”Det är väldigt laddat och man tänker att.. åh, gör jag nu rätt." - En studie om hur förskolepersonal förhåller sig till sin anmälningsskyldighet

Sammanfattning: All agencies that affect children, and the employees of these businesses, are required to report to social services if they suspect a child is being abused. Studies show that too few reports are made to social services regarding children being maltreated. 84% of children in Sweden are in preschool and it is therefore important that preschool teachers recognize if a child is being abused. Accordingly, our purpose was to investigate how preschool staff relates to their obligation to report. What are the possible motives and difficulties experienced with the duty to report? To find out, we conducted seven interviews in two different municipalities. The interviewees were preschool substitutes and permanent staff. The interviews were semi-structured and as a complement we used vignettes. In help with analyzing our empirical data, we used role theory. We found that the staff experience difficulty in determining whether a child is being maltreated or not. The difficulty of reporting child maltreatment results in a nuanced view on what should be reported and not. In the decision process of reporting the staff take in to consideration the family as a unit, colleagues and consequences of reporting. One way the staff handles this is by giving extra personal support as an alternative to reporting. From a perspective of role conflict, the perceived difficulties can be seen as a consequence of the difficulties in living up to the expectations that are attached to the different roles preschool teachers have.