Arbetsgruppens och ledarskapets betydelse för socialarbetarens välmående inom barnskyddet

Sammanfattning: Social workers in child protection work are facing a stressful working environment that can result in burnout and job exit for some social workers. Many risk factors are described regarding the working environment of child protection social workers, but less is known about the protective factors which motivates and support child protection workers to stay in this field. The aim of this study was to investigate how colleagues and leadership influence the child protection worker in a positive way and how the group can have positive effects on the socialworker’s wellbeing. The study answers the following two research questions: How can working relationships effect the wellbeing of socialworkers in childprotection? How can leadership effect the wellbeing of socialworkers in childprotection? The method of this study is a research overview with a thematic analysis. To understand the empirical data a psychosocial perspective with focus on Karasek’s (1979) demand-control-support model and Aaron Antonovsky’s theory sence of coherence (SOC) is applied. The result of the study shows that peer support, supportive relationships with colleagues and a close relation to the leadership is important for the wellbeing. It is especially important for the socialworker in the beginning of the career and the first two years in the field. Although there are also several individual and organisational factors that affect how the socialworker thrive in this field.