Föräldrar till ungdomar i riskzon förkriminalitet : Yrkesverksammas erfarenheter av bemötande,handlingsutrymme och relationsskapande arbete

Sammanfattning

Abstract The aim of this study was to describe how professionals within social services describe their work with parents of adolescents at risk of criminal involvement. The study is based on a qualitative research approach in which six semi-structured interviews were conducted with social workers who work with adolescents at risk of criminality. The empirical material was analyzed using thematic analysis. The theoretical framework of the study consists of Michael Lipsky’s theory of street-level bureaucracy and labeling theory. The findings show that the work with this target group is characterized by a complex balance between support, control, and relationship-building. The social workers describe trust and professional interaction as crucial for creating cooperation with parents, while their work is simultaneously affected by organizational limitations such as high workload, lack of time, and legal frameworks. The results also highlight how parents often experience anxiety, guilt, and mistrust in their encounters with social services, which may affect cooperation and relationships with authorities. Furthermore, collaboration between different actors, such as social services, the police, and schools, is described as both necessary and challenging due to confidentiality regulations and differing organizational logics. The study concludes that social work with parents of adolescents at risk of criminal involvement requires long-term relationship-based work in which trust, transparency, and participation are central aspects in the interaction with families. At the same time, social workers opportunities to work preventively are limited by organizational and legal structures. The study therefore contributes with increased knowledge about how professionals describe the balance between support and control in work with this target group.