Anmälningsskyldigheten inom skolan när barn far illa. En rättssociologisk studie om förhållandet mellan riktlinjer och professionella normer inom skolan

Sammanfattning: The Swedish Social Services Act states that certain authorities and their staff have a duty to immediately report to the Social Services if, in the course of their work, they have reason to suspect a child is in need of the protection of the Social Services. The purpose of this study was to examine some of the professional norms within the municipal school when it comes to the duty to report. The study also discusses how the guidelines of the National Board of Education and National Board of Health and Welfare regarding the duty to report relate to each other and how the Social Services Act relates to the professional norms in the educational system. In order to define the professional norms, I used an explanation model of norms where they are divided in what you should do and what you actually do. The study is of a qualitative nature and performed in a medium municipality (approximately 130 000 inhabitants) in southern Sweden. It consisted of interviews with four school professionals and one professional from the Social Services. As a complement, I sent out four fictitious case histories for the respondents to consider. The interviews and research studies shows that the National Board of Education does not have guidelines for the duty to report which makes it impossible to compare any guidelines. The National Board of Education instead refers to the guidelines of the National Board of Health and Welfare. The study identifies several professional norms within the school. Since the law is very brief, only one of the professional norms can be related to the actual law. Other identified norms have to be discussed on the basis of the guidelines and recommendations of the National Board of Health and Welfare. Most of the identified professional norms within the school are similar to each other and match the guidelines more or less.