Att få vara sig själv : Om skolkuratorers arbete med HBTQI-elever i grundskolan

Sammanfattning: The aim of this study is to explore and understand school counselors' experiences and work methods towards students in elementary school who identify as LGBTQI and experience vulnerability as a result of this. LGBTQI-youth are described by the Swedish government as particularly vulnerable in schools because of their LGBTQI-identity. Previous international research confirms that LGBTQI-students experience vulnerability, which affects them in their health, wellbeing and school experience. However the context in Sweden is quite unexplored, which implicates a research problem. A qualitative method was used to answer these questions by conducting eight digital semi-structured interviews with school counselors from different municipalities in Sweden. These interviewees were contacted by gathering their email addresses from school websites. Two theories were implemented in order to understand the empirical data, which include queertheory and the critical theory. Both of which are part of a social constructionist theory approach. The results of this study shows that Swedish school counselors have different opinions on the targeted group’s vulnerability and the possibilities, conditions and obstacles of their work. Therefore they also work in different ways. Still there is a consensus that this is an important issue that all schools should prioritize and that the responsibility does not lie solely on school counselors. These results are important because they shine light on the Swedish context and inspire further research.