Perceptions on Burnout and Work Related Stress : A discursive analysis on the awareness of work related stress and burnout amongst Social Workers at the Child and Youth Department in Uppsala

Sammanfattning: The high degree of burnout and work related stress is a highly relevant topic in the Swedish society today. Newly examined social workers often start their career in the Child and Youth Department within the social services, where demands are high. The aim of this study was to find out how social workers at the Social Services, Child and Youth Department, in Uppsala, create discourses around burnout and work related stress at their workplace. The study also aimed to identify what methods and strategies, both personal and organizational, are used in order to prevent burnout and work related stress. The study reveals discourses around abilities and priorities, and how the social workers create a manageable workplace for themselves with various tools. Shown in the study are the high workload the social workers have to deal with, and how they do it as well as how it reflects and creates identities within the profession.   Keywords: Social Services, Social Workers, Work, Stress, Burnout, Child and Youth care workers.