievements are invoked as the main reason for being deserving of help; and confessing, in which personal agency is communicated as located outside the applicant’s control, and a lack of possibilities to manage one’s own personal economy is invoked as the main reason for being deserving of help. The results also show that, although all three narrative categories can be considered counter-stories, confessing can be argued to have the greatest potential to counteract negative expectations and thereby help to repair the applicant’s identity.

The starting point of this article is an interest in understanding whathappens when the concept of evidence-based practice (EBP) travelbetween countries. Understanding knowledge as somethingconstructed between actors who shape and trade ideas andexperiences, the aim is to study how EBP has been received,interpreted and practised in Swedish social work in comparison tosome of the other Nordic welfare states. This is done through ascoping study literature review of research on evidence-based practice(EBP) in Swedish social work within the Swedish welfare system. Thereview shows that two research units (CUS and IMS) at the publicauthority National Board of Health and Welfare have had significantinfluence on the travelling of EBP to Sweden. Further, the reviewshows that a guideline-model version of EBP has been given priority inthe diffusion process. The results also show that the interest in EBPamong managers has increased over the past few years, and that theirattitude toward the concept is generally positive. At the same timeSwedish social workers rarely make use of research in their work,seldom use evidence-based methods, and seems to be unsure of themeaning of the concept.

Denna rapport presenterar en översikt av forskning om evidensbaserad praktik (EBP) i svenskt socialt arbete inom den kommunala socialtjänsten och andra verksamheter inom den svenska socialvården. Syftet är att beskriva forskningsläget om EBP i socialt arbete samt ge förslag till fortsatt forskning på området. I rapporten redovisas forskning om stöd, attityder och förhållningssätt till det evidensbaserade arbetet med fokus på organisation, chefer och första linjens socialarbetare. Resultaten visar att genomförandet av EBP i socialt arbete till stora delar styrts centralt av Socialstyrelsen. Den EBP-version som på detta sätt prioriterats och spridits skulle kunna kallas en guideline-modell. Forskning visar också att svenska socialarbetares anpassning till ett EBP-koncept enligt guideline-modell är relativt svagt. Trots det är socialarbetare liksom sina chefer överlag allmänt positiva till EBP, men det finns också en relativt stark oro för att den version av EBP som sprids av Socialstyrelsen är för rigorös för att passa praktiskt socialt arbete. Mot bakgrund av det fokus som forskningen haft och de kunskapsluckor som finns om socialarbetares förhållande till en reflekterande praktiker-modell avslutas rapporten med att ge ett förslag på framtida möjliga forskningsfrågor utifrån detta perspektiv

The aim of this scoping study review was to investigate interventions,undertaken as part of regular work, aiming to reduce the risk of over-indebtednessamong individuals and families. Research questions includeddescribing interventions, target groups and the results of evaluations, aswell as investigating the support that the methods used for evaluating theresults of the interventions give for determining whether they representgood practice. Eleven articles were found presenting interventions withvarying target groups, intensity and duration. The methods used had thefollowing areas of focus: economic and financial knowledge acquisition,economic skills acquisition, and emotional and psychological alleviationand enhancement in relation to economy. The results show that because ofshortcomings in the designs and methods used in the evaluations of outcomesof the interventions, the results obtained cannot be considered sufficientlyrobust to be used to systematize and develop work with indebtedindividuals and families.

Over-indebtedness has increased in Sweden and other European countries during the past 30 years. It involves great suffering for afflicted individuals and high costs for society, as well as inflicting personal stigma because of their inability to fulfill their moral obligation to pay debts. The aim of the study is to analyse personal letters attached to applications for debt reconstruction as examples of counterstories, paying special attention to the potential for these narratives to provide narrative repair for the applicants, as well as to formulate resistance to master narratives regarding over-indebtedness. The data for the study consists of personal letters accompanying applications for debt reconstruction. Qualitative analyses are made of the three different styles of argumentation that over-indebted persons use in applications for debt reconstruction, negotiation, reimbursement-claiming and confession, using the theoretical framework of counterstories. The results show that negotiation and reimbursement-claiming both have the potential for narrative repair and resistance to the master narrative, while confession does not.

