SSPF-myndigheters arbete med riskungdomar : En kvalitativ studie om hur myndigheter inom SSPF skapar deras arbetssätt med riskungdomar

Sammanfattning

The purpose of this study is to examine how authorities within the SSPF collaboration (school, social services, police and leisure services) perceive, justify and shape their preventive work with youths considered to be at risk of criminal involvement by examining how professional discretion and institutionalized constructions of at-risk youth shape preventive practices within the SSPF collaboration. The study applies a qualitative research approach with an interpretivist perspective. The empirical data were collected through semi-structed interviews. The respondents consisted of eight professionals working within the SSPF model, representing school, social services, police and leisure services. These participants were selected due to their professional experience and explicit knowledge of preventive work with at-risk youth. The theoretical framework of the study is based on street-level bureaucracy, professional discretion, and microsociological perspectives and interaction rituals, which together contribute to an understanding of how preventive practices are formed in direct encounters between authorities and youths. The analysis draws on thematic analysis, using both inductive and deductive approaches. The results show that SSPF authorities construct and interpret at-risk youth through recurring institutionalized categorizations shaped by professional experience, organizational mandates, and inter-agency collaboration. Professional discretion plays a big role in shaping preventive practices and the selection of preventive interventions, as practitioners balance formal guidelines with situational judgements in direct encounters with youth. These practices are enabled through interagency with youth. These practices are enabled through inter-agency collaboration and professional experience, but are also constrained by institutional conditions, organisational boundaries, and resource limitations within the SSPF-collaboration.