Intervjustudie om barns delaktighet i barnavårdsutredningar

Sammanfattning: For a child to participate during the investigative social work process is their right according to UN’s convention on the rights of the child. This is Swedish law since 2020 and a child’s right to be heard is thereby strengthen. This study aims to explore Swedish social workers reasoning about children’s participation and how they ensure the child to be heard and informed during the investigative process. Interviews with five social workers who work in childcare services was conducted. Using a thematic analysis the result showed two themes; Children’s participation during the meeting and The professional view on children’s participation. Empowerment and systems theory was applied during the analysis and proven useful as these two theories permeated the Swedish social services. In further analysis it was found that children’s participation is at the forefront of the social worker’s mind and something they consider in every case. Time was reported as a possible obstacle for children’s participation due to the social worker having a heavy case load and being short for time. Keywords: Children’s participation, Empowerment, Childcare investigations, Social services, and System theory.