Etisk stress i socialt arbete- mellan professionella ideal och organisatoriska villkor

Sammanfattning

Social work within child and family services involves complex ethical challenges. Where social workers must balance professional values, legal requirements and organizational conditions. When social workers experience a discrepancy between what they consider morally right and what is practically possible to do ethical stress may arise. Ethical stress has been linked to negative consequences for individual well-being, professional identity, and the quality of social work. Despite this research on ethical stress within social work remains limited particularly within child and family services in a Swedish context.The aim of this study is to examine how social workers within child and family services experience ethical stress in child welfare investigations. How they cope with ethical stress and how organizational conditions influence their ability to manage ethical challenges. The theoretical framework of this study is based on the demand–, control–, and support model and coping theory. These theories are used to analyze social workers’ experiences of ethical stress in child welfare investigations, and the strategies employees use to manage such stress. Which together provide a framework for understanding both organizational factors and individual strategies. The study is based on qualitative data collected through semi-structured interviews with social workers working in child and family units. The interview material was analyzed using thematic analysis allowing patterns and themes related to ethical stress to be identified and interpreted.The results show that ethical stress is a recurring feature of social workers’ work and is mainly related to organizational and structural conditions rather than individual factors. Ethical stress arises particularly in situations where the principle of the best interests of the child conflicts with legal regulations, limited resources, and high workload. Social workers primarily manage ethical stress through individual and relational strategies such as emotional distancing, professional boundary-setting, self-care, and collegial support. However, these strategies are often experienced as insufficient over time. The study concludes that ethical stress should be understood as an organizational issue, highlighting the importance of supportive leadership, ethical reflection, and improved organizational conditions to promote sustainable social work practice.