Rapporten presenterar resultaten från en utvärdering av det våldsförebyggande programmet Viktig intressant person (VIP). VIP är ett strukturerat målgruppsanpassat utbildningsprogram med pedagogiska inriktning som bedrivits i Eskilstuna kommun sedan 2014. Insatsen utgör en arbetsmetod som har utvecklats för att hjälpa personer med intellektuella funktionsnedsättningar. Målgruppen för insatsen kvinnor och män som har insatser med stöd av Socialtjänstlagen (SoL) eller Lagen om stöd och service (LSS). Syftet med VIP-insatsen är att minska våldsutsattheten för denna grupp genom att ge dem det stöd de behöver och har rätt till.Utvärderingens övergripande syfte kan konkretiseras i tre delar. Del ett att undersöka; giltigheten i VIP-programmet, det vill säga insatsens programteori. Del två att undersöka hur insatsen genomförts, det vill säga programtroheten i insatsen. Del tre att utvärdera programmets resultat, det vill säga om deltagande i VIP leder till positiv förändring avseende psykisk hälsa, utsatthet för våld och Känsla av sammanhang (KASAM).Utvärderingen har genomförts under perioden hösten 2016 till våren 2018 genom en kombination av olika utvärderingssteg. Det första steget utgörs av ett programteoretiskt arbete och en forskningsöversikt. Fokus i forskningsöversikten har varit på vilka våldspreventiva insatser som finns för gruppen samt vilken förändringspotential dessa har. Det andra steget består i att studera insatsen programtrohet. Det tredje steget har sökt fånga den förändring som sker för brukarna före (T1) och efter (T2) insatsens genomförande. Detta har skett genom att med hjälp av skattningsskalor göra mätningar av KASAM, psykisk hälsa och utsatthet för våld- och konflikter. Utöver detta har även semistrukturerade kvalitativa intervjuer kring upplevda förändringar i relation till de nämnda områdena genomförts med brukarna.Utvärderingens empiriska underlag utgörs av skattningar och intervjuer före- och efter insatsen med totalt 26 brukare, två intervjuer med skaparna av programmet, sex intervjuer med VIP-ledare samt material hämtade från tre forskningsseminarier som genomförts med VIP-ledare, styrgruppen för VIP samt andra intressenter.Det empiriska underlaget för utvärderingen är relativt begränsat för att i alla avseenden, kunna säkerställa förändringar som sker hos brukarna. När det gäller KASAM visar resultatet emellertid att det sker signifikanta förändringar till det bättre för brukarna. Resultaten är inte lika tydliga när det gäller deltagarnas psykiska hälsa. När det gäller detta område är emellertid ett viktigt resultat att för de deltagare som innan insatsen hade måttlig till hög3grad av psykisk ohälsa så minskade denna efter insatsen. Förändringar i relation till våld och konflikter visar en likande tendens som psykisk hälsa. Även i detta hänseende sker en positiv förändring. Resultatet bygger på ett begränsat antal brukare vilket gör att de förändringar som sker i relation till psykisk ohälsa samt våld och konflikter inte går att säkerställa statistiskt. Det tydligaste tecknet på att det skett en positiv förändring för brukarna erhålls när resultaten från samtliga tre undersökta områden (KASAM, psykisk hälsa samt våld- och konflikter) summeras. Resultatet visar då att samtliga brukare fått en positiv utveckling på minst ett av de nämnda områdena och att merparten av deltagarna fått en positiv förändring på flera av dem. Det finns också brukare som visar en negativ utveckling över tid. Exempelvis uppger några av brukarna att den psykiska ohälsan ökat över tid. Det finns flera olika förklaringar till att det sker en negativ utveckling för några brukare över tid men det mesta pekar på att detta inte kan hänvisas till insatsen.Utvärderingen belyser vidare insatsen programteoretiska antaganden. När det gäller dessa dras slutsatsen att programmet har en rimlig logiskt-teoretisk utgångspunkt som följs genom hela dess genomförande. I förhållande till programteorin identifieras emellertid även behovet av att ytterligare tydliggöra insatsen teoretiska antagande. Programtroheten i programtroheten belyses också i utvärderingen. Resultatet av detta arbete tyder på en hög grad av följsamhet, det vill säga att andel centrala behandlingsmoment (kärnkomponenter) som genomförs med skicklighet och noggrannhet. Denna slutsats gäller för merparten av de totalt 12 lektionerna. Några lektioner visar på lägre grad av följsamhet. För dessa utbildningstillfällen finns det således möjlighet att ytterligare förbättra följsamheten.Den sammantagna bedömningen av utvärderingen är att våldspreventionsprogrammet VIP skapat en positiv utveckling för deltagarna. Förutom att insatsen visar att Känslan av sammanganhang ökat signifikant vittnar flertalet brukare om både kunskapsmässig, attitydmässiga och beteendemässiga förändringar som ett direkt resultat av insatsen. I det fall det sker en negativ utveckling för brukarna är det möjligt att hänvisa detta till insatsen.Samtidigt som detta sägs kan det emellertid konstateras att det föreligger ett behov av fortsatt kunskapsutveckling, genom systematisk uppföljning och utvärdering av VIP-insatsen.

