Relationen mellan det teoretiska handlingsutrymmet och det praktiska arbetet inom ett antal HVB för barn och unga

Sammanfattning: The purpose of this study was to find the dynamics between professionals’ discretion and how it is expressed in the residential care homes for children and young people. Six qualitative semi structured interviews were conducted with professionals' who work in direct contact with children and youths on residential care. The interviews were presented and analyzed based on the theories of street-level bureaucracy and insecurity. The results showed that discretion can be an opportunity as the specific situation needs to be in focus and in motivating conversations with the children and youths. The discretion may limit the work of professionals' as they do work delegated from social services as well as they adapt to laws, rules and guidelines. The professionals' showed that the discretion can be seen as substantial but it assumes that the professionals dare to use it. Based on these observations, we concluded that the professionals' ability to look past the fears of the discretion and their previous experiences is crucial in how the discretion is expressed in the practical work. The professionals' identified a different amount of discretion depending on the situation. It would have been interesting to further research on how the current time period affects the discretion and the practical work of professionals' on residential care homes for children and young people.