"Det blir ett beslut i mängden" Beaktandet av barnet bästa inom ekonomiskt bistånd

Sammanfattning: Our goal with this thesis was to develop an understanding of how social workers on financial assistance relate to the consideration of the child's best interests based on the Convention on the Rights of the Child in the handling of cases involving children. We considered this to be relevant since the Convention on the Rights of the Child was incorporated into Swedish law 1 January 2020. This combined with proven difficulties in the implementation of the child perspective in financial assistance awoke our interest. Our study consists of seven semistructured interviews to form our qualitative approach. Our analysis is based on Michael Lipsky’s theory of street level bureaucracy. Within the theory of street level bureaucracy, we have used a further developed concept of professional discretion. Knowledge, professionalism and uncertainty have been our leading themes. When legislation and organizational frameworks lag in development, the social secretaries' professional discretion becomes decisive in considering the best interests of the child, therefore their discretion expands. This can result in various consequences which we discuss further in this thesis. Despite some ambiguities about how the various articles of the Convention on the Rights of the Child are to be implemented in the field of financial assistance, the incorporation seems to have made the child rights perspective topical in Swedish financial assistance.