Har kommunstorlek någon betydelse? En kvantitativ studie om samverkan mellan socialtjänstens missbruksenhet och psykiatrin

Sammanfattning: The purpose of the study was to investigate how social workers in the substance abuse and addiction services perceive collaboration with the psychiatric unit, and if the size of the municipality has a role in the extent to which collaboration takes place. A quantitative survey has been conducted with 40 respondents operating in a larger city and 15 respondents operating in a smaller city. The study is based on Michael Lipsky’s theory of street-level bureaucracy and discretion. The results show that social workers in larger cities commonly collaborate with the psychiatric unit to a higher extent and have a more positive attitude than social workers in smaller cities. It can also be deduced that social workers in smaller cities have recent collaborations with psychiatric units. Regarding all respondents, the social workers see that cooperation is crucial to be able to meet the client’s/patient’s needs, but despite this, shortcomings are emphasized in how the cooperation presents itself. The intention and vision of the study were to be able to answer whether the size of the municipality is important, which can be confirmed.