This study examines the question of which school environment - special or mainstream school - is more favourable for deaf and hard-of-hearing students in Sweden, when it comes to their well-being, and their social and academic inclusion. The aim is threefold: first to compare the well-being of adolescents who are deaf or hard-of-hearing, who are deaf or hard-of-hearing and have additional disabilities, and who have no disabilities; second to compare the adolescents from the two deaf and hard-of-hearing groups and their experiences of inclusion and exclusion in school; and third to ascertain if any gender differences exist between the two groups of deaf and hard-of-hearing students concerning their experiences of inclusion and exclusion. A total of 7865 adolescents (13-18 years of age) answered a total survey about the life and health of young people in a county in Sweden. The results show that both boys and girls in the hard-of-hearing groups rated their well-being lower and were less satisfied with their lives than pupils without disabilities. They also show that the hard-of-hearing boys and girls attending special school were more satisfied with their lives and to a greater extent felt included both socially and academically than students in mainstream school.

Globally, there is limited research on how deaf and hard of hearing adults experience higher education and work. The purpose of the present study is to examine hard of hearing (HH) adults’ experiences of social interactions and social relationships in higher education, the workplace and leisure time. Data were obtained from semistructured interviews with 16 individuals (aged 24–31 years) from diverse cultural backgrounds (10 males and 6 females) with severe-to-profound hearing loss. Participants were selected based on previous expressed interest in participating in further studies after having been involved in an earlier study. The interviews were subjected to a qualitative thematic data analysis. According to the results, people with a hearing loss experience communication barrier in higher education, at work and in leisure time. These communication barriers lead to difficulties achieving social inclusion, and in some circumstances to social exclusion. Assistive technology (AT) and information and communication technologies (ICT) were important facilitators of moving from social exclusion towards social inclusion.

This article investigates how social workers' interpretations of contextual factors and the relationship between victim and offender affect their understanding and assessment of male violent victimization. The study was designed as a multiple case study with a qualitative comparative approach. Focus group interviews supported by vignettes were used to collect data. Interviews were carried out with professional Swedish social workers working with victimized men and women at support units for young crime victims in Sweden. The results show that the social workers consider the violence that the young men are subjected to in cases of street violence and interpersonal violence to be unavoidable or even 'natural'. The violence was in some cases considered to be dependent on the men's own agency and in others on their lack of agency, when displaying traits of both more traditional and less traditional forms of masculinity respectively. The social workers' talk about young male crime victims is interpreted as contributing to making the men appear as less legitimate victims. Even though the social workers argued that the victims' own behaviour should not lead to any special considerations concerning help efforts, the possibility of upholding such a demarcation between explanations ascribed to the violent incident and help measures offered is problematized in the article.

In this study, Chinese and Swedish employment officers’ assessments of physically impaired people and their ability to find jobs are compared. The study is qualitative, and data were collected through semi-structured interviews. The respondents were ten employment officers working full time. The results show that several employment officers in both contexts are skeptical that disabled people will be able to find work, and highlight similar obstacles to entering the labor market related to individual and societal conditions. The results show that, unlike Swedish employment officers, who highlight both types of obstacles, Chinese employment officers consider barriers related to the individual to be most important. The results also show that, compared to their Swedish colleagues, Chinese employment officers view gender and sex as more critical obstacles. The article argues that the results reveal different conceptions of disability and gender or sex that can be linked to the two contexts’ welfare models.

Points of interest: Previous studies have rarely examined whether employment barriers for disabled people can be related to the functioning of the employment services. This article compares assessments made by employment officers in China and Sweden of disabled people and their ability to find jobs. This article reveals that employment officers in both countries to some extent negatively assess the employment prospects of women and disabled people, and it is argued that under some circumstances the employment services can function as a barrier for disabled people to get a job. This article shows that employment officers’ assessments differ depending on their perceptions of the applicants’ disability and sex, as well as if the officer works in Sweden or in China. This article argues that the employment officers’ expectations of disabled peoples’ ability to work are in line with the overarching goals of the welfare in the two countries.