’’[...]jag har inte fått den infon än, jag har inte sökt den heller[...]” : En kvalitativ studie om socialarbetares uppfattningar av nya psykoaktivasubstanser och hur de arbetar förebyggande mot dem.

Sammanfattning: The purpose of the study was to investigate social workers perceptions of new psychoactive substances (NPS’s), and how they work preventively towards them. In order to answer our purpose, we conducted eight semi-structured interviews with social workers working in, or close to, the field of addiction. The answers were analyzed on the basis of previous research and the theoretical concepts of grassroots bureaucracy and scope of action found in Lipsky's (1980) theory of grassroots bureaucracy. The results showed that all social workers problematized the accessibility and risks associated with the use of NPS’s and that it is a generational issue where mainly younger people use these types of substances. The preventive work proved to be a responsibility that is shifted on colleagues who in turn do the same. Many social workers stated that their scope of action is large within the legislation, sometimes so large that it is difficult to limit and be able to take direction. The study also showed that there are no guidelines on the part of the organization that are linked to NPS’s, which in turn leads to social workers having to tackle the problem more on their own.