"Körsbäret på kakan" - överflödigt eller pricken över i:et? Kvalitativ intervjustudie av förändringar i familjehemssekreterares yrkesroll vid arbete med privata aktörer

Sammanfattning: The aim of this study was to investigate the professional role of the foster care officer and how this was affected by working with private operators. This includes how duties, discretion and professionalization were affected by the private operators. The study was of a qualitative approach including seven interviews with social workers working within foster care, in Skåne. The analysis was based on the theoretical concepts of role conflict, role resolution, discretion and division of labor. The respondents were ambivalent to an increased amount of private organizations regarding foster care. A positive effect was that the private organizations can provide foster homes when the social services don’t have enough. The private organizations also have the resources and time to provide support and guidance in a way the social service cannot. Interviewed were however negative to gains in welfare and that the relation to foster home vanishes, due to them being inherited by private organizations. There were both positive and negative aspects regarding the discretion. A positive aspect could be increased discretion to give higher emolument in foster homes and a negative aspect could be the private organizations controlling the foster care officers’ involvement in the foster home. The division of labor between the foster care officers and the private organizations results in a more administrative working role for the foster care officer. However they still maintained their old role as well.